Xavier is a veteran mortgage loan officer that specializes in Reverse Mortgages. A Reverse Mortgage is a loan for homeowners 62 years and older with the main benefit being that there are no mortgage payments required to make! Two other great features are: the Reverse Mortgage can be used to purchase a home AND the spouse can be younger than 62 and may still qualify for a Reverse.
If you’re thinking about taking advantage of this program, Xavier can help as he is been in the business for close to 20 years. His expertise in the Reverse Mortgage field can help those that want to know and understand the ins and outs of this loan product but from a trusted and experienced agent.
In addition to being a pro at Reverse Mortgages, Xavier is a former U.S. Marine serving our country proudly during the Gulf War and is presently a husband and a father of twins.
Conversation With Xavier Ramirez
Xavier welcome and thanks for taking the time with us today…tell us how you go from the Marines to mortgages. How did you get into this business? Was it an easy transition?
Xavier Ramirez: First off I want to thank you as well for reaching out to me, glad I can join you and your audience today… and to answer your question when I left the Marines, I finished my education in Business Development. Yet I was still unsure which way to go. I was always good with numbers and I always had an interest in real estate. Early on, and I was pretty young still probably mid-twenties…I met with some local brokers and one in particular mentioned that I’d be great in mortgages!
Why he said that I was never really sure but I took his word and immediately started to look around to see who was hiring for mortgage sales. It didn’t take me long to land a spot at a mortgage brokerage where my job would be to call on homeowners that at one point or another inquired on obtaining a mortgage loan. So that is the quick and easy on how I began…To your question on was it an easy transition…I honestly can’t say it was easy, it takes a special knack to hear a hundred “No’s” before someone actually says “Yes”! I didn’t think it would be easy but as a “Marine” – I just stuck with it. Now fast forward years and years later, I am really happy I did as it has been a rewarding career.
So how did you manage the mortgage meltdown and what do you see in the near future in the mortgage arena?
Xavier Ramirez: Yes, the mortgage meltdown of course! (laughs) For me I was lucky to have a great referral source of business working with a broker and real estate agents. I had the notion that if it’s not broke don’t fix it…meaning I didn’t want to change what I was doing when I seen one mortgage company go down and then another and then another…I stuck with it and when it did get a little tough I had to re-invent myself. And what I mean by that is, I wanted to differentiate myself from what everyone else out there was doing. Everyone was doing FHA loans, conventional loans, first time homebuyer programs and working with real estate agents. The vast majority of loan officers did it all. There was no niche or specialty per se…That’s when I first thought of being a top pro in one area of lending so that I would be considered as the expert in the field. I ultimately decided on Reverse Mortgages for a number of reasons…one such reason my parents and the town I lived in afforded me the opportunity to work with plenty of people that could use my services.
That’s great! So you literally looked around you and said ok, who do I see that I can help? That’s a very straight forward approach yet it worked for you, I think we all sort of miss opportunities simply because we are not looking in the right places or not staying focused in seeing what’s right in front of your face…we just need to slow down and open our eyes, I think we’d all be amazed at what we find. So when you made the transition into Reverse Mortgages as the area you wanted to focus, what did you find? What can you tell us is your biggest accomplishment?
Xavier Ramirez: Well, what I’ve found is that there are a lot of misconceptions in Reverse Mortgages…for example, one huge myth is that if a Reverse Mortgage is taken out, the home is no longer owned by the homeowner or that the government can take it over at any time….This is completely false…First off, the home is always deeded to the homeowner, the government is only involved simply because it’s considered an FHA insured loan.
Here’s a quick and easy example of what a Reverse Mortgage might look like:
Let’s say you have a home worth $500,000, and you owe $300,000 and the homeowner just turned 62 and live on a fixed income and would love to get a Reverse to eliminate their mortgage payment. A typical scenario would be this: First, the existing mortgage would be paid off, next, we can give the borrower cash out, a lump sum amount of funds that they can do anything they want, maybe payoff a car loan or high interest credit cards and maybe take a long vacation, somewhere they have always wanted to go…Then in addition to that we can set up a $50,000 line of credit so the homeowner can tap into for emergencies or virtually anything they need going forward. Now, since there are no mortgage payments being made, there is still interest that gets accrued just like any mortgage loan and that amount gets added to the principal balance which increases the balance. But remember, on average houses appreciate annually at 4%, and the fact that the mortgage balance is increasing it is still being offset by that annual appreciation. Now, let’s say they live in the home for another 30 years, since no payments were ever made, just the property taxes and insurance of course right… But let’s say in another example the property after 30 years looked like this…Let’s say when you pass away you owe $500,000 and the value of the home is only $400,000. That’s where the FHA insurance kicks in. The lender is made whole. They’ll come in and pay the difference of what your heirs will then sell the house for. Or, your heirs will have up to a year to refinance the property at 95% of the current market value. So they can keep the home for future generations to live in. So all in all, with the Reverse Mortgage you’re simply utilizing the current and future equity which ultimately is real money that is being used now rather than only being able to otherwise tap into when the property is sold or refinanced of which a payment would be required and a Reverse mortgage is Not required! Amazing isn’t it? It really is a no-brainer, why wouldn’t anyone not want to take advantage of such a great program designed specifically for seniors to allow them the breathing room when they are now living on a fixed income. They’ve been making mortgage payments their whole life and now those huge payments can go away! Now, keep in mind, the homeowner can still make the payment if they wish at any time…think about it though…rather than send the money to the bank to pay down the mortgage balance, why not put those funds in your bank acct and have it accrue interest instead of the bank accruing the interest? So in a way you’re are acting like a bank, you see so rather than paying the note down, you’re stocking away those funds in your bank where YOU have access to it…Access to YOUR equity!! Does that make sense?
