Equity release deals are always a game changer for you life. They have a huge power to boost your retirement, get you out of debt, and give you a life you wouldn’t have had otherwise. The same way it can have big and good consequences, it can also have big and bad ones. The purpose of this article is not to disencourage you from considering releasing the equity of your house, by all means. However, it is necessary that you take due precautions and choose wisely the exact scheme that is best for you. It will make a huge difference in how much money can you access and how much you can inherit to the next generations, in case that’s of your interest.
There are some tips you should always bear in mind when considering this kind of deal. Most of them are common to all major investments or purchases, but you would be surprised to know how many times people can be misled and ignore these basic alert signs, especially if they are at a tight spot with debts or bills.
If you want to make a good choice with equity release you have to look at different providers and compare their offers. Don’t keep the first or second quotation you get without shopping around and seeing more options. There might be a great deal out there that you could be missing, and when it comes to large loans like lifetime mortgages, the difference one or two percent can make in the final result can be huge.
Big financial decisions like this call for a competent adviser. You shouldn’t fall under the false impression that you have high chances of making the right choice on your own. Shopping around, asking for different quotations and even using online tools such as equity release calculators and rate calculators isn’t enough. There are subtle tricks some lenders may use to ensure you make a deal with them, or at least leave some pounds in their pockets. Even if you’re working with big and reliable lenders like Lifetime Mortgages & Finance Ltd., there is a chance there might be something out there that is more convenient for your particular situation. Finding and advisor who helps you compare offerings and truly understand their implications is not an extra expense, but instead an investment that might save you thousands.
A competent advisor will be able to help you see through some of the most risky or flat out dangerous practices of lenders. Even if today dealers are regulated by the UK Financial Services, Regulation and Ethics status, there are still some strategies they use that might affect you negatively. Hidden fees and the lack of full disclosure beforehand are some of the things you should stay away from, but you might not be able to see them coming unless you have an advisor by your side to point out the risks and opportunities each deal has to offer.
Without an advisor by your side, even if you try to compare different offerings and rates, you won’t be seeing the whole picture. The more accurate and relevant information you have at hand, the better choices you will be able to make. That’s why you should have a professional advisor by your side, offering you guidance and counsel.
The UK government works to regulate and certify equity release advisors and brokers, just as any other professional who works with financial services or mortgage deals. Public offices understand the importance on regulation and quality in these services, becuse they can heavily impact the life and decisions of the elder population who request their aid.
In an attempt to protect citizens from the dangers of unprepared or mischievous advisors, the government has released Key Rules for Mortgage and Home Reversion Brokers, which are available for open access. These professionals must follow the guidelines disclosed on these documents in order to ensure that they provide a proper service to their clients. The same way, clients should inquire about the certification and professional training of their advisors, in order to make sure they’re taking counsel from a reliable professional.
Engaging in an equity release deal is worth considering if you are facing financial trouble, your income isn’t enough for your expenses, or you would like to give your life a financial boost. You can do all of this by raising money from your home through a lifetime mortgage, home reversion or any other scheme of the like. You can access a lump sum, a monthly income or a drawdown fund, amongst other options. Compare offerings, hire proper counseling and make your decision.
As any other mortgage deal, equity release are massive loans that always affect personal finances to a very high degree. All these deals must be evaluated and chosen carefully. There are many different deals out there, many lenders providing their own services with terms and conditions that may vary greatly from one to another. Making the wise choice on which one to pick is fundamental for your personal finances. The wrong step could cost you dearly, not only in money but sometimes even the whole property itself could be repossessed.
Finding an advisor is practically a must when considering an equity release loan - also known as a reverse mortgage or a conversion mortgage. The world of finances is complex and full of relevant details that could mean thousands of pounds of difference between different arrangements, and even have a major effect in your children’s inheritance. Only with a competent advisor by your side you will learn about all of these details and make the right choice that will benefit you as well as your heirs.
There is a lot of online content about equity release, including tools like calculators and extensive articles on the types of deal - lifetime mortgages, drawdown mortgages, home reversion schemes, and some others - and we do encourage you to do some reading and even use some calculators to have an estimate on how much you could make out of your property. This could help you see the picture a bit more clearly, but please, remember that this information alone might not be enough for you. This kind of arrangement shouldn’t be taken lightly, and sometimes results from calculators will vary from the final quotation you receive from your lender.
Independent advice, which is not tied to any particular lender and has no personal agenda out from your personal benefit, is highly reccommendable in these cases. Even if it does cost some money, in the end you could save up so much by making the right choice that it will be definitively worth it.
