Lifetime mortgage

Lindy_Lou_5

Hi I'm looking to raise some funds so I can enjoy the rest of my life whilst I still can. I'm going to be 67 next month. I don't have a mortgage and my property is worth in excess of £350,000. I don't have any dependents and my family don't need my money so no worries about having to leave it to anyone. I'm aware if I live to say 88 the debt could potentially be £100,000 plus. This won't bother me as I won't be here. I'm looking to take say £80,000 with the potential of another £40,000 if I need it. I know the interest rates will be different. I have a financial adviser and have spoken to him but I'm looking for any comments about things I might not have thought about. I know the costs involved legally and financially. I know that any monies left after the debt has been paid will go back into my estate. The moving bit, if I need to, worries me as no one knows what will happen over time. I am expecting an inheritance maybe over the next 5 years but then I still have a property with equity. I'm nervous about doing the mortgage. Any help gratefully received. 

MWT

Lindy_Lou_5 said:

... but I'm looking for any comments about things I might not have thought about. I know the costs involved legally and financially. I know that any monies left after the debt has been paid will go back into my estate. The moving bit, if I need to, worries me as no one knows what will happen over time. I am expecting an inheritance maybe over the next 5 years but then I still have a property with equity. I'm nervous about doing the mortgage. Any help gratefully received. 

On that first point, the costs can be anywhere from almost zero to a few thousand pounds depending on choices you make.

The biggest item is usually the charge for advice, and if your financial advisor is dealing with that then you may have already agreed to pay them for that advice, but if not then consider that you can get the required advice free from a number of the usual high st lenders or from somewhere like StepChange Financial Solutions.

Whoever you do decide to use for the advice will receive a payment from the lender when you take the product, so I've never felt that those charging you on top of that were providing great value, but that is a choice for you to make...

You will also find that many of the lenders will offer free valuations and zero product charges mostly leaving you with just the legal costs which can be under £500 in a lot of cases.

Other things that may not be obvious include things like the current state of repair of your property and its construction and general location together with any commercial adjacencies.

In short, the lenders are looking for easily saleable, well maintained homes without any negative aspects to the location and traditional construction.

So a home that presents as being in good order both inside and out will be more acceptable than one with signs of neglect outside and untidy inside... yes they are going to be forming a judgement on how likely you are to keep the place in good order in the future.

If you have plans to downsize I would strongly suggest doing that first and only going for equity release if you still need it after that, but if that isn't something you plan and would expect to remain in the property until such time as you may need long-term residential care then equity release can be a good solution.