Loan Programs

The house you already paid for, paying you back.

For homeowners 62 and older — equity you spent thirty years building, drawn as income instead of left sitting in the walls.

What Is a Reverse Mortgage?

Equity turned into cash flow, without selling the house.

A reverse mortgage lets a homeowner aged 62 or older borrow against their equity and stop making a monthly mortgage payment. The balance grows instead of shrinking, and it comes due when the last borrower leaves the house.

A wooden porch swing and wicker rocking chairs on the deep covered porch of an established home, geraniums along the rail

Why Homeowners Consider a Reverse Mortgage

Four reasons a paid-off house and a thin monthly income are a problem worth solving.

Stay in the house you paid for. Reaching the equity by selling means leaving, and this is the option that turns the house into cash flow while you are still living in it.
No monthly mortgage payment. The payment stops, which is usually the largest single line a retired household can take out of a budget that is no longer growing.
Take it as a line, a lump or income. The proceeds can be drawn as a line of credit, a single sum or a monthly payment, and that choice is the difference between a windfall and a plan.
The loan is non-recourse. Neither you nor your heirs will ever owe more than the home is worth when it comes due, whatever the balance and the market do in between.

More Than a Loan Program

The longest conversation of any program here, and worth every minute of it.

This is a family decision more often than not. What it does to an inheritance, what happens if a surviving spouse is not on the loan, what the obligations are once payments stop — none of that is fine print, and all of it weighs better beforehand.

Alliance walks it with you, slowly. With more than 20 years of mortgage experience, Alliance pairs market knowledge with a dedicated loan officer who will talk you out of this as readily as into it.

Is a Reverse Mortgage a Good Fit?

Four things a reverse mortgage does that no other way of reaching equity can.

Reach the equity without leaving. Downsizing reaches the same money by selling the house; this reaches it while you stay, which is the entire point for a household that does not want to move.
A line of credit still wants repaying. A home equity line has to be serviced every month, and on a fixed retirement income that payment is the binding constraint — this program removes it.
You cannot owe more than the house. The non-recourse rule caps the debt at what the home is worth when it is repaid, which a cash-out refinance or a second mortgage does not do.
Independent counselling is required. Federal law puts a HUD-approved counsellor between you and the closing table, which is a safeguard no other program on this site makes mandatory.

The dining table of an established home in morning light, three wooden chairs drawn in beside a small stack of paperwork and three empty cups

Compare the Paths With Alliance

One conversation, and downsizing, a line of credit and a reverse mortgage read together.

Three ways to reach the same equity. Your Alliance loan officer sets a reverse mortgage against a home equity line and against downsizing, on monthly cash flow, total cost, and what each one leaves behind.

Sometimes the answer is not to do it. A household five years from a move, or one that can cover the gap another way, is usually better served elsewhere — and saying so is what the conversation is for.

Getting reverse-ready

Five things decide whether a reverse mortgage fits, and not one of them is only about money.

An open booklet lying flat on a pale oak table beside a cup of tea on a saucer and reading glasses, an armchair softly out of focus behind

Age and ownership. The youngest borrower on the title has to be 62 or older, and the house has to be owned outright or close to it. Any remaining mortgage balance is paid off out of the proceeds before anything else is drawn.
The obligations that remain. You still own the home and you still owe the property taxes, the insurance and the upkeep. Falling behind on any of them can put the loan into default, which is the failure this program actually has.
A balance that grows. Interest and fees are added to the balance rather than paid down, so the debt rises over time and the equity behind it falls. That is the trade, and it is money that would otherwise have been inherited.
A spouse who is not on the loan. A non-borrowing spouse has protections, but what they amount to depends on how the loan is written. Ask before signing rather than afterwards — this is the detail families most often find out about too late.
The counselling session. An independent, HUD-approved counsellor has to review the decision with you before a reverse mortgage can close. It is a safeguard rather than a formality, and it is the right place to bring the hard questions.

Reverse Mortgage FAQs

The questions homeowners and their families ask most before deciding.

Do I still own my home?

Yes — your name stays on the title and the house is yours. What changes is that a lien sits against it, and the property taxes, insurance and upkeep stay your responsibility; falling behind on those is what can put the loan into default.

What happens to the house when I die?

The loan comes due and the heirs choose: repay it and keep the house, or sell it and keep whatever equity is left. Because the loan is non-recourse, they can never owe more than the home is worth at that point.

Will this take my children's inheritance?

It spends equity they would otherwise have inherited — that is the honest answer, and the reason this decision usually belongs to the whole family. What is left depends on how much is drawn, how long the loan runs, and what the house does meanwhile.

Is a reverse mortgage better than a HELOC?

Neither is better in the abstract. A HELOC keeps more equity intact but has to be repaid every month, which is the constraint on a fixed income; a reverse mortgage removes the payment and spends the equity faster.

Do I really have to take counselling?

Yes — federal law requires an independent session with a HUD-approved agency before the loan can close. It exists to make sure the decision is understood, and a loan officer will point you toward it rather than around it.