The purchase reverse mortgage program allows retirees to buy a new home with the added benefit of never having to make a monthly mortgage payment for as long as they live in the home. (The homeowner must maintain current property taxes and insurance during the life of the loan.)
This means that retirees can buy a home using a reverse mortgage instead of a traditional mortgage. So retirees who wanted to purchase a new home but who do not have good credit, a steady income or were not comfortable with making monthly mortgage payments at this stage in life, can now do so with a reverse mortgage purchase loan.
Many retirees are looking for a home that suits their lifestyle and needs. With this new program, retirees may choose to downsize into a smaller home.
If you are a retiree who qualifies for the program, now is the best time to begin looking for your new home!
Paul Vanderwall said he's proud of the transformation his company's inserts can make to traditional masonry fireplaces.
"You may have a house you're planning to stay in a while. It's old and it's dated. We can update both the look and the efficiency of your fireplace."
Paul is co-owner of Vanderwall Brothers, south of Muskegon on Grand Haven Road. He said a properly installed insert can increase a fireplace's performance from 15% to 25% efficiency to as much as 90% efficiency.
"Then we can use cultured stone to reface it," he explained. "So now you've added value to your house, so if there comes a time when it does come up for sale, it will be a selling point.
"Plus, while you're living in your house you get to enjoy your investment."
Paul said the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is offering up to $1,500 in tax credits for qualified fireplace inserts and other products to improve your home.
"This is an investment that, when you use it, will pay you back. Especially wood or pellet." Paul said the fuel for pellet stoves is pelletized wood, "a very green product." Units are attractive and easy to use with little maintenance required.
Paul installed a pellet insert into a masonry fireplace at his own home and is using pellets for 100% of his home heating. "My heat bills are way down."
Paul also recommends gas inserts to enhance traditional fireplaces. "People put them in and, now, they're running their fireplace every day. You don't have to mess with the wood, you're not bringing bugs and dirt into the house, you just flip a switch and you're on your way."
Fireplaces are known for inefficiency, said Paul. "Anything masonry, anything open faced, if you can reach in and touch the flame, it is very inefficient. With the gas product, we take outside air and downburn it, then take it back up. So it makes it very efficient delivering outside air."
Fireplaces can warm every room of the house, with traditional or modern looks. "There are a lot of ventless that hang on the wall, very architectural, an HGTV look," said Paul. Glass fireplaces are becoming popular, without logs, with a colorful ember bed of glass.
"There are plenty of products in here. That's one thing we bring to the table is our variety of choices."
"It's a win-win situation for everyone," said Gina. "Customers can get store credit from us for many models and we help reduce the hazardous waste that ends up in landfills."
Nationally, only 10% of the 140 million cellphones replaced each year are recycled, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. If consumers recycled their old cellphones the U.S. could save enough manufacturing energy to power more than 18,500 homes for a year.
"People just don't think about it, and when they do they don't know where to go to recycle their phones," Gina explained. "We make it easy."
Cellphones contain valuable metals and plastics that are easily reused. They can also contain lead and chromium, dangerous substances that shouldn't end up in the local landfill.
"Many old phones still have plenty of life," said Gina. "The company we work with passes working units on to those who can't afford to buy one."
Recycle your old model and get store credit at the GH Wireless or GH Cellular store closest to you, Gina suggested. "It'll only take a few minutes and you'll be doing your part for the environment."