Reverse Mortgages Gaining Popularity in the US

The maturing baby boomer market is pushing growth for reverse mortgages in the USA. According to Mortgage Loan Place, Reverse Mortgages are now being offered to help our nation’s older citizens, who are often in need of cash to pay for medications, food, and other living expenses. A perfect solution for someone needing a larger monthly income, a reverse mortgage can turn the financial situation of senior citizens around.

In response to their growing popularity, Mortgage Loan Place has begun offering reverse mortgages to qualified senior citizens. In previous years, only about 50,000 reverse mortgages were acquired, but this figure is expected to rise dramatically as the "baby boomer" generation gets older. Many see reverse mortgages as the new key to making the assets of senior citizens more accessible.

The way reverse mortgages work (and why they’ve become so popular) is by increasing the liquidity of a senior citizen’s assets. For many older Americans, cash is hard to come by, even though they live in a paid-off house. With a reverse mortgage,the lender pays the homeowner money based on the mortgage payments that have been made over what is usually many years. And, in what is perhaps the most appealing aspect of a reverse mortgage, the owner continues to live in the house while receiving monthly payments or a line of credit. Furthermore, the lender cannot take away the home if the homeowner outlives the loan, you do not need to repay the loan until you no longer live in the house, and you can never owe more than your home’s value.

To be eligible for a reverse mortgage, applicants must be at least 62 years of age, own the home they live in (or have a low mortgage balance), and that home must be a single family house, a two-to-four unit property, townhouse, or a certain type of condominium. After being accepted for a reverse mortgage, senior citizens have three choices for borrowing on their home equity: lifetime monthly payments, a large lump sum, or a credit line (now available in all states).

The amount that applicants receive depends largely on their age, value of property, and whether there is a remaining balance on the mortgage. Typically, the older the applicant, the larger the monthly sum or line of credit will be.

So now you can see the benefits of a reverse mortgage.