I will be the first to admit that the Reverse Mortgage is not the best option for ALL Homeowners. But for those Homeowners that are “equity rich” and “cash poor” the Reverse Mortgage can be the best and only option to secure your financial future. Many of my Clients advise that they are just barely able to make ends meet or afford their mortgage payment based upon their retirement income being received. If you are able to obtain a reverse mortgage that would enable you to not have any mortgage payment each month would this alleviate financial stress that you may be experiencing? In many cases the answer is YES!
There are many misnomers or false claims when you hear the words – “Reverse Mortgage”. Some of my Clients initially believed that the Reverse Mortgage Program meant that they no longer owned their home and that if their reverse mortgage balance were to increase to the point it his higher than the value of their home they could lose their home. First of all the Reverse Mortgage Program does not transfer ownership of your home into the Lender’s name and you will always stay on title as the owner of the property as long as you remain in the home (assuming the property taxes, homeowners insurance and general maintenance of the property is maintained). Secondly, in the extreme case that your reverse mortgage balance were to increase and exceed the property value you will still own your home and be able to live in your home without having to make a monthly mortgage payment.
The main benefits of the Reverse Mortgage Program are that you will no longer need to make a mortgage payment each month and you can have access to funds for any future needs or expenses by way of a line of credit and you can even request a monthly income by way of distribution to offset your other monthly expenses and needs.
For so long you have been working diligently to pay down your mortgage and in most cases the mortgage pay down was in lieu of depositing money into retirement or investment accounts. The way I explain this scenario is that your equity in your home is your retirement or investment account and the Reverse Mortgage is the financial vehicle by way that you can tap into your equity or retirement funds.
As I stated earlier the Reverse Mortgage is not for everyone, but for those Homeowners that can benefit from the Reverse Mortgage this program can be the difference of living out your golden years comfortably and improving your quality of life to the standard that you have earned and deserve!