What Is Equity Release? Is It Right For You?

Many people are finding themselves access to more cash in retirement. But if you don’t have enough savings, can you use the value of your home to boost your finances?

Equity release is a means of getting cash from your property through secured loans using your property as security. This option is available only to people aged 55 and over and paid back when your property is sold. Talk to a financial expert if you are one of those who are considering to take this route to get some cash. Use the UK equity release calculator to help you determine what you are going to get and what you are going to lose. Equity release has two kinds – home reversion scheme and the lifetime mortgage.

What is Equity Release?

Home Reversion Scheme

With a home reversion scheme, an equity release firm will purchase a portion of your home or your property. For instance, 20 percent, and then wait for the value of that share to increase. However, because the equity release company cannot get their hands on anything until the property is sold, the amount the company actually offers to you will be well below the actual value. A 20% advance would mean surrendering 70% of your property’s value.

Lifetime Mortgages

This is a far more common type of equity release. With this, the loan comes with a fixed interest rate. Unlike conventional repayment mortgages, you don’t pay it off on regular installments. Instead, your debt is accumulated meaning the interest on your property loan is computed on an increasing total. This only gets paid when the property had been sold. Lifetime Mortgage lenders guarantee you against what is known as negative equity so you will never own more than the value of your house.

Some will let you pay off a bit of the interest as you go but if you keep the loan until you die, a large chunk of the sales proceeds could get snapped up and there won’t be much to pass on to your family. A rolled-up loan of 65,000 pounds had a rate of 6.4 percent would become a debt of almost 137,000 pounds over 12 years. Remember, once you’ve got a lifetime mortgage, it is very costly to change your mind or switch deals. Some lenders charge penalties of up to 25 percent if you repay early.

Equity Release – Is It Right For You?

Equity release could be right for some people but it is a very expensive way to get your hands on some cash. It’s absolutely crucial to take independent financial advice if you’re considering it. Talk to qualified experts in the financial industry to help answer your questions on equity release.

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