The terms of any equity release deal are what makes most of the difference with other similar options. When offering a quotation, a lender will run a short background check on you and take into consideration factors like the value of the property, your age, your overall state of health, and your credit history. Based in all factors they consider to be relevant, lenders will offer you their best quotation in hopes to have you as a borrower. So you should ask several lenders and compare their offerings. Make sure that all quotations are free of compromise and there are no clauses that prevent you from closing a deal with a different lender after you get the quotation.
Nowadays these sorts of clauses are rare because the equity release market is regulated by the government, but in the early days this sort of scams was quite common, and people would lose money and get trapped into schemes that weren’t convenient for them. This contributed to the bad fame that equity release had in the early years in the UK.
However, after that the UK government made an intervention and issued a series of regulation and protocols, including changes in home-equity lines of credit in order to force lenders to openly disclose all relevant aspects of the deal to the potential client before thay made a final agreement. These aspects would include issues such as fee rates, instalments regime, interest rates and exclusivity clauses.
One of the biggest risks of equity release is losing track of how much your debt is piling up because in most cases you don’t have to pay any instalments while you are alive. At most, with interest only mortgages you will have to pay the interests but not the instalment itself. For that reason, it might be easy to underestimate increasing debt. You should get a no negative equity guarantee, which is offered by many dealers and assures that you will never owe more money than how much your property is worth. However, late payments could make intersts pile up and all your debt will be in detriment of what you can inherit to other members of your family.
Delinquency rates on loans are in direct relation to how well planned a scheme has been. Even if unforseen circumstances can negatively affect your payments, a well designed scheme in the right terms that takes your situation into consideration, shouldn’t cause you much trouble when it comes to keeping up with repayments.
You’ve heard about it. You’ve read about the pros and cons. You’ve done your research and found about the different schemes available to you. You’ve hired an expert to help you out in the decision process, and heard their reccommendations. Now you’re strongly considering the possibility to closing up a deal with an equity release lender.
But have you truly compared all your options? Do you have a clear outlook of all the choices the market ofers? With equity release schemes increasing in popularity, more and more lenders are stepping into the market with new ideas and schemes. The more lenders there are, the more competitive the sector becomes, so the more they need to struggle to offer you the most convenient rates and the most interesting schemes. If you don’t do enough research and compare all your options, there is a chance that you might be missing an opportunity to engage in a more convenient deal. And this is no small thing, because it’s about your future, your retirement and your finances. You could save up to thousands of pounds, avoid unconvenient interest rates, and leave your family more inheritance if you pick the best lender and the best scheme.
So before you sign anything, make sure that you have thoroughly researched the equity release market and hired a reliable counselor who can put you into the right track. It’s worth the extra effort and the extra money!
One of the most interesting aspects of equity release is that it allows you to stay at home instead of moving, but still access a lump sum or monthly income that relieves you from debt or bills, or enables you to spend more on yourself or your family, or whoever you wish. This is particularly important because other options, like moving to long term care or downsizing, don’t sond very good in some cases.
In example, your house might be just the right size for you, so downsizing would mean to lose comfort or the nice qualities of your current place - in example, a big yard or nice, luminous rooms. Also, and especially for elder people who’ve lived in a family home for decades, their house holds memories of happy times and they would, understandably, prefer to stay there until their final day, instead of being forced to walk away due to money issues.
Even if you need health assistance, you can compare nursing homes against living in the home with assistance, and when you pair that with the benefits of an equity release scheme, it suddenly sounds like a great alternative. After all, who pays for health care? Even if you might have some form of government assistance for health problems, it never sounds nice to burden your children or other family members with your health expenses.
There are many options for the release of equity of your property. You might have heard terms like lifetime mortgage, home reversion, interest only schemes and drowdown mortgages. You should learn about each one of them and compare their pros and cons in order to find out which one is most convenient for you. The point here is, no scheme is technically better than the others. They’re all different, so in each case any of them can help you make the most of your assets. It will depend on factors like your age, the value of your property and your health.
There are many tools available for you to compare equity share schemes, and perhaps the best known of them is the equity release calculator, that you can find at many places online, for free access. Some equity release providers offer a free online calculator service at their own website, which also serves as a tool for quotations. However, you must use these services carefully, and for two reasons.
One of them is that different calculators might give you different results, depending on the criteria and rates used for the math. In other words, if you want to get an idea on how much you could get out of an equity release deal, use several calculators and gather an average of their results.
The second reason is that in some special cases rates might vary from the result shown in a dealer’s free calculator, so the first result is always estimative and aproximate. You need to confirm it by talking to the lender.
Different schemes have their own cash flow and interest dynamics, so do some deeper research or, even better, hire an expert to help you compare your options.
Equity release schemes are relatively new in the market of mortgages, so they are still at their first stage of development, with new possibilties yet to be offered to the public, and regulation issues in process of being addressed. Even if equity release has been around in the United Kingdom for longer than in most other countries, so we have a much wider experience in how they work and how all actors involved in these schemes actually behave over time, there is still plenty of room for expansion in this market.
