American Advisors Group (AAG)

I signed the application on the 26th of December and Earl, the gentleman, said that it did not bother him the least. He came on that day and I told him I was sorry that I didn't even think when we made the appointment. I wouldn't have messed up his holiday and he said it did not. He lives in this county and he did it. He told me that the appraisal would be set up and then, it would be done. He did a good job.

I'm now waiting for the mortgage appraisal. I had waited since the 26th up until yesterday, which is the 10th of January. I called Mark and asked him if he heard anything from the appraisal and he said no. He talked to the department that was doing the appraisals. We had snow, but it was on the grass and roofs of the buildings here. The roads were passable. It wasn't bad but I don't know whether the man just didn't want to come out in the snow or what happened. I didn't hear anything from him today and I would like to get this thing done by the end of the month at the latest, if possible. I'm not mad about it but they could be timelier in doing that.

It took me a while to get it. At first, I was all for it. But I was listening to many people saying to go with the equity loan because I would not be getting much with a reverse mortgage. I had to apologize to my loan officer Andrea because she was trying everything that she could to explain to me and let me know to hold on. I was concerned about how much I was getting at first. Then I was nervous that I won't be able to pay off the credit card because during this time, I had my carport checked into and there was a problem with it. I didn't know how much money that was going to cost. I started questioning why I should get this equity loan and I talked to somebody.

But then Andrea called me back and told me that the appraiser went through and this would be more than I would be getting from the equity loan if I took it. Plus, I would have all this interest and all this other stuff going through. First of all, it gets me out of debt. I can stay in my home, and with the repairs, it will be great. Also, I don't want to move anymore. She took the time to reassure me and that was something that I valued right from the very beginning. She was still there for me and that was one thing I liked about it. I felt comfortable with her. This would be the best thing for me and I decided to go through with it.

American Advisors Group was really great and I couldn't believe how fast everything went. There was no beating around the bush type of thing. When I was working with my equity loan, since I've taken off two loans from them since I've been here, sometimes they'll say one thing, and then the next thing, it was something totally different. I didn't see that when I dealt with Andrea. There was a number that was on one of the papers that she sent to me, and I didn't understand it. When I called her, she told me which paper to look at and explained everything to me. That is somebody that cares.

My loan officer is a really good guy. He answers my calls, returns my calls and emails, and he's in communication with me whenever I need it. AAG's service is perfectly acceptable. There were just a few minor, insignificant things that happen all the time. The appraiser didn't call me like he was supposed to before we did the appraisal so I don't know what the results of the appraisal are yet. I called them yesterday because I heard they've already gone out. And because of COVID, they can't actually go in the house. I wanted them to understand that this is not just an old house. It's 100% new construction, everything except for the foundations. And even when the foundations had work on it, everything is new. I've already put a considerable amount.

I put my retirement savings, my 401K that I had, I had put in the proceeds from the sale of my mobile home. I've put quite a bit of my own money into it, maybe $10,000 short of finishing. That's why I was wanting the loan. The value of the property is secured more than 100% because it's only like a 50% loan-to-value. He just says, “Oh, this is a 1940, 1,000 square foot cottage.” I only wanted the appraiser to base the appraisal off new construction cost per square foot for new construction. He had already completed the appraisal. He didn't call me before he came out.

I called AAG and I said, “You guys already have the appraisal.” They said, “No, we don't have it.” So, there's a miscommunication somewhere between the two. I don't know who's the problem, but I'm a little nervous. I should hear today what the appraisal came in at. Hopefully, it came in enough to cover what we need. Our market’s crazy right now. Even if they have to reduce the loan amount a little bit, that's no big deal.

I told quite a few people what I'm doing, and I get the same comments that I had from people when I was working for a bank like, “Oh, they're gonna take your house, and there won't be anything left for your kids.” I have to work twice as hard to dispel the rumors and the fears that people have about reverse mortgages, but I recommend AAG.

There were times when our rep said one thing that we agreed to. I didn't have all the money to put up for the frontal costs. At the time that we made the loan papers and signed them, he said they would take care of it on the backside of the loan. Then I got calls telling me I needed to pay for $500 for appraisal and I have to pay the notary and the counseling fee. We're on a fixed income and I started paying these things. Then they said I have to pay the insurance and taxes when they're due until we get to closing. I just made a payment for my homeowners fire insurance and it's taken all my money away. Usually, I don't have to pay these things until March. But I had to pay it now to prove to them that I'm paying for these things before we go into closing.

I didn't have money for the appraisal. The rep had to discuss it with his manager in order to see if we could just do this $500 on the back end of the loan. He called me up the other day and left the message to say that he talked to the manager and it would be okay if we use the $500 on the backside of it. But it just gets a little aggravating. I thought it’d run a little bit smoother when he promised that it would be taken care of on the backside of the loan but he's calling me up every other week asking me when can I pay this amount or that amount. I'm having problems with my budget ‘cause I’m on Social Security. Now I have these payment that I have to make.

Hopefully, everything will work out. Right now, we're in the process of getting all the copies ready. We had to wait for Social Security copies and for a Social Security card that was misplaced. We just finally got them and we're sitting down tonight with the printer and starting to print these things off and mail it to AAG. But I would still recommend them to a friend. It's a good program. If you have money to pay for the closing costs upfront, it's not so much of a hassle.

There were more costs than I expected there to be, but AAG is still better than being tied to a home equity line of credit that would take me years and years to pay off. I wanted to get rid of that financial stress. I don’t have any heirs to speak of, just nephews and nieces, and so using the equity of my home instead of scrimping and saving and praying it'll last till the pay date next payday seemed like it was time to go that way.

Anthony reassured me though that they would never sell the mortgage and that they would service it until I passed and yet, I just signed some documents yesterday, and one of them was that there was a possibility that they would sell the mortgage. So, that made me unhappy. Also, they’re using the title company that is owned 49% by the president of AAG, so I wasn’t sure I liked that because I don’t know if he would be likely to charge more than a local title company would. Even though I won’t be paying the cost because that would just be added to the principal loan amount, still, it means that I will have less equity if I ever sell the home or because I need to move somewhere else for my health. I would see until the loan closes and I'll find out whether or not it still goes as smoothly as it has been going.