This is the full guide library. The pages are grouped below by the kind of question they answer: the pillar explainer, the skeptical cluster (downsides, pitfalls, scams, exits and cancellations), the comparison pages (reverse mortgage versus the alternatives), and the core eligibility and process guides.
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If you are new to the topic, start with the pillar at What is a reverse mortgage and then read the downsides page before anything else. The order matters: the pillar establishes the mechanics in plain language, and the downsides page covers the three structural risks (compounding interest, occupancy-default exposure, and the effect on heirs) that determine whether a reverse mortgage is appropriate at all. If you are already past that decision and want to estimate a number, the calculator is gateless and asks for no personal information.
What is the pillar?
- What is a reverse mortgage. The long explainer. How the loan works, who qualifies, what the disbursement options are, what happens at maturity, and where the federal program ends and the jumbo programs begin.
The skeptical cluster
- Reverse mortgage downsides. The three big ones in plain language, with sources.
- Reverse mortgage pros and cons. Two-column table; equal weight to each side.
- Are reverse mortgages a good idea?. When the product fits and when it does not.
- Are reverse mortgages scams?. What the actual fraud patterns look like, separated from the product itself.
- Reverse mortgage pitfalls. The smaller-but-common traps that downsides pages tend to miss.
- How to get out of a reverse mortgage. The cancellation and exit page: three-day right of rescission, payoff, refinance-out, and heir buyout.
- Reverse mortgage loopholes. What the popular query usually means and what the rules say.
Comparison pages
- Reverse mortgage vs. HELOC. The matrix: payments, payoff, credit, age, equity treatment.
- Alternatives to a reverse mortgage. HELOC, cash-out refinance, sale-leaseback, downsizing, and family loans, in one table.
Core process and eligibility guides
- Types of reverse mortgages. HECM, HECM for Purchase, jumbo / proprietary, and the single-purpose state and local programs.
- Reverse mortgage line of credit. The payout option and the growth-rate feature, with the CFPB caveat.
- How does a reverse mortgage work?. The mechanic from origination through maturity.
- How do you pay back a reverse mortgage?. The paydown process: refinance-out, heir buyout, sale-with-payoff. Distinct from the cancellation page above.
- Reverse mortgage requirements and eligibility. Age (62+ for HECM, 55+ for most jumbo programs), occupancy, property type, financial assessment, and the borderline cases.
- Reverse mortgage and mobile homes. When a manufactured home qualifies and when it does not.
- Reverse mortgage counseling. The mandatory HUD-approved counseling session: what it covers, what it costs, and how to find a counselor.
- Reverse mortgage counseling cost. What the HUD-approved session actually costs and when the fee can be waived.
- Reverse mortgage origination fee. How the lender's origination charge is capped under the HECM rules.
- Reverse mortgage condo eligibility. When a condominium qualifies, including FHA project approval and the single-unit-approval path.
- Reverse mortgage and property-tax deferral. How state property-tax deferral programs interact with a reverse mortgage.
- Tenure vs. term payments. The two monthly-payout options compared: lifetime tenure against fixed-period term.
- Lump sum vs. line of credit. The two most-compared disbursement choices, side by side.
- Estimating without personal information. How to get a real number from the gateless calculator without handing over contact details.
- Reverse mortgage refinance. When refinancing an existing reverse mortgage makes sense.
- HECM for Purchase closing costs. The H4P-specific closing-cost breakdown.
- When you die: what happens to the reverse mortgage. The maturity event and the 30-day notice / 6-month resolution window.
- Reverse mortgage and heirs. The heirs' options: pay off, refinance, sell, deed-in-lieu, walk away.
- Reverse mortgage and a move to assisted living or a nursing home. When a move to care matures the loan, the 12-month occupancy rule, and the co-borrower and non-borrowing-spouse protections.
- Non-recourse, explained. Why the borrower, the estate, and the heirs never owe more than the home is worth, and the 95% rule that lets heirs keep the home.
See also: /calculator · /jumbo · /programs · /rates · /limits