Jeff Hudson of Elderlife Financial Services joins us to explain bridge loans—what they are, who can benefit from them, and how they can help make the transition to a senior living community much faster and easier when time is of the essence.
Video Transcript
- Hello everybody and welcome to "Senior Living Live." My name is Melissa, thank you so much for being with us here today. Well, we have run the gamut of topics and one that we haven't covered, at least in a really long time is bridge loans. And so today we're gonna take a deep dive into bridge loans, what they are, how they can help. They're geared towards seniors and the guy that's gonna help us do that is Jeff Hudson. You see him right here. Jeff, hi, thank you so much for being with us.
- Yeah, thanks Melissa. I appreciate the opportunity today.
- Yeah, well let's first, before we dive into this topic, let's talk a little bit about yourself and Elder Life Financial.
- Yeah. Great. Well, obviously my name's Jeff Hudson. I've been with Elder Life Financial now for a little over four years as the director of sales operations. A little bit about Elder Life. We've been around for over 22 years helping seniors with the transition into senior living and understanding their best ways to pay for increased care. We've been proud partners of Arbor companies for the last 11 years and each month we're helping thousands of families really understand which resources are available based off of their unique situation and are available to bring down their cost of rent and care. What Elder Life specializes in is this short term bridge loan that'll provide funds to a family to move a loved one in immediately while they're waiting for other resources to begin. From a personal standpoint, my grandparents played a huge role in raising me in my life. And they're a big reason I love working with this industry. You know, I saw firsthand my parents struggle with transitioning them into a senior living community. So I love the opportunity to help families that were in the same situation that my family was in just a few years ago.
- Yeah and we love it when our guests come on and they have that personal experience, because it really helps on the career side of things when they're in something that they've navigated on their own in their own personal life. So thank you for that. And as we're talking bridge loans we know that this can really be a lifeline for many people. When we have individuals who have to make decisions very quickly, moving to an assisted living community, there's an emergency. So tell us exactly what a bridge loan is and how it it can help.
- Yeah. Yeah unfortunately, it's not uncommon for a senior to experience a quick downturn in health or a sudden medical issue. And they really need to move into a senior living community right away. So even if that senior has a long term plan, to pay for these increased care expenses it can be difficult to afford the upfront expenses of moving a loved one. You know, especially when you consider the first couple months of rent and care at the community. An initial community fee, paying moving expenses or even repairs to the home prior to listing it and selling it. These expenses can become an upfront burden on the senior and their loved ones. And that's exactly where the bridge loan comes in and why it was created. It's gonna ease that transition for the family and it's gonna provide funds immediately so their loved one can pay for rent and care and receive the care they deserve today.
- Yeah, kudos to Elder Life for being the only organization to offer a bridge loan specifically for seniors. And that is, those are the people that are watching. So if you're looking at the end of this video for a bridge loan, you find out this is something you may need, these are the people that can help.
- Yeah, it's funny you say that, Melissa, we always like to say we're the only people that do it. So we don't know if that makes us crazy or genius. You know, it's one of the other but we've been helping families for a long time. So obviously there is a need out there.
- Absolutely. Absolutely. So then the question now is how do people get these funds? What criteria must someone meet in order for that money to be dispersed?
- Yeah. Great question. So Elder Life is actually the lender for the bridge loan, and this is great because we're lending our own money and all of the underwriting is done in house. That gives us the flexibility to really understand that family's unique situation, which will allow us to right size the bridge loan based off of their unique need. Additionally, what's different about the bridge loan is we can go from an initial conversation to a funded loan within 24 hours. That happens every single week as we talk about. Care needs happen quick, we need to be able to move fast to match that family's speed. And then whenever we're sending funds to pay for senior living and community expenses, we're gonna streamline that process and send the funds directly to the senior living community's bank account where that senior's living. So again, this is really making life easier for the family and the senior who's already living in the community and it provides that family time and flexibility to make the best financial decisions. And then in regards to eligibility for the bridge loan, since we are the lender, we have flexibility on the lending criteria as well as who's gonna qualify. Some basic guidelines we look for is an annual income over $40,000, a credit score greater than 650. And then the most important piece is really understanding how the borrowed funds will be repaid and what's their long term plan to pay for the senior living community going forward. You know, the most common would be the sale of the home or VA benefits being awarded.
