One of my favorite things to do is get out and enjoying the beautiful scenery of the Bay Area with my border collies Andi and Kelso. Yahoo Sports recently featured some of the best Bay Area County dog hikes–see the article HERE! I am headed to Big Sur over Memorial Day – if anyone knows of great dog friendly hikes around there I would appreciate hearing from you.
Hiking Las Trampas Ridge with Andi and Kelso
An April article in Registered Rep magazine by Kevin McKinley details how a senior can purchase a home with a reverse mortgage. Not sure I would start out an article challenging the knowledge of financial advisors as he does but he continues highlighting “….a lesser-known yet more-intriguing use of the financial tool: letting qualifying buyers purchase a home with a decent down payment, but no mortgage to pay off, and with no in-depth consideration of their income, assets, or credit situation.”
You can read the article HERE (10 second sponsored intro)…or you can give me a call and I would be happy to spend some time with a short presentation outlining how a reverse mortgage should be a consideration in any retiree’s portfolio. Heck, I can do a presentation for the entire office and it qualifies for CE credit!
Clay Selland discusses the impact of Metlife’s decision to exit the Reverse Mortgage market, and what it means to seniors, as well as financial planners.
The first 72 hours after an emergency event you will likely be on your own. You cannot survive without Water – it is the most important part of your emergency preparedness. There is a good chance you will not be at home in the event of an emergency so make sure you have some in your car and at work.
WATER AT HOME:
Store water in plastic bottles – soda bottles work well.
Commercially available 50 gallon drums can store water indefinitely.
Buy a few cases of water at Costco and store it in an accessible place.
Minimum of 15 gallons of water per person for your 72 hour survival.
ROTATE your water – replace water every 6 months. If stored in proper containers you can wait even longer.
LABEL your water with the date it was filled.
In an emergency –do not over look the water in your water heater and toilet tanks and even in your ice cube trays!
WATER HEATER is a source! Turn the gas or electricity off first. Then open the drain and turn off the intake valve – it may have contaminated water… open a hot water faucet. There you go! – 50/60 gals of H2O!
Locate your water main – both at the house and the box that EBMUD uses to read your meter. Make sure it is clear enough to get to quickly. Make sure that everyone in the household knows where these valves are!
DON’T FORGET your furry friends – they will need water too!
Avoid storing water where it could get too hot – certainly out of the sun.
PURIFYING WATER:
Water purification tablets (follow package instructions). Not as good an option because of a relatively short shelf life.
Backpackers water filter – store it with your earthquake kit!
Unscented Clorox Bleach with 5.25% sodium hypochlorite – 16 drops per gallon – let stand for 30 minutes – a slight smell or taste of chlorine means it is OK to drink. If it does not have the smell or taste – treat it AGAIN! BUY a medicine or eye dropper to accurately measure the bleach. Tape it to the bottle of Clorox.
Household tincture of iodine in the same manner as bleach will work.
Boil drinking water for at least 5 minutes (requires fuel).
AT HOME AND AT WORK:
Quart bottles of water – one for each person in your family in your car.
Quart bottles of water at work – store under your desk or accessible place.
Specially sealed foil packs of water can be stored up to five years.
REMEMBER:
Your body is 80% liquid–you can only live without water for 3 days!
If there is an emergency and you can stay at home, you may have enough around the home to get by for 72 hours.
What if there is a major fire and you have to leave NOW. What happens if you are at work or on the way home.
That is the purpose of water in the car at work and in your 72 hr kit. Do it today.
You want your emergency kit to contain food that your family is familiar with and will actually want to eat. There are plenty of items that make great emergency kit additions.
Consider the following items:
TIP: If you include items that must be heated your would need to include fuel, and a method of cooking. I would stick with things that only require water.
Before you say, “I have plenty of these items around the kitchen, I’ll just grab it if I need it,” consider this—If there is an emergency and you can stay home, you may have enough around the home to get by for 72 hours.
What if there is a major fire and you have to leave NOW? What happens if you are at work or on the way home?
That is the purpose of a 72 hour kit. Do it today.
Finally, if the thought of purchasing and putting all these items together seems overwhelming there are several resources to check out:
With so many options and so much information there is no reason to NOT be prepared! Get started today!
NBC’s The Today Show has a very concise four minute segment summarizing key details of reverse mortgages, With an increasing interest in Reverse Mortgage, Today’s financial editor Jean Chatzky answered questions on reverse mortgages and when a reverse mortgage might make sense.
“You can stay in your home until you die or until you’ve moved out for 12 months,” Chatzky says. “Even if you drain almost all the equity from the home, the bank can’t force you to move.”
