Today’s seniors are different. They don’t see themselves as old.

They are taking trips and buying Harleys. Some have found themselves in the roles of primary caregivers for their grandchildren. In 2000, 5.8 million grandparents found themselves the caregivers for children under the age the of 18 and that number has grown.

People don’t see themselves as retiring, taking it slow. Sitting on the porch waiting to die has no interest for them.

Some of have raised their own kids and are now raising their children’s kids. There is financial risk in that but the alternative is worst. Incomes will be challenged by this new burden.

One of the biggest challenges is the maintenance of their health under the strains of a second family or maintaining their mobility and zest for life to take trips.

As a health conscious group they plan to live longer, spend for education, spend for trips and want to stay in their own homes.

For most the retirement nest egg will not last long enough. A reverse mortgage can help keep the family together and in financial condition to meet life as it comes.

Some of today’s and tomorrow’s seniors will have different motivations for seeking a reverse mortgage based on their generational values.

Generations are cohorts and a group of people born within the same time span. That span is approximately 20 years.

People form value sets from common historical events, experiences and cultural influences. We can often project how a generation will respond to different stimulus.

Researchers have grouped specific population groups into cohorts with similar experiences. Of course, there are overlaps and underlaps within generational segments. Posts that follow this one will delve into the generational differences concerning the application of reverse mortgages.

In this post, we will examine the GI generation. They are also known as the Great Generation for their efforts in WWII and the rebuilding of Europe. They bogged down during the Vietman war and got lost in the visions thing.

They have controlled the Presidency until 1992.

Now they find that their pensions are being eroded, health care costs are climbing and the dollars they counted on aren’t going far enough.

Reverse mortgages will help this generation fund the final years of their lives.

Now the reality of reduced pension plans, higher health care expenses and eroded retirement savings are having a financial impact. The impact of corporate high jinks, tech bubbles and real estate bubbles are forcing seniors to consider extending their working lives.

Prolonging their working years because they are forced too due to financial reasons was opposed to slowing down and enjoying the remainder of their years.

These folks lived through the Depression and have been risk adverse and lived their lives accordingly. Now the risks taken by the major financial institutions have robbed them of their pensions and their portfolios.

The equity left in their homes in the form of a reverse mortgage can provide the financial stability they need.

Otherwise, will they be forced to be Walmart greeters just to put food on the table.

The question before federal and provincial regulators is how they are going to fund the building contractors, extended care nurses and other factors associated with the aged.

Where is the large cohort of the boomers going to live if they cannot stay in their homes. Combined with the potential impact of extended lives the stress on the public system will be enormous. In a nutshell the bigger picture dilemma is multifaceted – a large number of seniors, the cost of retirement homes, and the manpower to maintain this population over time.

Canada cannot afford the costs associated with the impact of this large group. The ironic fact is that most seniors would prefer to live in their own home. Very few options remain for seniors to stay within their homes for the remainder of their life times. A reverse mortgage can assist with the financing of this wish and quite necessary option to retain the dignity of seniors in their own living space.

For seniors who own their own home and have sufficient equity, a reverse mortgage provides a way to fund their health needs in their senior years.

In investment circles, the secret to success is cliche – buy low, sell high. This same principle applies to flipping houses. To succeed, you buy a house 25 to 50 percent below market value, repair and renovate the property to make it a more attractive purchase, and then turn around and sell it at market value.

That three-step process – buy, fix, and sell – certainly sounds easy enough, but each step carries with it a host of unique challenges, as I point out in the following sections.

To buy low, you have to be in a position to buy quickly. The trick is to have your financial ducks in a row before you go house hunting. Without a strong financial position you will find yourself making decisions that will cost you money.

Homeowners don’t exactly line up around the block waiting to sell their homes for less than they’re worth. As a house flipper, your job is to hunt for the homes in your area that are don’t wanners, as in “the owners don’t want her.” These orphan homes usually appear bedraggled. The yard looks like a weedy wasteland, the gutters are hanging off like a pair of old false eyelashes, the paint’s peeling, and the interior is completely trashed. These properties are often referred to as distressed, and their appearance indicates that the owner is distressed, as well. The home has become an albatross around the owner’s neck.

When the homeowners need to shed the burden of home ownership, they’re more likely to work out a deal with a serious investor. Subsequent posts will detail several successful techniques for scoping out distressed properties.

Maybe you know somebody who knows somebody who buys and sells houses and makes as much money on a single transaction as you make in a year. Or perhaps you caught an episode of one of those house flipping TV shows that demonstrates just how easy it is to buy a house for $250,000, fix it up for another $75,000, and sell it for a half million bucks in a matter of days.

Now, you want in on the action. You want your slice of that capitalistic cannoli.

