Retirement & Mortgages
So you're planning on retiring? Congratulations. This is so exciting for you. If you have a mortgage, you need to talk to a mortgage broker so that we can help to make sure that you set yourself up for success before this happens.
There are some important things to keep in mind, that most people don't really think about. Make sure that before you retire, you are with the right lender that has the best interest rates and the best products, so that they're going to be competitive for you for the rest of your mortgage. This way you never need to worry about moving your mortgage somewhere else, and you can always be sure that you're going to get the very best solutions at renewal.
What I always recommend for any client that is nearing retirement, is to get a home equity line of credit that is relevant with your mortgage. What this means is when you pay down your mortgage principal, the limit that's available to you on your line of credit will grow over time. This is nice for a couple of reasons:
Eventually you'll pay off your mortgage and you will still have access to the equity in your home. In the future should you need it.
Once you retire, you may not qualify to access more equity from your property in the future. And if you need it, it's wonderful to be able to have access to it. A home equity line of credit allows this for you without having to requalify, and you can access it at any time.
Most lenders require that the surviving spouse fully qualifies for the mortgage. And if you don't qualify, you may have to sell your property, which nobody wants to want to do, especially when they're grieving the loss of a spouse. But we have lenders that look at this differently, and if one borrower passes away, the mortgage automatically transfers to the surviving borrower without requalification.
This is crucial in this time for all of these reasons and many more. It is so important that you are getting advice from a mortgage professional. Reach out to our team. We really want to help. Have an awesome day!
