The Big Scoop on Equity Release – Why It’s On Everyone’s Radar Right Now
Equity release is getting a nice write up run in the press right now, for a lot of different reasons. it’s not the end of the world if you’re really not interested in equity release, but we would wager that nobody has ever really explained why this is such a great option for today’s senior citizens. Sure, you will have some challenges to overcome in terms of fees and everything else, but these “lifetime mortgages” are definitely worth it.
Basically, it targets the equity that’s in your home, without forcing you to move. We’ll repeat that, just to let it sink in — this is so you can release funds from your home into a new enterprise. That’s something that you should definitely be looking into if you can help it at all. Why should you feel like you can’t get things done on your terms? Would it make a lot more sense if you could live in the property that you’ve grown to love without having to make sacrifices? Wouldn’t it make more sense if you could really tap into a great property that’s going to finance the dreams that you’ve probably put off to the side for so long?
A lot of people skip over the fact that they’ve let their dreams sit on the back burner while they took care of their families. There is now time to pursue all of the things that you love, so why wouldn’t you? Why wouldn’t you want to definitely make sure that everything has been taken care of on your behalf? This is where a great equity release plan can kick in.
You can use the money that you release to fund your retirement, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t cautions. Indeed, you’re basically taking out another loan against your home, but this time you will have nothing to pay back while you’re alive. The house will be sold to make up for the loan, which is why the amount of money that you can release from a property is a bit lower than what you would get if you sold the home outright at current market rates. This is because the equity release company has to make sure that they’re going to get their money back from the home even if market rates fall in the future. They use a lot of different factors to determine how much they’re willing to offer you, but most people are pretty pleased with the idea of being able to make at least a little money back from their homes for their trouble. Taking care of a home can really be a lot of work so it never hurts to look into doing what you can.
You can go with the lifetime mortgage, which is where you get to take out a loan against your property for a certain amount. The loan has interest but you don’t pay the interest — it’s just tacked onto the loan. This does mean that the loan grows over time, and your home will need to be sold in order to afford the rest of the mortgage. The money that you get can be offered to you as a cash lump sum, which can help you fund some big changes that you want to make in your life. If you want to take more trips than when you did while working, you can do that. On the other hand, if you want to help your children will their bills, then you can do that too. What you do with the money is completely up to you.
You need to also think about the fact that you will not know how high the loan can reach. It’s all based on when you actually die, so it can really vary. Your heirs might be unhappy with a lifetime mortgage, as it means that you could be leaving them with very little money in your estate, as far as your house is concerned. If you aren’t worried about that, then the lifetime mortgage is a great option.
Don’t forget that this isn’t the only option that you have. You can go with a home reversion plan, where you actually sell an interest in your home to a home reversion company. Many people like this because it means they know exactly how much they’re going to receive, rather than worrying about a loan that could balloon to incredible heights in the event of their death.
The reversion company lets you live in the home until you die, which means that you won’t get as much as if you could sell the home and move out. The company misses out on rental income that they could have gained if you weren’t living there.
However, you do get to know what percentage of the property will go to your spouse and children, which is very important to a lot of people. When compared to the other plans, the home reversion scheme is far more expensive than the lifetime mortgage. You’ll need to figure out what you really want to do and whether or not this would be a great idea after all.
It’s also going to be a matter of thinking about what you’re trying to actually accomplish from start to finish. Are you actually going to be able to afford the fees involved in equity release? If so, then you’re going to come out ahead. On the other hand if you can’t afford the startup costs that you’re not going to be able to really take matters into your own hands.
Trying to get an income for life form the equity release can be difficult, as it’ll be done as an annuity. The amount you get will definitely depend on your age, your gender, and your health currently. That’s something that a lot of people aren’t really thinking about either — can you really make an annuity payment worth it?
There are a lot of things to really appreciate about the equity release world, but you can’t go into it without really thinking about all of your options in the process. Some people want to just hope that an adviser is going to make all of the decisions for them. This isn’t the case at all. You need to always be thinking about your own agenda when it comes to getting things done. Why not start today while it’s still on your mind? You’ll truly be glad that you did!