There are actually two totally different reverse mortgages that are available for seniors to use when they are considering using a Reverse Mortgage to pay off an existing mortgage or simply want additional funds.
Not too many consumers know about the optional “Jumbo” reverse loan that will enable them to receive more of their equity than they would if they used the FHA HECM program, plus it’s less expensive as well.
The FHA Home Equity Conversion Mortgage has a ceiling on the appraised value of a property and it is referred to as the HUD Lending Limit. Originally this Limit was calculated on a national basis per county, so it varied in the amount of allowable appraised value of a property, county by county with the west coast having the highest limits.
Several years ago HUD eliminated these unfair limits and issued one single amount for the entire country which at this time is $636,150 but I can recall when it was only $362,790 and lower.
It’s considerably higher now, but keep in mind that the actual amount of the reverse loan will use a smaller percentage of the appraised value of the property or the HUD Lending Limit, ( Whichever is less) than a Conventional loan would use and most often ( Depending upon the age of the borrower) they might receive between 40-70% of the appraised value/Hud Lending Limit.
But if their property is worth 1.1 MM plus, the value will be capped at the HUD Lending Limit and they will not have any of the remaining equity in their property accessible for their use.
This is where the Jumbo Reverse Loan becomes another option, unlocking the rest of the equity in the property to the borrower and enabling them to draw out more money from their home then they could receive under the HECM FHA loan.
I will give the details about this loan in my next post.