Susan Martini, 67, lives in Monument, CO, halfway between Colorado Springs and Denver, where she works part-time as a registered nurse and cardiac device specialist.
“I’ve been a nurse for over 40 years,” says Susan. “I worked in the open-heart intensive care unit for many years. Now, everything is virtual. I can monitor patients’ pacemakers and defibrillators from my home.”
Susan is originally from Chicago, but she moved to Colorado 28 years ago to be closer to her mother. “I love it here. It immediately felt like home,” she says.
In 2012, Susan married Arthur Martini, a retired U.S. Air Force officer and school district administrator. They bought their dream home situated on 2.5 acres, which was perfect for Aspen, their golden retriever, and Murphy, a compassionate goldendoodle.
“Our home was built in 2000, and it’s a big house,” Susan says. “We were always making improvements, like adding an outside fireplace, or replacing appliances.”
Sadly, in 2020, Arthur suddenly passed away. The income he received from the Air Force and school district soon went away, leaving Susan living on one income to pay the mortgage and maintain the home.
“I went from feeling secure, and then he passed away, and it was all up in the air,” Susan adds.
The last thing she wanted to do was leave the home that she loved and the neighbors who she adored.
“I looked at downsizing, but there’s no housing inventory out there right now, and the cost to buy even a small home has increased a lot,” Susan says.
A friend who was knowledgeable about reverse mortgages referred her to local reverse mortgage specialist Kevin Guttman, CRMP, of C2 Financial Corp.
Susan’s home was appraised at $525,000 in 2012 when she and Arthur bought it. By 2021, the home was valued at $760,000. After consulting with Guttman, Susan pursued a private-label reverse mortgage that allowed her to pay off the existing mortgage and eliminate the monthly mortgage payment that she could no longer afford.
While most reverse mortgages made in the U.S. are insured through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program, there is a growing market for private-label or proprietary reverse mortgages, which are backed by the mortgage companies that offer them.
Consumers don’t pay mortgage insurance as part of the upfront and ongoing costs, making them less expensive in many cases compared with the HECM.
Many of the same consumer protections that can be found in HECMs are also found in private-label reverse mortgages, including mandatory counseling. Private-label reverse mortgages also have higher lending limits of up to $4 million, and they can be made on properties that are ineligible for FHA financing.
“Reverse mortgages sometimes get a bad rap, but the one I got allowed me to stay in my home,” says Susan.