422 The Esplanade, St Leonards, has a rare dual water frontage.

A California bungalow relocated from Melbourne to a bayside property with dual water frontages could prove an asset or liability.

Buyers will have to roll up their sleeves to complete the vendor’s unfinished vision of a renovated character home on St Leonards’ front row.

The house is uninhabitable in its current state but comes with a 2021sq m block on a narrow strip of land between Port Phillip Bay and Salt Lagoon that offers a big upside.

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The stumps and the roof have been take care of – the rest is up to you.

Stockdale & Leggo, Drysdale agent Daniel Lamanna said the $1.45m to $1.55m listing price essentially reflected the land value of property at 422 The Esplanade, St Leonards.

He said while the bungalow had beautiful character it was not yet at lockup stage, with only the stumping and roofing completed, along with some of the plumbing work.

Inside, the original lath and plaster walls have fallen off.

“It obviously requires a lot of work and all the plans and permits are in place with council,” Mr Lamanna said.

“The removalists have gotten it to this point where they have met their obligations and they have now completed what needs to be done to move the home there. Now it’s a case of the owner completing this beautiful renovation.

The property has bayside walking trails on its doorstep.

The 2021sq m block offers lots of space to extend into the back garden or subdivide, subject to council approval.

“His plans have changed so now we have half an acre on the waterfront with a property that the house may or may not add value.

“We have really priced it at land value and really added no value for the house because its either going to be an asset or a liability for someone so we are really leaving it for the buyers to make a decision on that.”

A 23m frontage opens the door to a potential two-lot subdivision, several of which have already been constructed along that stretch of The Esplanade, subject to council approval.

The vendor had originally planned to make the relocated house liveable with a view to undertaking a larger renovation down the track.

Either way, the new owners will get to enjoy sweeping water views, with sunrises over the bay and sunsets over the lake.

Mr Lamann said there had been strong inquiry during the first week of the campaign, with several potential buyers weighing up their options to add value to the site.

The post Half done bungalow relocation dangles dual water frontage carrot appeared first on realestate.com.au.

Equity release — a class of financial products that involve unlocking home equity and converting it into cash flow — currently has global annual volume of roughly $17 billion.

This class includes reverse mortgage products in the U.S., the United Kingdom and elsewhere, but a European equity release authority projects that volume will more than triple over the next 10 years.

By 2035, annual global home equity release volume will reach $56 billion, according to data released last month by the European Pensions and Property Asset Release Group (EPPARG) and Ernst & Young (EY).

The data was picked up by U.K.-based news outlet Mortgage Solutions, and the source report refers to reverse mortgages as “lifetime mortgages.”

The biggest market for equity release over the next decade, the report projects, will be the U.S. It predicts that volume in America will grow from $5.5 billion to $14.2 billion during that period.

Growth barriers described in the report are familiar to those operating in the U.S. reverse mortgage industry. The report lists such factors as lack of knowledge and/or awareness, constrained funding, elevated interest rates and other “market-specific barriers” inside various nations.

The chief priority for the industry at large is educational in nature, according to the report’s survey results.

“The most common theme was that respondents would like increased awareness; some regions suggested this could be done via promoting equity release as a viable retirement planning option through advisors and to reduce the sentiment that equity release is a last resort,” the report explained.

“Responses suggested increased awareness among institutions would help to break down misconceptions about the products available.”

In a statement to Mortgage Solutions, National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) President Steve Irwin offered his thoughts on the projections for the U.S. market.

“Ensuring a safe and financially secure retirement for our aging populations is something governments across the globe are aspiring to through public and private sector innovation,” Irwin said.

“The monetization of home equity is one solution that continues to gain traction as indicated through this very important report. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with EPPARG to share and explore best practices for monetizing home equity for this critically important endeavor,” he added.

Rachel Gustafson serves as a certified financial planner with the Financial Investment Team, a firm based in Portland, Oregon. Over the course of a 12-year career in the field, she has a specialty for helping her clients figure out the best and most efficient ways to retire.

When reverse mortgages first showed up on her radar, she found herself with a natural aversion to them, according to an interview with HousingWire’s Reverse Mortgage Daily (RMD). Incorporating such products was not a natural step, especially considering that her mentor in the space already seemed to be cautious about them.

