SeniorAbode.com

A reverse mortgage pays you your  home equity by variuos means. There are different programs and you can research them ad nauseum online. There is a cost involved to get the reverse mortgage upwards of 15k. You must be 62.5 or older. Since many of these are government backed there is little risk.  The home remains totally yours but upon sale the proceeds will vary depending on how much equity is left remaining. A different idea is selling a share of your home to a real estate investment firm.  Research these as well as with everything there are rules. Here is an article from Real Estate Magazine about Rex & Co, one of these firms.

New Plan Lets Home Owners Cash Out
An investment company backed by insurer American International Group (AIG) is offering to let home owners cash out their equity in exchange for a right to part of the proceeds when the home is eventually sold.

For instance, the owner of a home valued at $750,000 might obtain $100,000 in cash by giving the firm, REX & Co., a 50 percent share of the change in the home’s value. If the home sold for $850,000, REX would receive $150,000 — the original $100,000 plus half of the increase in value. If the home sold for $650,000, REX’s share would be $50,000, half of what it invested.

REX says its product is currently available in nine states – California, New Jersey, Virginia, Florida, Illinois, Washington, Colorado, New York and North Carolina – but the company plans to offer it nationwide within a couple of years.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, James R. Hagerty (05/08/07)

Realize with Rex that you only get half the money up front. I told you there were rules.

Filed under: Trends on May 15th, 2007