Technically, equity release deals make up a small portion of the general mortgage market. However, current trends in finances, estate, economy and society, and even the political currents that nowadays direct the decisions of our governments, make it very likely that equity release will expand and develop more and more in the upcoming years. Factors like an aging population and better regulations that protect the borrowers from misleading lenders or unprepared advisors are turning equity release into an even better option for late life financing year after year.
The evolving statutory regulation of reverse mortgages was a much needed action taken by our government as well as other governments in countries where equity release is increasing in acceptance and popularity. In the early years, this practice was mostly unregulated and many lenders incurred in well planned and well thought scams or dangerous practices that harmed the borrowers and gave equity release deals an all around bad popularity. With elder people kicked out of their houses or disowned of their properties, inheritances cut much shorter than intended, and even increasing debt due to negative equity, people started walking away from this financing opportunity. Government intervention and regulations were mandatory.
The estate market has evolved over the past few decades, and experienced the highs and lows of some financial crisis as well as the transformations in overall lifestyle that affect the sale and purchase of properties. Our economy is changing, with new options available for financial planning and new niches for mortgage deals and other sorts of financial services. The increasing complexty that results of a growing number of options and concerns also makes more room for financial advisors and estate counselors to step into the frame and offer their services in this new niche. As a result, the equity release market, along with other equity schemes like Equity Compensation or home reversion is becoming more and more active, and therefore tempting for investors.
There is no successful investment that hasn't been carefully planned and studied, with a risk policy clearly defined and lots of math performed before any major decision. Before entering into a new segment of market, or offering a potential borrower any deffinitive quotation, investors study each case and calculate how much margin they could get out of the deal, what the risk is and what range of rate they could offer to the new customer.
They do have their own tools to do so, like a Margin Calculator or rate charts, which have been generated after years of studying the market. With these results and after enough consideration, they will take their decisions and choose where to put their money, and under which conditions.
Even if the lender is technically the investor in the deal, when you borrow money under an equity release scheme you should be consdiering yourself as some kind of investor, too. As in, you must make the right choices so you make the most out of what you own. A great deal of this comes from choosing the right people to work with. The right lender who will offer the most convenient deal and the most reliable service, and the right advisor who will show you your options and wisely help you decide which one is best.
Another important element for you to take into consideration is the use of equity release calculators that are currently available for you online and for free. These tools help you have a first approach on how much you could release from your property, what range of rates you could expect, and how likely is your request to be approved. Also, equity release calculators help you compare the performance of different schemes, like home reversion, drawdown mortgages and lifetime mortgages.
Of course, you should never forget that the results you get at an equity release calculator do not guarantee your final quotation. You must ask different lenders to get a deffinitive answer about the terms of your deal.
Living the last portion of your life on state pension has been a given for quite a while. However, what has also been a given for a while is that you are likely not to get enough when you retire. There are sketches, jokes and serious criticisms here and there about retired people facing financial trouble and not being able to keep the same lifestyle as when they belonged to the active working force. Even in prospere countries like the UK this seems to be the case, more than many people think. Britons find themselves short in money for what they want and the hundred-and-something pounds a week they get isn’t enough to cover their intended expenses.
So more and more people have started to look for options that complement their state pension income when they retire. As in any other financial scheme, planning ahead is a big part of success, just as much as making the right decisions. Young or middle age people rarely think about their retirement finances as a major concern, but we strongly believe that they should prepare in advance, because the sooner they start, the better chances they have to built a good financial scheme that will help them be at economic ease when they reach the elderly age.
There are so many options for financial strategy and so many aspects that need consideration, that it isn’t advisable to research and design a plan by yourself. Even if general knowledge on the differnt schemes, like long term bank investments, properties, personal businesses and the stock market can give you a somere idea on how each one works, the reality is so complex that you should get professional counsel while you are in the process of making these decisions. If you don’t you might miss great opportunities for you, and you might as well make huge mistakes and put your money and effort in a place that won’t pay off in the long term. And when it comes to retirement planning, it’s all about long term.
Tax planning is a big part of retirement planning, because different schemes have their own particulars in regards to tax liabilities. Some forms of income are tax free while others are tax deductible, and sometimes you have both ways to access the same money or the same savings, you just need to know your most convenient option. Also, tax rates change from time to time in response to new tax regulations, so in order to get the better rates of tax you must stay up to date with this particular issue. Or instead, just hire a consultant who does.
Running the right tax strategies for a comfortable retirement is a complex science, but if you do it right you will make a huge difference in your personal finances by the last stage of your life.
