Friday 10 December 2010

Equity Relase Advice

Let your house look after you ….

Are you worried about the size of your pension?

Do you wish you had more money to allow you to lead the lifestyle you deserve?

Is your house now worth far more than you paid for it?

If so you are a prime candidate for Equity Release when you retire. The experts & the Government expect this to be the next boom market. And the Council of Mortgage Lenders predicts that as many as one in four pensioner homeowners will go down this route.

If you are aged over 55, Equity Release can allow you to access the money tied up in your home as a tax free cash lump sum, a guaranteed income for life, or a combination of both of these. Furthermore, most of these plans require no repayment of the capital until your home is sold after your death or permanently moving out of your home.

The loan can be for any purpose ……….

Financing your future
Home improvements
Medical expenses
New Car
Visiting family
Pay off existing debts
Inheritance tax mitigation
Holidays

Why not enjoy what could be the best years of your life?

Safe Home Income Plans (SHIP) was launched in 1991 to promote safe equity release schemes & protect customers. Member Companies offer important guarantees.

• A guarantee that you can live in your home for as long as you wish.
• A “NO NEGATIVE EQUITY” guarantee, ensuring that you will never owe any more than the value of your property.
• The freedom to MOVE home to another suitable property.
• Fair, Simple & Complete presentation of their plans.
• Independent legal advice from your own choice of solicitors.

We specialise in Equity Release. In addition to offering advice on a range of financial products, we can offer you unbiased advice on whether such a scheme would meet your needs and which is currently the best deal from the whole market.


TYPES OF EQUITY RELEASE

Lifetime Mortgages

You can borrow a % of your property value, dependent on your age and with a lifetime mortgage, you retain ownership of your property. You are not required to make payments to the lender and the interest that is charged is added to the loan.
The original loan together with the accrued interest would be repaid on the sale of the property, the borrower going into long term care or the death of the borrower.

Key advantages:

You retain ownership of your property
Cash raised can be used as you wish
No monthly payments
You are guaranteed lifetime occupancy
Any remaining equity in the property when the property is sold is available to you or your beneficiaries

Key Disadvantages:

You can only raise a relatively low proportion of your property value
The debt could roll up quickly and erode your equity
You have no control over the roll up of interest
Moving home may be difficult
Increases in capital or income may affect your rights to state benefits

Home Reversion Plans

With a home reversion plan, you sell part or all of your property to a home reversion provider in exchange for a cash lump sum or an income. Your interest in protected by the formation of a lifetime lease, which will guarantee you occupancy of your home for life. When you die or go into long term care, the provider sells the property.

Key advantages:

Cash raised can be used as you wish
No monthly payments are required
You are guaranteed lifetime occupancy
On a part reversion scheme, some equity in the property will be retained, which would be available to you or your beneficiaries
The future position is certain as there is no rolled up interest.

Key Disadvantages:

You would lose ownership of all or part of your property
You lose the right to any future growth in the part of the property sold
The cash or income raised will not represent the true value of the part of the property sold
If you die soon are taking out this arrangement, the deal would have been very expensive
Moving home may be difficult
Increases in capital or income may affect your rights to state benefits