Sept/Oct 2021 Reverse Mortgage Magazine

Those We Help BILL BATDORF and his wife, Elaine, who are both in their late 70s, live in a lovely home on the shores of Apple Valley Lake, near the town of Howard, OH. The nearest city, Columbus, is about an hour away. “We just celebrated our 50th anniversary last year,” says Bill. “It’s a long story, but we met after a friend told me I should call her.” They both had successful professional careers—Bill was an engineer for 35 years and Elaine was a high school teacher—but the costs of maintaining their home had become a challenge. When he was 59, Bill’s employer—a company that made large engines and compressors for the oil and gas industry—downsized, and Bill was let go. Worse still, Bill was informed by management that he would not be getting a pension. “It was a discouraging situation to be out of work at that age and without a pension,” Bill says. There were no engineering jobs close by, so for the next couple of years he started an antiques business and was a college shuttle driver, both fun jobs but they did not provide sufficient income. The Batdorfs considered downsizing, but Elaine was against it. She loved interior decorating and had spent 25 years sprucing up every square inch of their home. Bill enjoyed antiquing and had furnished the place with items he had spotted while operating his antiques business. “We owned this house outright and desperately didn’t want to give it up,” Bill says. Bill was talking with his insurance agent one day and by chance asked him whether he knew anybody who offered reverse mortgages. The insurance agent referred Reverse Mortgage Helps Couple Keep Their Lakefront Home A Refinance Helped Along the Way, Too By Darryl Hicks 32 REVERSE MORTGAGE / SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2021