A reverse mortgage is a home loan that lets homeowners convert a portion of the equity in their home into cash. The equity built up over years of mortgage payments can be paid to you. Unlike a traditional home equity loan or second mortgage, no repayment is required until the borrower(s) no longer use the home as their principal residence.

Am I Eligible?

To be eligible for a HUD reverse mortgage, HUD’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA) requires that the borrower is a homeowner, 62 years of age or older; own your home outright, or have a low mortgage balance that can be paid off at the closing with proceeds from the reverse loan; and must live in the home.

How Much Do I Get?

The amount you can borrow depends on your age, the current interest rate, and the appraised value of your home or FHA’s mortgage limits for your area, whichever is less. Generally, the more valuable your home is, the older you are, the lower the interest, the more you can borrow.

Click HERE TO FIND THE TEXAS REVERSE MORTGAGE OPTION TO FIT YOUR NEEDS!

Waking up in your beautifully appointed apartment home and taking a leisure stroll around the impeccably landscaped grounds and natural pond. Or, enjoying a refreshing dip in a pristine swimming pool after an work-out in the fitness studio.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act put the U.S. taxpayer and a tiny state agency,  The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, in crucial new roles for financing affordable housing. It now has access to almost $600 million of federal grants to jump-start “shovel-ready” apartment communities for families of all ages, including affordable apartments communities for adults 55+.

Rents average about $600 a month and income restrictions do apply.

The maximum income levels are as folows:

1 person-$32,400
2 person-$37,020
3 person-$41,640
4 person-$46,260

The grants replace a mainstay of affordable housing finance – federal tax credits that encouraged private investors, mostly large banks and corporations, to offset taxable income by investing in affordable housing. When the recession zapped their profits, those investors no longer needed the tax credits or had an incentive to finance affordable housing.

To understand the new grant program, it helps to understand the old tax credit program. Before the recession, real estate professionals called syndicators, would connect investors looking for tax credits with developers needing financing. In a typical deal, a local lender provided 20 or 30 percent of the money needed.  A group of investors supplied the remainder.

But the recession delivered a double whammy to developers of affordable housing: Local lenders became more cautious about making loans, and investors fled the market. In the new program, federal grants replace the private investors. Developers must stillfind a local lender to finance about 20 percent of the deal.

Benefits for Residents…

Apartments advertised as “affordable living” offer many amenities including a fitness center, a clubhouse, a pool, a computer center, a movie theater and granite countertops among many other amenities.

The benefits for the residents of these properties with this particular financing, are that the apartments are newly constructed or substantially renovated with rents usually lower than the market rate. FIND AFFORDABLE SENIOR LIVING

If you are a grandparent raising grandchildren, you are not alone. 

More than six million children – approximately 1 in 12 – are living in households headed by grandparents (4.5 million children) or other relatives (1.5 million children).

Learn about public benefits available to grandparents and other relatives and the children they raise.

73% of surveyed adults 45+ strongly agreed with the statement “what I’d really like to do is stay in my current residence for as long as possible”. Boomers that were ages 45 to 54 in 2009 will have 26.6% less household wealth than families in this age group n 2004, thus making them less able to finance relocation in older age. {Continue}

Grandpa is looking for former colleagues on LinkedIn.

And more and more people ages 50 and older are joining social networks, according to a new report by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. The study found that social networking has almost doubled among this population — growing from 22 percent to 42 percent over the past year.

According to comScore, a digital measurement company, 27.4 million people age 55 and over engaged in social networking in July, up from 16 million one year ago.

“I’ve connected with friends and acquaintances that I have lost contact with through the years — people I’ve graduated high school with and people from my hometown,” says Claire LeSage, 63, who has been using Facebook for about a year-and-a-half.

In addition to connecting with her nephews and a niece who live across the country, LeSage uses Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Plaxo to run Wittz End, her relocation concierge service for baby boomers and seniors in Norton, Mass. {MORE}

As a result of all this movement, a growing number of adult sons and daughters are discovering just how hard it is to try to ensure the welfare of aging parents who live hundreds, sometimes thousands, of miles away. When you live many miles away from your loved one(s) the separation can complicate care giving. Concerns about the person’s safety, nutrition and health can be overwhelming at times. The task can be difficult, stressful, and time consuming.

Long-distance caregiving can take many forms – from helping manage the money to arranging for in-home care to providing some respite for the primary caregiver, to helping a parent move to a new home or facility. Many long-distance caregivers act as information coordinators, helping aging parents understand the confusing maze of home health aides, insurance benefits, and durable medical equipment. (More)

Filed under: Alzheimer's Disease / Memory Care, Caregiver Resources, Dementia, Elder Care, Home Care, Long Distance Care Giving, Long Distance Caregiving Tagged: long distance care givers, long distance care giving, long distance caregiving, working caregivers ]]> http://elderoptionsoftexas.wordpress.com/2011/04/15/the-dynamics-of-long-distance-caregiving-2/feed/ 1 Elder Options of Texas http://elderoptionsoftexas.wordpress.com/2011/04/11/affordable-senior-living/ http://elderoptionsoftexas.wordpress.com/2011/04/11/affordable-senior-living/#comments Mon, 11 Apr 2011 14:33:29 +0000 www.elderoptionsoftexas.com http://elderoptionsoftexas.wordpress.com/?p=1420 ]]> Finding nice, affordable housing for seniors can be difficult to find…until now. Dominium, headquartered in Minneapolis, is one of the largest privately held multi-housing companies in the Midwest. It now owns or manages more than 18,000 housing units in the US. In the past year, Dominium has also built, bought or renovated more than 2,600 units of housing across the country. With several Texas locations to choose from including DeSoto, Lubbock, Little Elm, Dallas and Sherman, you’re sure to find the affordable senior apartment you’re looking for!

Not every facility is equipped to handle the very special needs and care of Alzheimer’s and dementia patients. There are facilities that are certified by the state to provide care exclusively for individuals with Alzheimer and related dementia’s.

This means the facility has an additional state certification to provide Alzheimer’s or related dementia care, which includes increased staff training requirements, elevated criteria regarding activity programming, and higher educational requirements for the management staff, and additional facility safety systems to maintain a safe living environment are acceptable, such as delayed egress door mechanisms. Facilities with this type of certification will have one (1) facility provider number or License number and one (1) certification number, both issued by the state of Texas, – one for general assisted licensure AND one for Dementia certification. {More}