Recent content by fmw

Let's shed some light on this. Closing costs for a reverse mortgage are no higher than with a regular FHA mortgage. One can expect to pay around 1% of the loan value. That was our figure. One must have insurance, of course, and the ability to pay for ongoing maintenance on the home. If one...

Government rules can be frustrating and arbitrary. I have had issues with buying home owner's insurance because we live in the country and have a very old barn on our property. We have had to write the barn out of home owner's policies. We also had an issue because we have a hay field and the...

You need to do more shopping. The amount of the available funds depends on the value of the property and your age. My wife and I are in our late 70's and our reverse mortgage is very close to 2/3 of the value of the property. If the property increases in value it is possible to refinance just...

It wasn't that way with a government sponsored HUD reverse mortgage. My interest rate is 1.99% compounded against the amount I have drawn from the account. Your father's numbers make no sense to me at all. I'm sorry your father had such a disastrous arrangement. I wouldn't have recommended...

This is a good point. Nobody can see the future. The other point is that the reverse mortgaged house is still owned by the owners and can be sold. Naturally that would involve paying off the reverse mortgage from the proceeds but, given the numbers, it can still provide for a move to a more...

There is some misinformation in this thread. As an example, someone wrote above that the interest is applied to the value of the home, not the amount drawn from the reverse mortgage account. That is incorrect. The interest is applied to the amount owed on the reverse mortgage. For some...