Posted by Mr. Reverse, a resident of another community, on Sep 5, 2011 at 8:10 am

I have originated reverse mortgage loans in Pleasanton and I'm pleased to find an article that is so complete and accurate. However, on the flip side, the title of the article could have been "Reverse mortgages are perfect for some older homeowners". I have found that large percentage of older homeowners have no other asset except their home's equity and the only way they can turn their equity into cash is by doing a reverse mortgage. A large percentage of Seniors want to live in their home forever and the government's reverse mortgage program was designed to allow them to do so. On the cost issue, I just completed a HECM Saver on a $850,000 house with total costs of $8400. If my borrower would have sold her house, it would have cost about $60,000 (7% of the home's value). Also, a person always has to pay taxes and insurance on their home, so why is it a downside of a reverse mortgage.