In years past, reverse mortgages got a bad reputation, primarily for their relatively high upfront fees, the negative amortization and the many misconceptions about how they work. Nearly all reverse mortgages these days are insured by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Federal Housing Administration — meaning that if the reverse lender does not get repaid in full, FHA insurance will cover their losses.
Still, before pursuing this option, you need to investigate the ramifications of the program on your finances. Your ability to qualify for certain need-based programs such as Supplemental Security Income or Medicaid could be hurt by the additional funds received from a reverse mortgage. Also, this is not a good idea for people who are seriously ill or who plan to move in a year or two, because the cost of the loan would be high.
As long as you don’t fit into those categories, the benefits are numerous.
In extending the protection to the lender, the FHA charges the borrower an upfront mortgage insurance premium equal to 2 percent of the initial loan amount, plus an annual premium equal to 1.25 percent on the then-outstanding loan balance. To avoid the upfront fee sticker shock, reverse lenders have, for the most part, eliminated origination fees and points. Even the upfront insurance premium can be avoided these days by using the Saver Program, which will reduce your upfront costs and the amount you can borrow.
Negative amortization is when the amount that has to be paid back increases over the life of the loan. By its very nature, a reverse mortgage has negative amortization since you make no payments ever. In fact, you can receive monthly payments from the lender. Your loan balance will increase each month by the amount of those payments, plus interest and the annual mortgage insurance premium. This ever-increasing loan balance scares many borrowers until they realize neither they nor their heirs will ever have to pay that loan back personally. Reverse mortgages are non-recourse loans. That means the borrower is not personally liable to repay the loan. The reverse lender looks solely to your home’s value or the FHA insurance for repayment.
Reverse lenders will lend you a certain percentage of your home’s appraised value. The appraised value is called the maximum claim amount and is capped at $625,500. The percentage they will lend depends on your age and life expectancy.
According to Steve Strauss, reverse mortgage consultant for MetLife Home Loans, “these loan-to-value ratios will range from approximately 50 percent to as much 80 percent. The older you are, the higher the percentage they will lend. If you have one or more existing mortgages, they will need to be paid off since the reverse lender must be in first lien position.”
Loading...
Comments