If you are over 62 and own your single family home, townhouse or condominium you might be eligible for a dependable source of monthly income through a "reverse mortgage."

As the name suggests, a "reverse" mortgage is the opposite of a "forward" (or regular) mortgage.

In regular mortgages, you pay back the loan in monthly installments as the equity in your property goes up with each payment.

In reverse mortgage, you have no monthly payments to make to the lender. But as you spend the mortgage money for a vacation, home improvement or for any other personal reason, the equity in your home decreases until no equity is left.

The borrowed amount is paid back when the mortgage holder dies or moves out of the principal residence.

Reverse mortgages are paid to the borrower either as lump sum, as monthly "line of credit," or a combination thereof.

Fannie Mae, the nation's largest mortgage wholesaler, has a special reverse mortgage program called Home Keeper.

Home Keeper allows senior homeowners to buy a new house even if they do not have enough cash. This program allows to use the equity in the new house as "reverse mortgage" security.

For example, let's say you are 70 years old, you sold your existing house for $200,000 and pocketed $150,000 in equity after paying off your $50,000 mortgage debt.

If you want to buy another house down in Florida which costs again $200,000 but do not want to take out a $50,000 new first mortgage, you can do so if you are eligible for a Fannie Mae's Home Keeper program. By withdrawing cash against the new property's equity, you can get into your new house without a "forward" mortgage.

Consult with your mortgage broker or real estate attorney to learn the many ways in which you can make the best of your home equity in your senior years.

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