What Is A Reverse Mortgage And Should You Get One?
Who qualifies for a reverse mortgage? 
You must be at least 62 years old and have equity in your home.
You have equity in your home if your home is worth more than you owe on it.
Heres how it works
When you bought your home, the bank loaned you the money to buy it and you paid them back with monthly mortgage payments.
A reverse mortgage is the opposite. With a reverse mortgage, the bank pays you a monthly payment from the equity in your home.
You repay the money when you sell your home, refinance, permanently move out, or pass away. At that time, you or your heirs must repay the loan plus interest in one payment.
How do I get a reverse mortgage?
Reverse mortgages are available through most major banks and lenders.
Heres what happens when you contact the lender:
An appraiser will determine the value of your home.
The lender will tell you how much you qualify for based on your age, the equity in your home, and the cost of the loan.
You decide how you want to receive the money.
You can receive the money:
As a lump sum
In monthly payments
As a credit line that lets you decide how much of the loan to use, and when to use it
You sign a contract. The contract will outline the payments you will receive and the amount you have to repay including interest.
Maintaining your reverse mortgage
To keep your reverse mortgage in good standing you must:
Pay your property taxes on time
Maintain and repair your home
Have homeowners insurance
Your lender can end the reverse mortgage and require immediate repayment if you:
File for bankruptcy
Rent out part of your home
Add a new owner to title
Take a new loan against your property
Things to consider
Reverse mortgages are more costly than typical home loans or home equity credit lines.
They also have higher interest rates and fees. Interest is charged on the outstanding balance and is added to the amount you owe each month. This means that your total debt increases each month.
Keep in mind that you are borrowing equity from your home. This means fewer assets for you and your heirs.
Shopping for a reverse mortgage
Shop around and get offers from several lenders. You should compare the terms, and look for a loan with the lowest interest rate, points and fees.
Subprime lending refers to the extension of credit to higher-risk borrowers, a practice also commonly referred to as “BC” or “nonconforming” credit. Loans to subprime borrowers serve communities that may have been underserved by other lenders in the past. In recent years, 
subprime mortgage lending has grown dramatically, with over 90% of all subprime mortgage loans made in or after 1993. By the end of 1996, the total value of outstanding subprime mortgage loans exceeded 350 billion. In 1997 alone, subprime lenders originated over 125 billion in home equity loans. Subprime loans have become a significant and growing part of the home equity market. Subprime originations constituted 11.5% of the total home equity lending market in 1996; by the first half of 1997, they had grown to 15.5% of this market. At the same time, the composition of companies involved in the subprime market is evolving. One of the dramatic changes in this market has been the growth in subprime mortgage lending by large corporations that operate nationwide.
The subprime mortgage market has flourished because such lending has been profitable, demand from borrowers has increased, and secondary market opportunities are growing. Lenders typically price subprime loans to consumers at rates of interest and fees higher than conventional loans. Higher rates and points can be appropriate where greater credit risks are involved, as is often the case with subprime loans. Critics assert, however, that the interest rates and fees charged by some subprime lenders are excessive, and much higher than necessary to cover increased risks, particularly since these loans are secured by the value of a home. Some attribute lenders’ high rates on first mortgages in part to federal deregulation of certain state interest rate ceilings in 1980.
The relatively high profit margins in the subprime mortgage industry have fueled demand in the secondary market from investors seeking higher-yielding securitized assets, especially in an environment of generally low interest rates. In 1996, the subprime mortgage sector issued over 38 billion in securities, the largest increase in securitizations for any lending industry sector in that year. The secondary market’s expansion has, in turn, helped to sustain growth in the industry by enabling lenders to raise funds on the open market to expand their subprime lending activities. Freddie Mac, one of the primary government-sponsored enterprises involved in the purchase of mortgages, recently announced plans to enter the secondary market in subprime loans by purchasing significant numbers of “A minus” subprime mortgages by 1998 and the higher-risk “B and C” loans by 1999.
The market for subprime loans is expected to continue growing. Credit card delinquencies are rising and personal bankruptcies are at record levels, which negatively affect borrowers’ credit histories, pushing more consumers into higher risk categories. Meanwhile, consumer spending continues to be strong. Together, these factors increase the market for subprime loans. In addition, more borrowers generally may be seeking home equity loans due to the change in the tax code limiting allowable interest deductions to those on a first mortgage.
If you are considering buying a home or refinancing, the subject of credit scores has undoubtedly come up. So, what is a credit score and how does it impact you?
Understanding the Credit Score and Mortgage Relationship
In the 1960s, the concept of credit scores came to fruition. A company by the name of Fair Isaac Corp developed a system whereby credit reports could be summarized as a score. This score, known as a FICO score, could be used by lenders to determine the credit worthiness of a potential borrower. The highest FICO score you can have is 850 while the lowest is 350. Where you fall on the scale determines the type of loan you will get.
