Its a Simple Process that Can Be Carried Out in Approximately 30 Days
When you own a home with a traditional mortgage, you gain equity over time as you pay down the loan. Home equity is the difference between what your home is worth, its appraised value, and any debt that you have from mortgages against the home. Let’s say, for example, that you own a home worth $300,000 in today’s real estate market, and you only owe $50,000 on the mortgage balance, having paid down the rest. You have valuable home equity worth $250,000, which we calculate by taking $300,000 and subtracting the $50,000 still owed. If you are like most Americans, the chances are high that this $250,000 worth of equity represents a substantial portion of your net worth, and as you reach retirement age you may want or need to tap into this wealth to supplement your fixed income.
There are a few options for tapping into your home equity that you may be familiar with – selling the home, taking out a home equity loan, or obtaining a home equity line of credit. However, these options may not be suitable for you – selling your home doesn’t make sense if you do not wish to move, and home equity loan and HELOC options may be difficult to obtain.
There is an alternative solution, however, and that is the reverse mortgage. If you are eligible and the product is suitable for your needs, a lender can offer you fixed monthly payments or a line of credit based on the value of your equity. Though there are other factors involved, you can think of the lender giving you a loan to you based upon how much equity you have in the property.
