WHAT IS A REVERSE MORTGAGE?

A reverse mortgage is a loan against your home that you do not have to pay back for as long as you live there.  A reverse mortgage allows the homeowners (if they both are over age 62) to access a portion of their equity in their home – normally between 35% & 60%, and turn that equity into a TAX FREE proceed without having to sell their home.  You always own the home and the lender has the property secured with a mortgage just like a traditional mortgage.  You are responsible for paying the property taxes and insurance (in Texas), and keeping your property well maintained.  You can receive the income from your home in several ways:

·       Lump Sum, all at once

·       Monthly Payments, a monthly check or direct transfer into your

checking account

·       Line of Credit, you can decide how often and when you receive advances

·       Combination, many of the above can be combined to meet specific needs

No matter how this loan is repaid to you, you typically don’t have to pay anything back until you die, sell your home, or you permanently move out of your home.

HOW DO I QUALIFY FOR A REVERSE MORTGAGE?

To qualify for most loans, the lender will check your income to see how much you can afford to pay back each month.  But with a reverse mortgage, you don’t have to make monthly repayments.  So you don’t need a minimum amount of income to qualify for a reverse mortgage.  You can have very little income and still be able to get a reverse mortgage.  With most home loans, you could loose your home if you don’t make your monthly payments.  But with a reverse mortgage, as long as you keep your home maintained, pay your property taxes and homeowners insurance, you can’t loose your home because there are NO payments to make to a lender.