You should use this type of loan to pay off a high mortgage balance or cover another major expense. This option is best if you need all or most of your disposable income at once. A lump sum reverse mortgage is a single, large payment at closing. The lump-sum payment option is available with the two main HECM programs.
The variable-rate HECM offers the lump sum, the line of credit and the options for term and permanence payment. The fixed-rate HECM only offers a lump-sum payment. The amount of funds available in a reverse mortgage is based on the age of the youngest borrower, the value of the home, and current interest rates. You can choose to receive funds in a lump sum, a line of credit, monthly payments, or a combination of both.
An ineligible spouse doesn't have the benefit of a deferment, meaning that the reverse mortgage balance is due and payable when the borrowing spouse dies. Liability depends on the terms of the loan. Private reverse mortgages may have conditions that would be illegal for HECM loans. You can withdraw a large lump sum in advance, then take out additional loans over time and have access to that additional capital that remains locked in with the fixed-rate payment plan.
You can also refinance a new reverse mortgage with better terms or with a conventional loan, which you could use to pay off the balance of the reverse mortgage. If your mandatory obligations are lower than 60% of the capital limit, you can receive a lump sum of up to 60% of the capital limit at closing. Own reverse mortgages are offered by private mortgage lenders and are specific to that company. This amount is the lower between the balance of the reverse mortgage or 95 percent of the assessed value of the property.
Whenever a reverse mortgage includes an eligible non-borrower spouse, their age should be used to calculate the loan amount, as the possibility of deferment increases the chance that the loan balance will exceed the value of the home. If you also want to preserve other assets or investments during retirement, a reverse mortgage is one way to get more funding. Because the youngest non-borrower spouse was not listed on the title to the home or on the reverse mortgage loan documents, he could no longer enjoy the benefits of a reverse mortgage. You can never take out a loan against that 40%, but having one can be useful if you want to sell your home and pay your reverse mortgage.
Read on to learn more about reverse mortgages, how they work, and if one might be right for your financial goals. If you have a lot of mortgage capital but are having trouble paying your mortgage, a reverse mortgage could make the mortgage and payment disappear. Do your research and ask your lender and your invested mortgage advisor a lot of questions to determine which repayment plan is best for you. Since you don't need good credit or a big income to qualify, it's easier to buy a rental property with a reverse mortgage than it is to try to get a real estate investment loan.
