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Reverse Mortgage

Reverse Mortgage is the exact opposite of a Home Loan. Anyone, who has a fully owned House can get a loan. The way,
this works, is that his loan money will be divided in chunks (EMI’s) over many years and given to him every month. This
can easily act as Monthly income. At the end of the loan tenure, the Bank stops paying the monthly income. If one of
the spouses dies, the other can still continue living in the house. If both die, the bank gives their heirs two options –
settle the overall outstanding loan and retain the house or, the bank will sell the house, use the proceeds to settle the
outstanding loan and give the rest to the heirs.
How is the loan paid ?
With a reverse home mortgage, no payments are made during the life of the borrower(s). Which means the loan has to
be paid only after both the borrower and spouse die. Since no payments are made during the term of the reverse
home mortgage loan, the loan balance rises over time. In most areas, where the appreciation is good, the value of the
home grows at a much faster rate than the loan balance. Therefore, the remaining equity continues to grow.
When both, the borrower and spouse pass away, the ownership of the home is then passed to the estate or directed
by a living will or will to the beneficiaries. The beneficiaries now own the home and have to sell the home or pay off the
loan. If the home is sold, the reverse home mortgage lender is paid off and the beneficiaries keep the remains. Read
about Real Estate returns over last 10 yrs .
Example :
Mr Ajay is around 62 yrs old, and his wife is 60 yrs old, they live and own a house in Karvenagar, Pune which is worth Rs
1 crore now . They have a daughter and son who are their legal heirs (50:50) . The old aged Ajay and his wife do not
have a monthly income source, so they decide to go in for a Reverse Mortgage loan. The Bank is ready to loan upto 60
lacs to them, which means they will be paid Rs 35k per month for next 15 yrs (just an example.)
Now, they start getting monthly income of 35k per month for next 15 yrs, & they continue to live in the same home.
After this point, their children support them financially and then Ajay dies at age 79. After this, his wife still continues
to live in the house. Sadly she too, passes away at age 85. By this time the total loan outstanding becomes Rs 1.1 crores
(It was 60 lacs at the end of 15 yrs, but after that, it starts growing.)
Now the loan has to be paid off. The son and daughter does not have money to pay to the bank, so the bank decides to
sell off the property. At that time, the price of the house is Rs. 3 crores. The bank sells the house and get total 3 crores,
out of which 1.1 crores is taken by the bank and rest is paid to legal heirs, which they split amongst themselves.
Important Points in Reverse Mortgage
Reverse Mortgage is available to Senior Citizens only. Any house owner over 60 years of age is eligible for a reverse
mortgage. If wife is a co-applicant, she should be above 58.
The maximum loan is up to 60 per cent of the value of the residential property subject to maximum of Rs 50 Lacs.
The maximum period of property mortgage is 15 years with a bank or a HFC (housing finance company.) Minimum
tenure will be 10 years. Some banks like Punjab National Bank offer RML for 20 years also.
The borrower can opt for monthly, quarterly, annual or lump sum payments at any point, as per his discretion.
The revaluation of the property has to be undertaken by the bank or HFC once every 5 years.
The amount received through reverse mortgage is considered as loan and not income; hence the same will not attract
any tax liability. How to do last moment Tax Planning ?
Reverse mortgage rates will vary according to market conditions depending on the wheather borrower has choosen
Fixed or Floating interest rate.
Processing fee for the loan would be between 0.15 per cent and 1.50 per cent of the loan amount.
One can prepay the loan along with the interest any time during the loan tenure. Typically, there is no pre-payment
penalty