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From the Truth about Mortgages Series
Hurricane Season Begins June 1st.  Is Your Home Equity Safe?
By Robert D. Ashby, CMPS
Solid Rock Mortgage

PEMBROKE PINES, FL – At this time of year, Florida residents begin to prepare for the hurricane season.  We receive many advertisements and preparation lists to help us in our planning.  But what about protecting the equity in our homes?

There are only a few Floridians who have taken the necessary steps to prepare their homes’ equity for a potential disaster.  They have taken out a new mortgage that allows them to increase their liquidity and keep the money in a safe investment just in case another disaster happens like Katrina, Rita, and Wilma last year.

While the chance of having an active hurricane season like last year, or even worse, is relatively low, you cannot rule out the danger.  Today, many Floridians are learning from the families that lost most of their money last year because it was “stored” in their homes. 

Senator Trent Lott, of Mississippi, is one of them.  Senator Lott lost his home during Katrina last year and stated he lost $400,000 due to the storm, representing half of his retirement “nest egg”.  He is still fighting with the insurance company to receive the funds necessary to rebuild the house, after he settles; he has to wait in line to have his house rebuilt, a process that could take years, before he can take out his equity in the shape of a mortgage.  If he had taken out a loan prior to the storm, he would have cash in the bank to keep paying his families’ living expenses and would be able to recover quicker.

After Rita moved through Port Arthur, TX, Mayor Oscar Ortiz had his house burn to the ground.  Do you think he said that he was happy he just paid of his house?  Well, he actually said, “the sad thing is, we just paid off the house”.  Will Floridians be saying something similar if another hurricane hits this great state?

Floridians must decide if they would rather have $100,000 in home equity or $100,000 in the bank.  If they choose the latter, they are probably going to be better off.  They will have cash on hand to get them through any financial crisis that may arise and can live with less stress knowing that they can pay the bills for a long period of time, even without any income. 

Remember, if you have all of your money in home equity, you will not be able to obtain a loan if a disaster hits.  A mortgage is a loan against your ability to repay and the house must be in saleable condition for the lender to accept it as collateral.  Many Americans have lost their equity after disasters because they were unable to make their mortgage payments and defaulted on the loan.  Floridians need to prevent this from happening by acting now, before the next storm hits.

For more information on home equity not being a safe investment, contact Robert D. Ashby, Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist, at (954) 432-3450 or visit www.solidrockmortgage.com.  Properly managing equity and debt makes all the difference.

About the author:  Robert D. Ashby is President of Solid Rock Mortgage, a licensed Mortgage Brokerage Business in the state of Florida.  He has been in the financial services business since 1998 and obtained his Series 6 and 63 Securities Licenses as well as Life and Health Insurance Licenses in the state of Virginia.  He moved to Florida in 2002 and decided to focus solely on mortgages, obtaining his Mortgage Broker License for Florida in 2003 and then opening Solid Rock Mortgage in 2004.  He has become Florida’s first Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist and Florida’s Debt and Equity Management Expert.