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Here are some scary headlines I’ve seen in “news” stories warning about the dangers of reverse
mortgages:

• “Lifetime Income” stops if you sell your house or move!
• You can Lose Your Home!

• Wife forced out of home after older husband dies!
• If you owe more than the value of your home, you or your heirs have to make up the
difference!
• Crazy High Loan Fees!
• Don’t sign your home over to the bank!

If reverse mortgages were really as bad as some critics say, I would never offer them to my
mortgage clients.

Let me address each one of those headlines one at a time:

• “Lifetime Income” stops if you sell your house or move!

Yes, that is technically true. But in my experience, very few reverse mortgage borrowers
choose the “lifetime income” option because the monthly payment is relatively small
(depending on the amount of equity in the home). And because those monthly payments are

fairly small, the reverse mortgage balance does not grow very fast. That means there is often a
lot of equity left if/when the reverse mortgage borrower sells their home. And like any other
home sale, they get to keep all the cash that is left over after paying selling expenses and
paying off the reverse mortgage balance.

Rather than receive a small monthly payment, the vast majority of our reverse mortgage clients

typically chose the “home equity line of credit” option where they can take out a lump sum of
cash, just like any other home equity loan.

And that brings up another very important point that many people who criticize reverse
mortgages do not understand:

There are very strict limits on the amount of home equity that can be borrowed using a
reverse mortgage.

Unlike traditional mortgages which allow you to borrow up to 95% or more of your home’s
appraised value, reverse mortgages are limited to only about 52% to 75% of the home’s value,

Reverse Mortgage Truth Report ©Best Mortgage Inc. (425) 649‐6000 Page 2