Equity release is a scheme that has proven to be an effective way to financialy boost a retiree’s life. Unlike other strategies like funds, long term investments and tax planning, you can release the equity of your property without planning ahead and still get a great deal. Released lump sums or incomes are often tax free and are calculated on factors like your age and property values, so there isn’t much you can do at a younger age to ensure a better equity release deal.
Instead, making the most out of equity release is about finding the best lender with the most convenient rates, that is also reliable and has no fine print in its offerings. Since now this sort of lenders is more heavily regulated by the Government, you are unlikely to be scammed or lose money in the process.
You can hire an advisor to tell you about which scheme is best for you, and to show you the best rates in the market. However, you can also shop around in the Internet and compare rates. Don’t do the second thing only, because there are mischievous websites here and there, but sitting down a couple afternoons and checking some offerings will give you an idea on what kind of rates you can expect for your property. Equity release calculators are a great help for this. There are free equity release calculators all over the place online.
The Equity Entrepreneur is another great online resource. If you check their blog, you will find very useful articles on equity release and the latest news, as well as reliable information on equity release rates and schemes.
Equity release is one of the most popular financial solutions for the older generation today. These plans give elderly home owners a chance to unlock their property’s value and live comfortably for the rest of their days. But with so many options to choose from, how do you decide which one is the best for you? Here are some insights into the different types of lifetime mortgages available today and who can benefit from them.
A lifetime mortgage can be simply put as a long term loan that is secured against your residential property. The loan is usually recovered by selling the property after the youngest owner passes on or moves into aided care. These financial solutions are regulated by the Equity Release Council. Lifetime mortgage regulations are crafted to protect all parties involved.
There is an endless list of service providers that offer equity release services. While they may brand their services differently and offer slightly differing terms, the overall products boils down to these few basics.
Drawdown Lifetime Mortgage
This is a flexible lifetime plan that enables a home owner to get a small amount at the outset and a periodic payment for the rest of their life. The advantage is that you can draw down additional borrowings as you need them. This plan requires you to pay interest only, which brings down the overall cost of the mortgage. It is also important to note that every drawdown comes with its own interest rate. You can take advantage of the adjustable rates to pay less in future.
Lump Sum Lifetime Mortgage
This is the most basic of all lifetime mortgage plans. You get a lump sum at the outset and the interest charged on the mortgage is rolled up over time. You get to enjoy your lump sum without making any periodic payments. Once the home owner moves into aided care or passes on, the lump sum plus the interest are redeemed from the sale of the property. With this equity release plan, the interest rates are agreed upon at the outset.
Interest Only Lifetime Mortgage
This is an equity release plan that allows you to make monthly payments of the interest only. In this plan, you are given a mortgage amount which is redeemable only after passing or moving into aided care. Since the interest is repaid every month, the total amount owed to the service provider reduces. If the value of the property at the end of the story is more than the amount owed, the difference is refunded to the home owner’s kin.
Enhanced Lifetime Mortgage
This is an equity release scheme that is offered to home owners who are deemed to have a lower than average life expectancy. The group of people who can benefit from this plan include the elderly (more than 75 years old), and those with terminal illnesses. One of the main advantages of this plan is that the equity released is larger than what is normally given out in other plans.
Equity release plans are the perfect financial solutions for home owners looking to release some amount from their property. Before you go all out to sign on the dotted line, there are a few things you should consider.
The Costs Involved
Before signing up for any plan, it is important to ask the service provider about all the costs involved. Be sure to know everything you can about the interest rates charged, the property valuation procedures as well as all other costs you may incur in the process. Be sure to check out the benefits attached to the products as well. You will realize that you can get mortgage relief whenever the costs are too much for you to bear.
Early Repayment Penalties
It is possible that you may take up a lifetime mortgage then change your mind along the way and decide to pay it all back at once. Therefore, when signing up for a mortgage, be sure you know of all the penalties that may be charged regarding late or early repayments. Be wary of service providers who are dodgy about the fine print of the deal.
Research on the Service Providers
It is crucial to deal only with qualified and approved lenders. Your search may begin with Equity Release Council as well as other government institutions that are charged with licensing mortgage services providers. Before choosing any one service provider, shop around. Listen to what they have to offer then take your pick.
Equity release is one of the countless financial products that are available to pensioners and other property owners. Be sure to shop around for other financial options so that you get the best. Check out the different products available, finance charge and how to get the best from the financial services on the market.
Lifetime Mortgage
Home Equity Release
Nationwide Equity Release
Releasing Equity From Your Home
Age Concern Equity Release
Equity Release Explained
Key Advice Equity Release
Equity Release Lifetime Mortgage
Lifetime Mortgage Providers
More To Life Equity Release
Lifetime Mortgage Explained
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