Reply to Has anyone figured out an alternative to a reverse mortgage for a cash strapped parent?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My widowed father lives out of town in a middle cost of living area. He lives in the house I grew up in. The primary mortgage has been paid off for several years but he still has a HELOC that was taken out decades ago and has never been repaid apart from interest payments. He has been notified that he will need to start paying a certain amount towards principle based on (I assume) the original terms of the HELOC. He has maybe $30k or so in cash and stocks plus the value of his home equity and that's it. He otherwise lives on social security which isn't that high because he took it at 62. He could probably pay off the HELOC if he liquidated all of his other assets but he doesn't want to do that because he won't have any money for home repairs, etc. and as the house is getting quite old, it's not an outlandish concern. He adamantly does not want to move. He already has a roommate who does pay rent but I don't think it's market. He wants to do a reverse mortgage which my sibling and I and other family members think is a bad idea. Can anyone think of any options not listed below, and/or does anyone have any thoughts on the options?

1. Sell the house and move somewhere more affordable. (He doesn't want to and doesn't know where he would go.)
2. Do a reverse mortgage (I think the fees and interest are predatory and have a very real concern that if he "lives too long" essentially he will be evicted from his own home. The stats on that are pretty bad, especially past the 10 year mark. He's in his early 70's and in ok health but not stellar.)
3. Try to refinance the HELOC and get a more reasonable payment that is still taking care of some principle. (I'm not sure this is even possible without a job, and he would likely need to spend down current assets to make the payments.)
4. Pay off the current HELOC and essentially be out of cash. (But then how would he pay for repairs ie: roof or HVAC, etc.)

Has anyone been in a similar situation and what ended up happening?[/quote]

Early 70s in ok health means he needs to get a part-time job.  It wouldn’t take much to earn enough to make a $650 payment (plus taxes).[/quote]

+1.  Especially if you can refinance the HELOC to get the payment a bit lower.  Both may parents are in their 70s and have part-time retirement jobs in part because they want to live somewhere they can't really afford on their retirement income alone either.....[/quote]

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