Las Vegas – Selling a Home with a Reverse Mortgage

On and off the glitzy and glamorous world-famous Las Vegas strip, the real estate game in the City of Las Vegas is competitive and the stakes extremely high in some areas. With every buyer having hundreds of options and a wide spectrum of investment opportunities, making your home stand out is more important than ever. If your home has a reverse mortgage, you’ll have different considerations from the average person who is looking to sell their home. There’s no need to worry, though – while selling a home with a reverse mortgage will be a different process than selling a home with a traditional mortgage, you do have options, and you will be able to find someone to help you navigate the tricky road to selling your Las Vegas home.

The Reverse Mortgage Option

The basic understanding that everyone in Las Vegas should have of reverse mortgages is that your success could easily depend on two things: the fair market value of your home, and the amount of equity that you already have in your home. If your mortgage is paid off, you’re in a much better position to take a reverse mortgage than a person who is still paying their mortgage. The option isn’t available to those under age 62, though: the program was originally intended to be an easy way for elderly people to stay in their homes. Living with a reverse mortgage is still an excellent way to stay in the home in which you be for the rest of your life, though. Being able to stay in your home, and to have the extra cash flow from the reverse mortgage is what has helped secure the financial future of not only many elderly people, but also their children.

The children of people living with reverse mortgages are safe from all responsibility of the debt, though the surviving spouse can take responsibility. In the case of some other debts, the surviving spouse is automatically responsible, but this doesn’t have to be the case in a reverse mortgage. Particularly if the spouse is too young to qualify, a reverse mortgage may end with the passing of the borrower, allowing the surviving spouse the option of moving. In the retirement community of Las Vegas, including those retired from the military, this is a great option to assure that spouses and younger children and grandchildren will have what they need in the event of the homeowner’s passing.

How much, total, that needs to be repaid will obviously depend on the individual, as well as the home, but even more than the individual or the home, the amount that you will need to repay will depend on the state of the housing market in your area. If your home’s value has decreased to the point that the balance owed for your loan exceeds the value of your home, you will find yourself in a difficult situation. What’s important to understand is that this is something that can easily happen to the most careful and proactive homeowners in Las Vegas. Maintaining your home’s beauty and paying taxes and dues on-time and consistently is the best way to protect your future with a reverse mortgage.

Helping Hands

A reverse mortgage can be distributed in the form of cash, or a line of irreversible credit. In either case, the money can be used without restriction, so whether you’re in desperate need of a new car, or whether you’re just looking for a new bottle of wine, the cash from your reverse mortgage is there for you. Some people in Las Vegas, of course, choose to funnel the cash into an investment, with many choosing to pour the money into a new property. This strategy can do wonders for your future, and is an idea that is becoming more and more popular. While this is not a good fit for everyone, there should always be an effort on the part of any borrower to learn everything that they can about this, or any type of long-term financial planning. In fact, Canada mandates that anyone considering a reverse mortgage attend a counseling session. During this session, couples or individuals are taught the ins and outs of reverse mortgages, and they are informed of all possible outcomes.

Financial counselors are the place to start, even if you’re sure that a reverse mortgage is right for you. United States financial counselors, just as the ones in Canada, are good resources for all things financial, and are able to help you to understand what type of mortgage will best fit your financial needs and goals. Tax attorneys, particularly those who work in close proximity or within real estate, are another great and informative route to go. Speaking with a tax attorney is especially helpful if you already have income in addition to the money that you receive from the reverse mortgage.

Don’t forget, also, that there are probably hundreds of Las Vegas real estate agents who will be more than willing and able to help you on your journey with your reverse mortgage. Real estate agents are specialized in home-finding and helping with the home-buying and -selling process, and a phone call for a quick chat is generally free of charge.

Selling a Home with a Reverse Mortgage

You’ll still need to bring doughnuts and make coffee for open houses, as well as making sure that your property is clean, minimalist, and updated. If you can afford to do, and would like to, a staging company can turn your home into the home of your dreams. Selling a home with a reverse mortgage doesn’t present any problems to potential buyers, though, so take comfort in that.

You can take as much of your equity cash or as little as you want, but the more you take, the more that must be repaid in the event that you choose to move out of your home. This means that, as will any other loan, when you take out reverse mortgage cash, you’re borrowing against the value of that loan.  

Since you’ve borrowed against your home, the money that was borrowed will need to be paid back before you upload your pictures to a real estate list site. How much, specifically, will need to be paid back will obviously depend on the individual, but it will also depend on your other streams of income, or cash gifts that you may receive from those around you. Whether you’re in Las Vegas, or elsewhere, reach out to reputable realtors for help selling your home.