equity release

merrydance

We took out a life time mortgage scheme on our property to pay off very expensive credit card debts. We went to Stepchange for advice and they advised this as the only way forward for us. My husband was 70 and I was 60 at the time. The scheme offered by Stepchange seemed very expensive so we went to a IFA. The scheme that he found for us was much better. We pay the interest every month to stop it compounding, it's 5 percent. The best thing for us was that the early exit fees are good. 10 per cent in the first 3 years, 3 per cent after 5 years and 0 per cent after 9 years. We are 2 years in, and can hopefully afford to stay in our property for a few more years, then downsize. It's worth shopping around just like you would do for a normal mortgage. Not all companies charge excessive fees like 25% to exit the loan. We also pay a bit extra every month to get the loan amount down.