Philadelphia Weekly

REAL ESTATE

Is lump sum HECM right loan for seniors?

How, when and why to take a reverse mortgage

By Inman News Feed

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Aug. 27, 2012

Information available to borrowers

While HECMs are complicated, we live in an information age replete with sophisticated tools for expositing complicated ideas. Lucid exposition of the full implications of each possible course of action can overcome a borrower's preconceived bias and the entreaties of interested loan originators.

The tools available to HECM borrowers, however, are a sorry lot. The existing calculators focus entirely on how much the borrower can draw, without any supporting information on the future consequences of a given selection. So I decided to develop my own. Keep tuned.

The writer is professor of finance emeritus at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Comments and questions can be left at www.mtgprofessor.com.