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<\/a>If you really have nothing else to do, you can continue reading, however,<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>\u2018spoiler alert\u2019<\/strong> there may be a bit of \u2018advertising\u2019 in this blog.<\/em><\/p>\n(Nine years ago, this month Suzanne and I started writing together \u2013 it wasn\u2019t exactly this blog then; we called it Morning News In Verse<\/strong>, where we provided examples of what we could do in our new-found business, call Red Posy<\/strong>, a business of writing rhyming tributes.\u00a0 \u00a0At that time in this space, we would take the four sections from the national newspaper, USA Today<\/strong>, main news, sports, business and entertainment, and write some rhyming news items.\u00a0 In March 2012, we closed our Red Posy business (I think it was due to too much business!), but found that we really enjoyed writing together, so decided to just write and post a new blog, From A Bird’s Eye View<\/strong>, every Monday about \u2018Life\u2019s Little Observations.\u2019\u00a0 My reason for this brief, albeit rather mundane history of this site, is that what with Word Press<\/strong> expenses, GoDaddy<\/strong> annual fees, the cost of website analytics<\/strong>, up-dating plug-ins<\/strong>, Akismet<\/strong> anti-spam software and Wordfence<\/strong> website security, not to mention Suzanne\u2019s and my valuable time and effort, all coming to you free of charge, we decided that we needed a sponsor to help absorb some of these on-going expenses.\u00a0 And so, my reverse mortgage business leaped into the breach.\u00a0 We ask that you please indulge us as I provide four of my, \u2018true-life\u2019<\/strong> reverse mortgage experiences that I needed to put up on my new business website: <\/em>https:\/\/bobsparrow.myloanofficer.us\/about<\/strong>.\u00a0 We\u00a0<\/em>will have then satisfied our \u2018commercial obligation\u2019 and will press on with the usual drivel that you\u2019ve become accustom to in this space).<\/em><\/p>\n These stories are true, the names have been omitted to protect the innocent and to keep me from getting sued.<\/p>\n \u201cIs this Bob?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou ran into my car last night\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I\u2019m sorry, I can have my insurance company take care of it\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNah, that\u2019s alright, I\u2019m in the auto business and can have that buffed out without a problem, but I noticed from your card that you were in the reverse mortgage business and I\u2019d like to know more about how it works\u201d<\/p>\n So, I made an appointment for the next day, when I got there, the good news was that he had already had the car dent buffed out; the bad news was that he was living on \u2018leased land\u2019, and a reverse mortgage cannot be done on lease land.\u00a0 So no deal, but I initially thought about a \u2018car accident market plan\u2019<\/em><\/strong>, but quickly dismissed it as a bit too risky.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a02. TOO OLD FOR A REVERSE MORTGAGE?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 3. I THINK MY HOUSE COULD ROLL AWAY<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 4. THE KING IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE QUEEN<\/strong><\/p>\n And now back to our regularly scheduled program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Sparrow If you really have nothing else to do, you can continue reading, however,\u00a0\u2018spoiler alert\u2019 there may be a bit of \u2018advertising\u2019 in this blog. (Nine years ago, this month Suzanne and I started writing together \u2013 it … read more\n
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<\/a>After dinner at a restaurant in Orange, I backed out of my parking place and scraped the fender of a car parked behind me.\u00a0 Don\u2019t you hate that sound of metal on metal?!!\u00a0 So, I stopped, got out of my car and wrote on the back of my business card, \u201cSorry I bumped into your car, my contact information is on this card\u201d.\u00a0 The next day I got a call.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Father-Times-150x150.jpg\")
<\/a>A man called me asking about reverse mortgages; one of his first questions was, \u201cIs there an age limit for getting a reverse mortgage?\u201d\u00a0 I said there is a minimum, 62, but no maximum age limit.\u00a0 He said, \u201cNot even 104?\u201d\u00a0 I responded, thinking that he didn\u2019t sound like he was that old, \u201cNot even 104\u201d, I replied.\u00a0 He then proceeded to tell me that his mother-in-law was 104 and she had been bed-ridden for a number of years and that the in-house care they were providing her was taking a toll on the family\u2019s budget.\u00a0 And since the 104-year-old was still living in her home that had plenty of equity, we did a reverse mortgage for her that enabled her to keep the long-term care in her house, without affecting the family\u2019s finances. No, she\u2019s not alive today; she passed away about a year ago.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/house-on-wheels.jpg\")
<\/a>A lady in Hemet called asking about reverse mortgages; she was a real talker, probably lonely and finally got someone on the phone that would listen to her for as long as she wanted.\u00a0 She said I was referred to her by someone she trusted and proceeded to tell me everything I needed to know about how she was living, what she did in her spare time, how her cat was doing (not that well) and on and on.\u00a0 From the numbers she gave me, it sounded like she could do a reverse mortgage, so I scheduled a time to go out to Hemet and give her a proposal.\u00a0 On my drive out to Hemet, about 80 miles one way, she calls me and sheepishly tells me that her house is not a \u2018regular\u2019 house.\u00a0 I asked, \u201cDoes it have wheels?\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u201cWell, it could\u201d, she replied.\u00a0 Oh great, I\u2019m thinking I\u2019m driving over 150 miles today to tell her that we can\u2019t do a reverse mortgage on a mobile home.\u00a0 When I get there, I find out that it\u2019s not a mobile home, but a \u2018manufactured\u2019 home \u2013 and we can, and I did, do a reverse mortgage for her, but not without getting regular up-dates on her cat.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/king.jpg\")
<\/a>I got a call from nice, young lady (young is a relative term in ‘reversemortgagees’<\/strong> \u2013 typically someone in their mid to late 60s) wanting some information about reverse mortgages.\u00a0 I asked her some questions and determined that she and her husband could be eligible, so made an appointment to do a proposal.\u00a0 I arrived and met the lady of the house, who was just as sweet as she sounded on the phone and then met the husband, who was gruff, rude and bombastic.\u00a0 He proceeded to tell me how successful he\u2019d been in business, but someone really screwed him over these last few years and he had been given some bad advice about some investments.\u00a0 He treated his wife as a sub-human, in fact, he treated me that way also.\u00a0 But I bit my tough and we did the loan.\u00a0 The wife thanked me; the husband just grunted.\u00a0 The next week, I got a call from the wife.\u00a0 Her husband had just passed away!\u00a0 \u00a0Yes, less than one week after the loan had closed!\u00a0 I may have heard a hint of glee in her voice in this otherwise sad bit of news, but she seemed most concerned about whether the reverse mortgage that had just funded was \u2018still valid\u2019.\u00a0 I told her, \u201cYes, you can live there, mortgage-free, for as long as you want\u201d.\u00a0 I think that made her happy, or perhaps something else already had.<\/p>\n