I would have a hard time getting a home equity loan as I have very little income that is verifiable. I have a very good credit score. Is this the way to go? (I am over 65 yrs. and am living on a small SS check.)

You need to be aged 62 or older, the older you are the more you may borrow. Income is not a factor at all. If there is a mortgage existing, it must be paid off and replaced with the reverse mortgage. You essentially agree to borrow against the equity in your home. Most people arrange to receive a monthly payment and also establish an additional line of credit for emergencies, but you can take a lump sum as well. Interest rates adjust either yearly or monthly depending on the loan, and this affects the accruing debt. That debt then is paid out of the proceeds from the sale of the home when you leave it and sell it. "The debt will never exceed the value of the home, and you cannot be forced out to repay the debt." The insurance componant pays the gap should the house sell for less than the debt way down the road.

There are two basic types, and 90% choose the HEMC (Home Equity Conversion Mortgage) wherein your available line of credit can increase as your home equity increases. HEMC uses FHA loan limits for the debt upper limit.

Last, the article notes that upfront fees are significant, up to 5% of what you qualify to borrow and usually are rolled into the debt. And there are annual fees in addition to the interest. So there are significant costs. The loan requires you have financial counseling to insure you fully understand the loan. That counseling, plus the surge of interest in these loans, has created a bottleneck, so expect a wait before you see cash.

For more info, see the link below. Another useful info site is:

www.hud.gov/buying/reverse.cfm

And an AARP site again explaining everything is:

www.aarp.org/money/revmort

Hope this info helps and that you hear from people who actually have done this. Good luck to you.

Reverse mortgages are certainly worthwhile, but I believe they will be more expensive in this situation. Check on the other and let us know if you really can't get a loan.

Gloria

She had surgery and extensive nursing home rehabilatation, and then found she actually liked living in a small assisted living apartment (big room) at the nursing home. She finally had to decide if she wanted to go back to her home, or stay at the nursing home, forcing her to have to sell. She sold, and so far has no regrets.

I don't know what will happen on down the line, when she can no longer afford the assisted living. She may be forced into a small room with a room mate, which she might not care for.

Only time will tell.

Sue

The poster above mentioned a story where the Reverse Mortgage had a share appreciation clause, they no longer allow that type.

The FHA HECM is a great product, you should look into it. There is a ton of information on the AARP website, with some calculators that will show you how much money you could get.

Yes, it can be expensive if you want to leave the property to your heirs, but the heirs can eventually refinance the Reverse Mortgage to a regular mortgage if they want the property.

The original poster is over 65 and living on a small SSI check sounds like an ideal candidate. If her only income is a small SSI check, how could she repay a conventional Home Equity?

These products have evolved over the years .. there are a lot of banks offering these types of mortgages. The Reverse Mortgage market is growing in leaps and bounds as the Baby Boomers get older.

Do your research, there is a lot of information on the internet about Reverse Mortgages, and pick a reputable lender.

Good luck,
Pam

It's been almost 2 years since you made this post.

I'm wondering whether you found the information helpful, and what you decided to do, if you feel comfortable with sharing some of the information.

While reverse mortgages are useful for some, there are more expenses associated with setting them up, and a number of restrictions ... possibly higher ongoing costs, as well.

I have a bias, in that I like to run my own show.

Since you're on a farm, I suspect that you may well follow similar paths of thought.

I think that in a situation like yours, considering the amount of information that you have given, I would like to approach my financial agency to see whether I could set up a Home Equity Line of Credit with them.

I have never owned a home (as I've lived in about 22 locations in 79 years, the real estate people would have loved me, had I done so).

For several years I've had a Fully Secured Line of Credit, backed by mutual fund certificates, which the carriers issued to me at no extra charge, and stock certificates (which cost me $35. - 50.00 each to have registered).

There was no cost to set it up, but when using real estate as collateral, there usually are fees for inspection and evaluation, plus investigation regarding other liens and possibly lawyer's fees on such property when so used.

For most of the time I have let it lie unused, and they charge me no inactivity fees.

My credit limit varies depending on the current value of the underlying assets ... which is easily ascertained in the case of stocks and mutual funds, less so when one uses real estate as collateral. But long-term real estate values have risen in many areas: if I were to use a reverse mortgage, I'd want to know whether, had there been appreciation in value of the property in the intervening years prior to sale on my departure, whether that increased value would accrue to me (or at least partially so).

The interest rate varies depending on current rates ... for some time up until several months ago it was 6.25%, then was down to 5.75% for a while, then a few months ago went down to 4.75%.

When it was at 6.25%, I said that I could borrow to invest at almost nil cost ... 25% income tax deductibility reduces it to under 4.7% (20% reduces to 5.0%).

If I invest in a Canadian bank, pipeline, or other high quality stock, paying about 3% dividend that, being substantially tax-advantaged, leaves me with about 2.5% after-tax income, that reduces my net cost of the interest expense to under 2.5%.

If my deal with the bank is that I pay interest-only monthly on the loan, which I don't ordinarily recommend, as I like to see debt reduced, let's say that I leave a $10,000. loan run for 15 years.

When I go into the bank to pay off the loan, how much will I have to pay them? Exactly $10,000.00 ...which is precisely the amount that I borrowed, 15 years ago. Which would have bought a decent car, 15 years ago ... but not now.

I gained from inflation ... and the guy who got a Guaranteed Investment Certificate at the bank for that $10,000.00 over those years ... gets his interest (rent on the money) over the years between ... and when he collects the funds ... gets precisely $10,000.00, the same amount that he gave the bank, those years ago.

That will buy a lot less now.

I gained from inflation - he lost.

And inflation has been running at about 2% (higher for some of the basics that poor people must have).

Now that the interest rate that I must pay is 4.75%, deduct 20% income tax deductibility reduces it to 3.8% (25% income tax takes it lower), deduct 2.5% after-tax dividend income on the shares reduces my cost to 1.3% ... and inflation is a lot higher than that!

However ...

... since U.S. gov't. (and individual) debt is so high (and going higher, year by year), I fully expect that soon they'll have to offer higher rates of interest in order to seduce foreign lenders to buy more of their debts ... adding to that mountain.

Before you sign on for a Reverse Mortgage ... make sure that you are entirely familiar with every one of the provisions ... and run them by your lawyer to make sure that you're aware of all of the parameters.

Don't want you being subject to unpleasant surprises later ... when it's too late to alter the provisions of the contract.

Good wishes for making wise decisions regarding efficient use of your income and assets.

ole joyful