Have a strong desire to buy a house but not much money? Puzzled about your adjustable rate mortgage? Wishing you knew more about reverse mortgages and where to find one? Looking for an easy, cheap way to find the very best mortgage rates?
You can find answers to these questions either free or for a modest price from organizations that specialize in such information. Here’s a list of what you can get, how much it costs and where to find it:
Housing for low- and moderate-income families: Countrywide Mortgage, a big national lender, is offering a free 20-minute video narrated by James Earl Jones. “A Feeling Called Home” recounts the experiences of three families who succeeded in buying a house. It’s available to consumers and community groups.
The video, in English, will be ready early this month. A Spanish version will be ready later in November. Call toll-free, 800-577-3732 from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. The people who answer the phone also can offer advice on what it takes to get a mortgage loan and how to budget to qualify for the loan. Multilingual counselors are available.
Adjustable rate mortgages: Many homeowners have nagging doubts whenever their ARMs are adjusted upward. Is the lender playing fair? HSH Associates, a mortgage information firm, offers a 12-page kit with directions, a worksheet and index values that will allow you to check the lender’s calculations. The kit also tells you what to do if you find a mistake.
Send $3 to HSH Associates, 1200 Route 23, Butler, N.J. 07405. Ask for the ARM Check Kit. HSH also offers a history of ARM indexes, including Treasury bills and Cost of Funds.
Reverse mortgages for the elderly: About 15,000 Americans now have a reverse mortgage, according to experts. If you’re interested in getting cash out of your home without making monthly payments on the loan, some form of reverse mortgage might be for you. These mortgages have become much easier to find in most states and there’s a lot of information on them.
General information on reverse mortgages is available from the American Association of Retired Persons. Phone AARP’s 202-434-3525.
Get a list, with phone numbers, of lenders offering reverse mortgages from AARP. Write to the AARP Home Equity Information Center, 601 E St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20049. Or fax your request, 202-434-6466. Ask for the Reverse Mortgage Lenders List, No. D13253.
Get a list, with phone numbers, of the reverse mortgages available in your state. Send $1 and a stamped, self-addressed business envelope to the National Center for Home Equity Conversion, 7373 147th St., Suite 115, Apple Valley, Minn. 55124.
At the same address in Minnesota, a 1993 book on reverse mortgages is available for $24.95. Ask for “Retirement Income on the House.”
Shopping for a mortgage: HSH Associates, a mortgage information firm, has a Homebuyer’s Kit that includes a computer printout of lenders in your area and their charges-interest rates, points, down payment required, fees and ARM caps. Included is a 44-page booklet of mortgage shopping tips, with worksheets and information on how to calculate monthly payments.
The same information is available on disks for IBM compatible computers.
How to get it: The paper version and the computer version each costs $20. Send a check and specify what you want to HSH Associates, 1200 Route 23, Butler, N.J., 07405.