- Yeah. That's a lot of great information there. And so somebody comes to you, they're qualified for the loan. And then the next question is, okay, what's the interest rate look like? What am I gonna pay in addition to the loan? So what are we looking at right now at this very point in time?
- Yeah. Great question. So our typical interest rate is 8.99%. And that comes out to $7.50 cents for every $1,000 borrowed. But keep in mind, you're only gonna pay interest on the funds that are borrowed and we're gonna right size each bridge loan based off that family's unique need. You know, again, the other good thing about being our own lender and lending our own money is our rates have not changed recently with the recent federal rate increases. So that's a good benefit as well.
- Yeah, that is great. And that's something that many people probably don't even think about. They think everything's tied to the federal, right. And in this case it's not. So that's actually really nice to hear. So Jeff, what are some reasons that people would want or need this kind of loan?
- Yeah. Your loved one needs care today, but they don't have their long term funds available yet. Or their long-term plan to pay is not in place. So for example, a senior might need to sell their home in order to pay for their senior living community. The real estate market has been incredibly hot recently. So families really wanna try to focus on maximizing the value of that senior's home. A fresh coat of paint on the walls, new carpet and selling a home that a senior's not living in is gonna provide a great ROI to really maximize that value. And then on the other end of the spectrum, as the real estate market cools the bridge loan's great because the family doesn't have to sell the house to an investor just to pay for their community right away. They can get the home listed and wait for their best offer in order to maximize that value. Another common example would be the families that utilize the bridge loan before VA benefits are awarded. You know, that's a great long term resource to pay for rent and care. However, it does take four to six months after applying to be awarded the benefit. So the sale of the home, VA benefits are the two most common examples. But really to keep it simple, if the senior needs care today and they do not yet have their long term resources to pay, the bridge loan is there to bridge the gap from the time that a senior needs care until the time that they can really afford care.
- Hence the name, right?
- Yeah.
- Yeah. Yeah. Now are there any downsides to a bridge loan?
- Yeah, that's another great question. I would really say the biggest downside to our bridge loan, is since the bridge loan is designed to cover a short term gap, the senior and the family will need to sell the home. That's really the only downside is, some families don't plan on selling the home, they wanna keep it within the family or pass it down through generations. I would say that's really the only downside when it comes to the bridge loan, because again, it's a short term bridge until those other resources come available.
- Gotcha. Gotcha. Now, if somebody has additional questions, they found this very interesting, how can they get in touch with you?
- Yeah. So they can give us a call at 228-4500. You're gonna be directly connected to a financial concierge on our team. You could also shoot an email to Arbor@elderlifefinancial.com. Or visit our website, elderlifefinancial.com. There's a couple different ways you can connect that way as well. But again, that phone number was 228-4500, or Arbor@elderlifefinancial.com.
- Jeff, great stuff. Very good information. And we appreciate you sharing all of that with our viewers here today.
- Yeah, absolutely. There's more resources out there beyond the bridge loan. So if you have any questions about what options or what's available, please don't hesitate to give us a call. We're here to help with that transition of your loved one.
- Yeah and we had Arbor love our relationship with Elder Life Financial. Jeff, thank you so much.
- Thanks a lot, Melissa. Have a great day.
- Yeah, you too. Now, if you, our viewer enjoyed this video or found it very informative with Jeff, head on over to our website, it's www.seniorlivinglive.com. There you can find many videos all about senior living available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And the best part, it's all free. Thank you so much for watching "Senior Living Live." Have a great day, everybody.
