29 July 2011
Senior Citizens are an increasing component of the Indian society and dependency in old age is increasing in the country. While on the one hand, there is significant increase in longevity and low mortality, on the other hand cost of good health care facilities is spiraling and there is little social security. Senior Citizens need a regular cashflow stream for supplementing pension/other income and addressing their financial needs. Secular increase in residential house prices has created considerable “home equity “wealth. For most Senior Citizens, the house is the largest component of their wealth. Conceptually, Reverse Mortgage seeks to monetize the house as an asset and specifically the owner's equity in the house.
A reverse mortgage (or lifetime mortgage) is a loan available to senior citizens. The finance minister of India introduced this scheme in 2007 which is already well known concept in the West. “Reverse mortgage”, as its name suggests, in simple words is just the opposite of a normal housing loan.
In this scheme, once you pledge your house for the ‘reverse mortgage’, the bank will arrive at the value of the house after carrying out its due diligence. After creating the room for interest costs and price fluctuations, the bank will disburse the balance amount to you depending on the payment option that you choose. With every payment that the bank gives you, your equity in the house decreases. This line of credit is open, typically for 15 years.Even after the tenures you can continue to stay in your house. Only if you leave the property permanently, or in case of death, the lending institution will sell the property, and from the proceeds it will take the amount that is payable by you to the bank; the balance will be distributed to your legal heirs. The bank will also conduct period valuation of the property, typically after five years, to ensure that the value of the house is more than the total amount payable by you.
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