But her attitude changed, she said, when she got a closer look at what the product is and what it can do. Today, she does recommend reverse mortgages for clients when she thinks they can be an appropriate fit in specific situations.

Journey to understanding

When asked if she was open to incorporating reverse mortgages into her clients’ retirement plans, Gustafson explained that it was not exactly her first choice. But after learning more about them from some friends who were reverse mortgage specialists, she decided to take the initiative to learn more about a product she had been dismissing out of hand.

“My mentor financial adviser was very much against them, so it was really on me to learn more about them,” she said. “I have a couple of referral specialists that I work with when I am getting into that reverse mortgage space, when I have a client that I think might be a good option for it. I don’t use it with everyone, because one of the things that we talk about is, what is important to you?”

Gustafson was part of Business Network International (BNI) at one point early in her career,  and her group included a reverse mortgage specialist. Still fresh from her mentor’s reverse mortgage opposition, she befriended the specialist in her group and began her educational understanding of the product category at that point.

She learned about the wave of regulatory changes and consumer protections that have been steadily added to the product over the past decade. Having some real success stories shared with her increased her confidence in recommending the product, she explained.

“His sharing of real-life experiences around what clients were using it for helped push me into learning more about the space and being more open to it,” Gustafson said. “And he introduced me to other advisers who were using it.

“You don’t always want to be the first person to jump off a ledge, so to speak, but talking to other advisers who were actually using it and showing that it was successful, and then being able to help clients achieve certain goals that they wouldn’t have been able to without a reverse, that’s what led me to learning more about it and being open to it.”

Best-use cases

If the objectives raised in conversations include leaving assets or property to heirs, a reverse mortgage might not be the best choice. But Gustafson has identified a couple of use cases that fit a bit better with a client’s needs.

“Where I use it the most is when I have clients who really want to retire early, but maybe they don’t have the cash flow for it,” she said. “Either eliminating the mortgage payment or even creating cash flow. Often, your home is your largest asset. But doing a lot of education around how there have been a lot of changes in the reverse mortgage space, and bringing in specialists who can speak to it, helps a lot.”

Encountering resistance is common, she said. But in one active instance, she was able to help a client retire early who otherwise could not have afforded it due to ongoing forward mortgage payment obligations.

“We were able to eliminate the mortgage payment so they could retire early, and they don’t have any children,” she explained. “They weren’t concerned about leaving the equity in the home to anyone. If you don’t need to leave it to anyone, and you have enough resources, it becomes more viable.

“A lot of people still look at their homes as their long-term care policy, and so working through stress testing around what the client’s needs are is helpful, and I’ve also used it in situations where we’re doing some tax planning.”

While she estimates that less than 10% of her clients make use of reverse mortgages, she still thinks this demonstrates its utility as a tool to accomplish specific goals.

While her recommendation figure is estimated to be slightly higher at about 15% of clients, less than 10% “actually follow through,” partially because of the industry’s ongoing reputational challenges.

“I would say that that number will probably continue to increase as we’re working with clients who are looking for that tax-free cash flow,” Gustafson said. “Or they really want to retire early. There’s more and more of those that are wanting to retire early, and the cost of living is just really high.”

Class Valuation has launched a new appraisal review product designed to bring greater clarity and oversight to residential valuations.

The new tool, Class Valuation Analysis (CVA), offers licensed appraiser-led reviews of existing appraisal reports by incorporating automated valuation model (AVM) technology.

“In today’s market, uncertainty is expensive, and lenders can’t afford to second-guess their valuation data,” John Fraas, CEO of Class Valuation, said in a statement. “Class Valuation Analysis delivers what our partners need most — clarity, confidence and compliance — especially when making high-stakes trading decisions tied to mortgage servicing rights.”

CVA is structured to comply with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice and is intended for use across various stages of the loan life cycle. These include forensic appraisal reviews, internal control audits, construction validation and post-board evaluations required by the government-sponsored enterprises.

Each CVA review includes a risk-based assessment by a licensed appraiser, validation of key report components such as comparables and adjustments, and a final report intended to support mortgage lending decisions.

The company added that its CVA process meets due-diligence and review standards recognized by major credit rating agencies.

“By combining licensed expertise, AVM-backed analysis and actionable reporting, CVA helps our clients validate collateral quality and mitigate risk across the loan lifecycle,” Fraas said.