But where do you start? You can’t imagine where you’d be able to get your mitts on the cash you’d need to finance a flip. You have no idea where to start looking for undervalued property, and even if you could find a suitable house to flip, the only experience you have fixing houses is plunging the toilet. Surely you’re not qualified to invest in the complicated world of real estate.

Well, it’s time to stop all the negative self talk and start reading Flipping Houses For Dummies. I started out with $900 that my grandmother gave me in the early 1970s. From the ripe old age of 19 to the present day I’ve flipped one house after another and earned millions of dollars along the way. It wasn’t easy. I made plenty of mistakes, and I didn’t profit from all my transactions. I did, however, have a plan in place and the sticktoitism (pronounced stik-to-itizm) to successfully execute it. By following through, I was able to succeed, and so can you. (By the way, “sticktoitism” is a word I’ve been using since the 1960s to describe the determination and dogged perseverance required to build wealth in real estate. I could use “stick-to-itiveness,” which appears in the dictionary, but I like my word better.)

BC mortgage brokers are not all the same. As a BC mortgage broker and a writer, the author has a deep insight into the BC mortgage market. Check out his BC mortgage rates at his blog.

The need for underwriting guidelines to address areas of risk in mortgage lending is evident. In addition, regulations-and sound business practice-require lenders to qualify applicants fairly and in a consistent manner from loan application to loan application.

Clear loan policies and objective underwriting guidelines assist lenders in this challenging task. Such guidelines should explain how lenders must handle the most common scenarios and provide direction in more unusual circumstances.

Before the development and dominance of the secondary market, mortgage lending and underwriting was relatively fragmented. Each lender developed unique policies, programs, and procedures as a result of its charter, local laws, and financial situation. Each lender employed different underwriting rules and formulas.

Duncan Seward is a Vancouver mortgage broker. Mortgage BC is the focus of his business. He is an expert in bad credit mortgage refinance applications. Poor credit loans need not be a concern to clients with a damaged credit history.

All mortgage loans involve the risk of possible financial loss to a mortgage lender, investor, or insurer. Depending on its circumstances, a single mortgage application may undergo four separate underwriting reviews at various stages by the following parties:

Lender: The loan officer and/or processor review the application to determine whether it warrants full processing or an immediate credit decision. Automated underwriting may be used at this stage.

Lender: After processing, the underwriter analyzes the application to determine whether to lend funds and under what conditions.

Insurer/Guarantor: Before closing, a mortgage insurer or guarantor determines whether the submitted application is eligible for mortgage insurance or a guarantee.

Investor: Before or after closing, a permanent investor determines whether the mortgage or mortgages as submitted will be purchased and at what price.

Mortgage broker Vancouver will be able to assist you with the complexities concerning the mortgage application process. A bad credit mortgage is easily obtainable through bad credit mortgage lenders.

Mortgage brokers and mortgage bankers have a unique problem. Unlike deposit based mortgage lenders, mortgage brokers and mortgage bankers underwrite a loan knowing that the loan must be sold to a permanent investor. If a poorly processed or poorly underwritten loan is not secondary marketable at a reasonable price, it may result in considerable loss to a mortgage banker or broker. Since a deposit-based mortgage lender has the option of placing a mortgage into its own portfolio (instead of selling it to an investor), its loss potential for a poorly processed/underwritten mortgage is less than that of a mortgage banker.

In any event, the underwriting phase has significant, lasting financial effects. It is imperative that all mortgage lenders adopt prudent guidelines, maintain an objective reporting structure, develop professional underwriting expertise, and review underwriting performance through quality control.

Duncan Seward is a Vancouver mortgage broker. Mortgage BC is the focus of his business. He is an expert in bad credit mortgage refinance applications. Poor credit loans need not be a concern to clients with a damaged credit history.

No regulations require a residential mortgage lender to make a particular loan, nor do any provide specific underwriting guidelines. Regulations do make it clear, however, that mortgage lenders have a responsibility to attempt to satisfy any request for a mortgage loan, as long as the risk is analyzed fully and deemed acceptable. The desire to make loans must be balanced by a mortgage lender’s fiduciary responsibility to protect whoever funds the loan: depositors, shareholders, or secondary market investors.

All lenders, of course, share the danger that even properly underwritten mortgages may become delinquent. The expense incurred in collecting these funds, or the losses suffered if uncollected, greatly exceed the income generated from originating and servicing the loan-that is how costly the collection process is. If several defaults occur, the costs of either curing the defaults or foreclosing could result in severe losses to the point where it jeopardizes the solvency of the lender.

Vancouver real estate is the topic of most conversations in BC. Duncan’s Vancouver mortgage business gives him the insight to provide topical articles on the state of Vancouver real estate.