The writer is a reverse mortgage broker with numerous reverse mortgage clients
Three reverse mortgage products are available to consumers in the United States and one product in Canada. In the United States, the most popular reverse mortgage is the federally insured FHA Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM). The other major product is the Home Keeper reverse, developed in the mid-1990s by Fannie Mae. Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corporation offers a jumbo private reverse mortgage product, designed to accommodate seniors living in higher-priced homes. This is the
Cash Account Plan.
The HECM and Home Keeper products are available in every state, while Financial Freedom’s product is offered in most states and the District of Columbia. In Canada, the reverse mortgage product offered nationwide is the Canadian Home Income Plan (CHIP).
Before we get started on the likely candidates for reverses, let’s take a peek at the basics and supply some answers to many of the nuts-andbolts questions that consumers first raise regarding reverses:
Does the bank take my house? The reverse mortgage lender, like any lender, rarely, if ever, takes the title to the property. A reverse mortgage loan is the same as a forward, or conventional, mortgage loan: There’s a lien on the property until the loan is repaid. When the amount owed is repaid (at death or relocation in a reverse mortgage) the lender is paid the amount of the lien. Banks don’t really want your house: They want to lend you money, not act as a landlord and real estate property manager.
A brokers mortgage in canada can fine tune the mortgage product for you. An expert mortgage broker is essential to understand your Vancouver mortgage options.