We are so glad you joined us for our last installment of this series, where we will touch on the process for obtaining a reverse mortgage.

Generally speaking, the steps are:

1) Contact an experienced reverse mortgage specialist in your area that has a deep understanding of how each reverse mortgage type works, and can clearly explain the terms, advantages, disadvantages and costs of each.

2) Attend a counseling session for reverse mortgages – this is a step unique to reverse mortgages and mandated by federal regulations. The Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, maintains a website where the borrower can search for counselors in his or her area. This counseling session is generally 90 minutes, and can oftentimes be completed by telephone. Once completed, you will receive a certificate for completing the course.

3) Your reverse mortgage specialist will then assist you in lender selection. Your lender, or loan originator, will confirm your eligibility under the program, and explain the application, product types, fees and additional disclosures.

4) Once you sign the application, the loan moves to processing, and similar to traditional mortgage loans, an appraisal and title work are ordered. Once the appraisal is completed, it is forwarded to the loan originator’s underwriter, who will review and determine approval.

5) When approved, a closing of the loan is scheduled, and final closing documents are prepared.

6) After signing the closing documentation, as with other traditional mortgages, you have three business days to cancel the loan, known as a “right of rescission”.

7) After closing, you will work with your loan servicer for the disbursement of funds and ensuring your compliance with the loan, including the timely payment of taxes and insurance. Also to note, you can change your payout plan at any time by requesting a new payout plan agreement from your servicer.

That brings us to the end of our last installment in this ten-part series – we hope this information was valuable in providing an overview of how reverse mortgages work and how they can play a key role, when utilized thoughtfully, in an individual’s long-term retirement plan. If there are particular questions that you have, please reach out to us. We look forward to creating additional posts for more in-depth discussions on reverse mortgage and general retirement planning topics over time, so please subscribe to keep up to date on new releases.

As always our team is here to answer your questions and discuss in detail your situation, and how a reverse mortgage may be integrated into your overall long-term retirement planning. We look forward to speaking with you soon!

Are there any questions you have on this topic that we can address? We would love your feedback on the Contact page, and we can work on answering your questions directly or adding to our blog post for everyone's benefit.