American Advisors Group (AAG)

Suzy is extremely upbeat and very available. I called her after reading whatever and then I’d call her for more clarification. She's extremely knowledgeable and has a good attitude. For my situation, she said it was a perfect one, which I already knew because I'd already thought about it. She also explained other alternatives and ways to do it. Suzy was able to put things out there and her comments didn't lean one way or another. I'm still good with the decision that I made initially.

You get a false sense from the communication in the commercials about how the exact process works. I came into it with AAG with a certain set of expectations. My expectation was that I was gonna get 80% of the value of my house but that's not the reality. Even though I was disappointed, I understood what was going on, how they came to that percentage, how they came up with the interest rates, and how the whole process works. If you pay back in and it goes to this and then you get additional funds through this process, you can claim more and you don't get it all at once. I asked why and they said it was because of this and this.

Suzy went into quite a bit of depth about the average person and maybe somebody that wasn't a businesswoman like I was years ago, and that somebody could be scammed. We went through a whole scenario of things. She made it very clear why things are the way they are. I was very satisfied with what she said, even though at the time I was expecting more. I was accepting of the answer that she gave me and I understood it.

Jamila was great. The HUD representative was fine. That was a phone interview. And there was a supervisor that was above Jamila that I talked to just a few times. The only thing that I would say American Advisors Group could do better, which the contractor said that they've told AAG a thousand times, is that if there's a set aside on a repair, then by all truth, they should tell the people the process of what has to happen.

Because I've done three email sessions for the people in the repair section of the department to prove that I had the repairs done. They said they have 30 days, which they do by law, to have the documents sent to the loaner or the mortgage holder. But by then, I didn't know I had to wait for a form. I didn't know that I had to previously get the person that was a contractor pre-approved. So, after waiting two months to get my house painted, I got it painted, then I got the documents and found out that I should have done all this and that. And I had to call the painter who doesn't know me from Adam, a couple of times to get him to try to come back and fill out a form, which is a legal form about a lien. And he didn't even want to answer my calls after the third time because it's like stalking. I had already paid him, he didn't know why I kept calling him to come out.

How that part of the process works should be in the initial packet of description. AAG is very descriptive. There are 71 pages that came out initially and I took the time to read them, but that's not in there. So, they should add it there about set-asides that's not in there so nothing is a surprise to the person. Because I could have done the work myself. There's a form for that. But that's not how the process works regardless because I still had to get the forms, whoever filled it in, whether it was the contractor that I hired or myself, and send that to AAG in those different formats, and wait for them to send the appraiser to come back out and look the work over.

AAG is very good at all the paperwork that they send out and I got two copies of a lot of things, the 71-page booklet and something else. So, they aren't shy on printing things. So, add all the other things that they didn't add. And when the repair department called me to follow up with me, that wasn't as pleasant as an experience because the form should go out. As soon as you close alone, they should send out those booklets and forms so you know what you're dealing with. It could have been a repair person that came from out of state and there was no way in heaven they would sign a form that is a legal form. Until the third time I spoke to department of repair, I didn't know that the form was designed so the person in contract said they wouldn't sue and put a lien on my home. I thought it was just for me to prove that I did the repair. So, AAG should be more upfront with that.

But even with all the papers that I received, Carol, the counselor, gave me numbers for this and that. I had a moment over the holiday weekend to be quiet and go over everything. And I decided that the interest rate on the monies that I would get at the beginning of the 12-month period for so much money and the closing cost that I could pay at the end whenever I decided to close out the loan or sell my house, the benefits for me didn't outweigh me to just stay where I am.

At this moment, nobody receives what my condo association is talking about very well. So I don't know what's going to come of that, and I'll just have to play it ear by ear to see, but to pay interest on monies I'm borrowing and monies that are owed for a closing costs, and the loan itself at the end of whatever, or I could just not do anything and pay at the release of my home if I decided to sell it, or to be able to say, “Okay. I've got this to take care so I'm not going to pay anything on the AAG loan this month,” the interest is still piling up. And that bothered me because at the end of the day, they could have quite a bit of equity in my house.

I even spoke to somebody that does a bit of work with HUD. And she said, “It's a good program, but I don't know if this is for you. You need to stop and really look at that.” But AAG kept telling me, “Take your time and go over everything. And it's your decision to make.” They did explain it to me. I got a great education. I understand it completely now. I told Tyler that I'm holding on to all of the papers. And if there comes a point where I need this more than I don't, I will call him back again.

The big thing though is on the appraisal on the house. I pretty much know the market value already but the rep had set up for an appraiser to come out. My son wanted to be there when that happens so if the guy has any questions, it’s easier for him to answer for me on my house. And I wouldn’t be comfortable anyway. But we went round and round, because my son works and he was to request time off. There was one reason after another why the appraiser couldn’t come. The dates didn’t work out. We called about five times but they didn't return my calls. Finally, the apparaiser's wife called me and said, “Okay, are we still on for Friday?” And that was Thursday. I said, “No. I’ve been trying to call you, you’re not returning our calls.” And she said, “Well, I didn’t get any message."

I complained to my loan officer and he said he'd talk to the appraiser. He was upset to what they did. He got this second guy right away, who called me Monday, last week. That was another week we had to wait. So, June 1st, they have agreed that my son will be available. He’s gonna take off half a day, and the appraiser is gonna be there. We’ll see how that works out.

Another upsetting thing is it was $600. My loan officer said that they’re totally separate. It was ridiculous, to come and check out the house for 30 minutes. My son was tremendously upset, not at just the first appraiser, but the second appraiser too, because he had put him off too. I asked the second person if I had to pay him again. He said no, that American Advisors Group would. I thought that was extremely overpriced.

So I called our advisor and told him about it. He said that he was sorry and that he couldn’t control what the office did. He had them send me another one, but I haven’t got the other one. Other than that, I've been to the counseling session and it was worth every penny of my $125. The fellow that did it for us was very slow and deliberate, answered every question that we had, and made sure that in every step of the line, we understood what he was saying. So after the call, both my wife and I felt like we had a much better understanding on what a reverse mortgage is as well as the strengths or weaknesses of it, and it was an excellent review.

We’ve also learned some information in this process that was new to us. I researched reverse mortgages, even before I made the call to AAG, to review them and try to understand as much as I could about them. I still have more questions to ask, but that won't happen until I'm given an actual contract at some point down the road and I will be reviewing that. But I would make sure that people understood what this is and see if it's right for you. I would also tell people that some of the horror stories that they've heard about it, at least so far as I've learned, are just bad horror stories.