Reverse Mortgage Defined
Categories: Mortgages
Written By: Borvonski Vanrock
When many individuals retire, they may acquire much of their income from pensions, social security, and other retirement accounts. However, that is not always enough. Many retirees find themselves falling short no matter how they budget their income.
When this occurs, they look into a reverse mortgage line of credit. What a reverse mortgage does is it allows the homeowner to take their homes equity and covert it into cash. In other words, that equity that was built up through mortgage payments is paid back to the homeowner as income.
This is unlike a traditional second mortgage or home equity loan for the fact that there is no required repayment until the borrower no longer uses that home as their primary residence. Also, the older the borrower, the higher the loan can be because of the amount of equity that has accumulated over time.
To acquire a reverse mortgage line of credit, an individual doesnt have to have great credit, nor is a steady income required. The main factor at play here is that the borrower be the owner of the home.
The other type of mortgage, and the more traditional type, the forward mortgage is the type that is used when buying a house. In this case, the borrower must have a steady source of income and good credit. If payments are defaulted upon, the home can be taken away because the home itself is what secures the mortgage.
As payments are made on a forward mortgage, the equity within the home grows. This is because it is the difference between the amount of the mortgage and what has been paid into it. Once the last payment is made, the homeowner then owns the home.
Nevertheless, the reverse mortgage is the total opposite of a forward mortgage and results in the decrease of equity as the debt increases. No monthly payments have to be made on this loan, but the equity is being chewed away because of interest that is added to the borrowed money.
Eventually, this mortgage must come due and there could be a large amount owed, depending on the length of the loan. If the value of the home has decreased at any point, it is very possible that there may not be any equity left to borrow from. If the value of the home increases, then there will be more equity to borrow from.
When it is time for the loan repayment to come due, it is usually because the homeowner is selling the home and will not be using it as their primary residence anymore. They usually move to assisted living facilities or an apartment that makes moving around easier. The money that is used to sell the home is usually used to pay back the equity that they have borrowed.
For those individuals wondering what makes a reverse mortgage so different from a forward mortgage, the differences are evident. This should also help anyone needing additional monthly income decide whether or not a reverse mortgage line of credit is best.
