My father is 63 years old and retired. Recently we've run into some problems with the house that he owns- it is old (built in the seventies) and needs a new roof and a few other improvements. Since he can't afford to pay for them himself, he is considering a reverse mortgage- and at this point it seems to be the only option. He inherited the house from his parents who paid cash for it back in 1996 so there is no money that is currently owed on it. It's a large house and I imagine the money he'd be getting back would be plenty to cover the improvements, though I can't be sure yet.
Now my question is: does anyone have personal stories, negative or positive about reverse mortgages? Or at the very least can link me to a site with reliable information?
I read this article, but from what I can tell in our situation, the benefit still out weighs the risk:
http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/on-retirement/2012/12/11/5-reasons-to-avoid-a-reverse-mortgage
Even when he passes away and the payment is left to me and my brother OR we sell the house to pay the loan, it would still be worth it to get the money to pay for the improvements because as of now, we couldn't give the house away without doing them. If we leave it the way it is, it will be more of a headache ten years down the road than the reverse mortgage loan.
Thanks for any advice in advance, I appreciate everyone's time.
Read more: Personal opinion/experiences with reverse mortgages?
