I see these advertised on TV all the time. Sounds too good to be true especially if celebrities are pedaling them. Anyone know anything about them.

 

My brother has this set up for his house.... since he and his wife have no children (and he won't leave $$$ to me! )...... he is happy with the arrangement and papers.

 

I suspect like many things, taken with a prudent and reasonable approach, with a reputable lender, it can be a good thing.
An 85 year old sitting in a million dollar house, taking out 150K over the last few years of their life? probably not an issue.
I'm not sure it is as good an idea for a healthy 68 year old.
I have no idea what kind of interest rate they get for the funds. I would bet there are some real con artists out there.

 

Usually a fair amount of $ is due up front for fees.

Lots of folks end up with unpleasant surprises.

 

From what I have read there is a substantial up front fee. The interest paid on the amount they buy your house for could be a red flag. I thought I read that any equity you have would be available to you or you could let it accumulate until the house is sold. We are thinking long term with our financial planner on what options are available and which make more sense for us. I will ask him to check this option out. We plan to stay in our current home as long as we can.

 

I'm interested in following this. We plan to die with as close to zero dollars as we can. We have no children. Anything left over will go to our nieces/nephew, but they will do just fine on their own without a windfall from us.

 

I will never say never. If either Rick or I are living alone and in need of a little extra $ on a monthly basis, this would be considered. Who knows how long the $ we have saved will last or how long we will live. I would not hesitate to cash in on our home if need be. I don't plan on living month to month in order to leave $ behind. That's just silly.

 

Here's what HUD has to say. I'd sure investigate this carefully before committing. https://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD.../hecm/rmtopten

That's the FAQ's. Here's the details: https://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD.../hecm/hecmabou

 

Very informative Gene, thanks. We are years away from making a decision on this or any other decision regarding our current home. We have a lot of equity in our home and over time that should continue to grow. We live in a very desirable area near the beach which has a long history of rising equity. We plan to involve our financial planner and accountant once we decide if and when we want to make a move. Thanks to everyone for their input.

 

Neither of those links would open for me.