A reverse mortgage sounds like the ideal solution for many homeowners today. The concept has been in existence for decades although rarely used. Most of today’s real estate and finance professionals don’t even understand what these are or how to apply for them.
However, when the economy took a severe hit, the housing market collapsed and the reverse mortgage became popular once again – probably more popular than ever before. When people started talking about it again, there were still many misconceptions as to the purpose and who would qualify. Many homeowners are saddened to learn that the minimum age for qualifying is 62 because this was originally started to help elderly on fixed incomes.
The name is an exact representation of what it really is: instead of you paying the mortgage each month to the lender, the lender pays you.
Your home will need to be appraised. For anyone who purchased their home years and years ago, in today’s market that might not be a problem; the house has increased in value and is worth significantly more than when you purchased it when your children were born.
After the lender receives the appraisal, they will then take your age into consideration. These two factors will help them decide your exact payment. Once your final payment amount is decided you can figure out if you want one large check or a series of monthly payments. Many people like the lump sum payment so they can invest the entire amount and hope for some type of return.
One of the benefits of this type of loan, and it is a loan!, is that you can stay in your house until you pass away. It’s still your house; you haven’t transferred ownership to the bank.
You also need to make sure you keep paying for your house insurance and real estate taxes. Remember – the only thing that has changed is you no longer have a mortgage payment. Everything else remains the same.
Even though you have been “paid” for your home, you still retain legal ownership. The bank doesn’t own your house. When you die your family can sell your home and repay the loan. If the sales price is less than the loan amount, there is a government backed insurance policy on the home / loan that was paid for at closing. This pays the difference between the original loan amount and the selling price.
If you home sells for less than amount of the reverse mortgage, no problem. When you passed papers you paid for a government backed insurance policy that will pay the lender for any difference in the loan and the final sales price.
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