Cutting the chase, a credit score is a factual summary of your credibility. What it tells a lender is how you have behaved from a financial perspective over a period of years. If you have regularly missed credit card payments, the lender is going to consider it an indication you will be likely to miss mortgage payments as well. Obviously, that is going to result in a denial of your loan application or vicious terms in the lenders favor.
As you might image, your credit score impacts both the approval and terms of your home loan. The higher your score, the better position you will be in. While a score above 800 is considered perfect credit, almost nobody has such a FICO score. In fact, most lenders wouldnt believe such a score and would probably take extra steps to investigate it.
Most people seem to fall in the 500 to 600 range. While this may suggest problems in dealing with a lender, it doesnt. Lenders rarely expect to see perfect credit scores for borrowers. Instead, they expect to see flaws. The approval and terms of your loan all come down to the shades of grey in your score and how lenders interpret them.
When evaluating these shades of grey, lenders do so on a risk basis. Generally, a score of 720 to 850 is considered excellent, while a score of 500 to 560 is considered high risk. 560 to 620 is not great, but 675 to 720 is fair to good. 620 to 675 is considered average. Importantly, there are lenders that will provide loans for each of these ranges. Your particular score is really only an indication of how good or bad a deal you will receive.
If you have a high credit score, you should negotiate hard for the best possible deal on your mortgage. If your credit score falls in the 500 range, you are pretty much going to have to accept whatever you can get.
A mortgage is nothing but a loan secured against the property that is your home, here secured means if you are not prompt with your loan payments, the lender has the rights to sell you home 
to take back his amount he has lent to you. A mortgage is nothing but a piece of paper, but the paper is so important that any individual see during his financial life.
Anyone would prefer to go for a secured mortgage for the home and it is not so tough today as the mortgage is available for any kind of financial requirement, but choosing the right one is important and it deserves a little knowledge.
Its huge amount required for mortgage and to settle this huge amount you require long time. The most famous mortgage that is a fixed mortgage available with the option of repayment in 30 years, there are 40 years mortgage, 20 years mortgage and 15 years mortgage available and are famous too.
When you purchase a home, you need to reserve your money for insurance, taxes in an escrow account, so when you get the mortgage, your payment would be divided into 4 categories that is called PITI (Principal, Interest, Taxes and Insurance)
Principal is the loan amount balance and that gets paid during the years of mortgage you have chosen. Interest is the amount you pay for the loan amount, in amortized loans the entire repayment of loan amount goes for the interest in the early years and in the later years repayment goes for the principal loan amount. Taxes is something you owe annually to the government for water treatment, schools and to the cop on the corner and at this time the escrow account helps you to make the payment in monthly installments. Insurance is very important thing as you cant imagine losing your home for any kind of disaster, and this insurance is being paid by escrow account in 12 installments.
Fixed rate mortgage are static, when you are planned to stay in the same place for a long time the fixed rate mortgage is the best as there would be no change in monthly payments for the loan amount you have gone for 15 years or 30 years of mortgage.
Incase you have no intention to stay in the same home for long years you can opt for Adjustable rate mortgage that is ARM. This adjustable rate mortgage has variable rate of interest and the payment varies annually or anytime whenever there is change in the interest rate. If the interest rate goes up your mortgage payment goes up.
Adjustable Rate Mortgages are being called as Interest rate risk unlike fixed rate mortgages where you are very confident about how much you are making the payment for the principal, interest, taxes and insurance every month through out your loan repayment years.
First time buyers are still being advised to seriously consider opting for a tracker mortgage, despite growing rumours of a rise in interest rates before the end of the year.
Although the Bank of England moved to hold interest rates at 4.5 per cent recently, speculation is mounting that a quarter point rise will be enacted before the start of 2007.
However, Moneysupermaket argues that those currently looking for mortgages should not automatically discount the idea of a tracker mortgage, where repayments are dependent on the interest rate, as rates have also risen in the fixed rate mortgage sector.
The cost of a fixed rate mortgage has already risen by an average of five per cent since August last year (2005), despite the bank freezing the underlying cost of borrowing. Moreover, wider influences in the financial market mean further increases are likely.
Assuming that the interest rate remains around 4.75 per cent for the next couple of years, Moneysupermarket argues that it would be silly for home buyers to automatically opt for a fixed rate mortgage, as better bargains can often be found in the tracker market.
It’s not always as clear cut as fixed mortgage or tracker mortgage, Moneysupermarket’s Louise Cuming was quoted as saying recently.
What people should be asking themselves is whether they are already at the top level of affordability when it comes to their monthly outgoings. If so, and if even a small rise in base rates would stretch this, then they would be wise to opt for a fixed rate mortgage, she recommended.
Ms Cuming continued to say: If they have some leeway available in their finances then they would be better off with a tracker mortgage because, ultimately, all the pointers indicate that rates are unlikely to rise significantly in the next two years.
Adfero Ltd