The segment addresses the costs of a reverse mortgage in general. What is missing is the option for a very low cost reverse mortgage called the HECM Saver Program. It is available for a fixed rate reverse when the client does not need to access the maximum amount available.
Jean touches on the issue of who will inherit the home – urging potential borrowers to ask the question: why are they so attached to their homes? “Sometimes people think their kids will be just devastated if they don’t get the house and in reality, that’s not the case. So talk about it,” she says.
“Overall, is this something that’s going to give someone who’s going into retirement some peace of mind?” asks Carl Quintanilla. ”Or is this something for someone who says, ‘You know what? I always wanted that dream house in Florida, as well.’?” “It can actually be both,” Chatzky says.
You can view the video in it’s entirety HERE.
In the event of an emergency, you will want to know that your local family and friends are okay. Avoid chaos and confusion! Take these simple steps to plan where to meet and how to contact each other.
Establish family plan what to do in an emergency -
Your family needs to know what happens if you have to get out of your home or evacuate your neighborhood and will not be home.
The Red Cross has a detailed family disaster plan HERE.
Invest in a walkie-talkies that are only used in an emergency – These can be 
used when phones do not work or if you get separated at the fair or at a ball game
[Cobra 2 way radio / 16 mile / rechargeable / < $25 on Amazon.com]
Bury it in your kids backpack – have the other in your car – write on it with a sharpie indicating the channel you will be on in an emergency. Discuss how it is operated and when it is appropriate to use.
Consider becoming a HAM Radio Operator – HAM radios can be used when other modes of communication are down. The contribution of HAM radio operators during Katrina was invaluable. If you are interested in getting your license contact me for more details. clay@signetmortgage.com
ALSO–MARK YOUR CALENDARS! May 10th 11am to 2:00 pm
The first 72 hours after an emergency event you will likely be on your own. Having a portable 72-hour kit for each member of the family will put you in a position to survive and take care of your family. There is a good chance you will not be at home in the event of an emergency so a small kit in your car and at work will be important.
Here is an easy checklist for a Basic 24 Hour Kit:
ADD FOR YOUR WORK “GO-BAG”
ADD FOR YOUR CAR “GO-BAG” FOR EACH CAR
Next week I’ll list resources and ideas for adding non-perishable foods to your emergency kits!
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac systems … all updated last Monday … but it is still “wait and see” for most underwater homeowners wishing to refinance their underwater mortgage.
If your first loan is a Fannie Mae loan up to 125% loan to value you are in decent shape and there are lenders ready to go.
If your loan is serviced by Wells Fargo, and owned by Freddie Mac – Signet can do a new without restriction as to loan to value.
Limited access to unlimited loan to value for Fannie Mae … still waiting on unlimited loan to value for Freddie Mac loan … that is still to be sorted out.
The pricing, policies, and procedures for HARP 2.0 loans and the overlays and pricing are mind boggling!
Listen to more details in this quick video update I did last week. Stay tuned – I will keep you posted as the program improves.
If you would benefit from the refinance of an underwater property – start with an application and we will do the automated underwriting and be ready. It will be prudent not to be in too big a hurry to select a lender and formally submit. Once we can be sure of the best choice for you we can move it forward.
What happened to rates?
The Federal Open Market Committee minutes contained a surprise that impacted the bond market recently – indicating that the FED would drop their program to purchase long term bonds which they have been doing for some time … take a big purchaser out of the market and wham – rates jumped ¼% in a day or two. Plus continuing stock market gains have drawn funds from bonds into stocks impacting rates.
A 30 year fixed loan at $417k is still between 4.125% and 4.25% (no cost) and a 15 year at 3.5% so rates are still very good. I do not see anything on the horizon to be pushing them back down.
Communication in the event of an emergency is critical. We rely on our cell phones, the internet, and land phones that may not work when we are separated from our families. Two simple steps to get started:
Establish an out of state contact. Establish TWO relatives that you can reach in the event local phone service is not available. It may be that everyone will be able to call out of state even when you cannot reach someone locally. Get their email too for more detailed updates.
Prepare a list of important phone numbers and email –
Put these numbers in your phone, PDA or laminate a card to be put in the car and in your child’s backpack for school.
Earlier posts suggest you have three emergency essentials at your bedside (shoes, whistle, flashlight), and that water and medicines be in each of your cars in the event you cannot return home for any length of time. Having an out of state contact and essential contact information will make it easy to let family and friends know you are OK!
Subscribe to my blog or Twitter for periodic emergency preparedness tips! Taking it on one step at a time will prepare you and your family in the event of an emergency. Be prepared – it could save your life.
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