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Reverse Mortgages : An Era Of Near Zero Interest Rates On Savings Instruments

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Reverse mortgages are gaining in popularity, as many senior citizens stretch for creative ways to maintain their living standards in an era of near zero interest rates on savings instruments. There’s good and bad in regard to reverse mortgages, and you need to consider both sides before applying for one.

How Reverse Mortgages Work

Reverse mortgages are so-called because they reverse the way mortgages traditionally work. Instead of making payments to the mortgage company, the lender makes payments to you. And while receiving monthly payments are an option, you can also take all of your cash in a lump sum, similar to a cash-out refinance. You can also take the loan as a home equity line, allowing you to access it any time you have a need. …show more content…

However the older you are, the higher the percentage of the property value can be taken in the loan.

There’s one important feature of reverse mortgages that everyone should be aware of before applying for one. Since you are not making monthly payments on the loan, the interest on the loan will be added to the principal each month. Unlike a traditional mortgage, where you make your monthly payment that includes both interest on the loan and at least a small reduction in the principal balance, with a reverse mortgage the amount of the loan increases the longer that it is outstanding.

This is also why loan amounts are larger the older that you are when you apply. Since an older applicant is not expected to live as long as a younger one, the interest accumulation is expected to be smaller. This allows a loan to an older person to be higher, sometimes much higher, than for a younger borrower.

The loan is due when the last borrower dies, or when the borrowers move out of the property into a new primary residence. At that point the loan either has to be refinanced or paid off, otherwise the lender can foreclose on the property. Fortunately, if the house sells for less than the amount of the loan owed, neither the borrower nor the borrower’s estate will be required to pay the difference.

The Good Side of Reverse Mortgages

Reverse mortgages have become very popular and it 's easy to see why.

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