A reverse mortgage is a home equity loan without a payment. You do not repay the loan as long as the home remains your principal residence. Your income and credit rating is not considered when qualifying for the loan. The writer is a reverse mortgage expert.
According to the V.S. Bureau of the Census and the National Center for Health Statistics, the older population-persons 65 years of age and older-numbered 35 million in 2000 and represented 12.4 percent of the population-about one in every eight Americans. Nearly 80 percent of the nation’s seniors own their own homes and 73 percent of those are owned free and clear of any mortgages, amounting to nearly $1.9 trillion in home equity. In addition, Americans over the age of 85 currently comprise the fastest growing segment of the older population. In 2000, an estimated 2 percent of the population was age 85 and older. By 2050, the percentage in this age group is projected to increase to almost 5 percent of the V.S. population. The size of this age group is especially important for the future of the V.S. health care system, because these individuals tend to be in poorer health and require more services than the younger old. Projections by the V.S. Census Bureau suggest that the population age 85 and older could grow from about 4 million in 2000 to 19 million by 2050. Some researchers predict that death rates at older ages will decline more rapidly than reflected in the Census Bureau’s projections, which could result in faster growth of this population.1
“You have 5,500 people turning 65 every day,” said Cheryl Chapin, national sales manager for the senior products group at Wells Fargo.
“When you consider the vast number of people who will be eligible for this product in the next few years, the market is going to be huge.”
The writer is a passionate observer of the Vancouver mortgage scene. He is a TMG mortgage broker in Vancouver with a focus on bad credit mortgage refinance. The shift in the market has allowed him to help people link up with bad credit mortgage lenders.