Equity Release News

Does Aviva’s Equity Release Calculator Provide the Best Equity Release Maximum Lump Sum?

Does Aviva’s Equity Release Calculator Provide the Best Equity Release Maximum Lump Sum?

Competition in the financial market particularly with loan products keeps companies from charging too much and makes it possible for consumers to find a product that fits their needs. By going through an independent brokerage firm working for you and not for the company offering the product you can get great advice that steers you towards the best equity release maximum lump sum. Unfortunately, if you do not go through an independent site you run the risk of a company representative only offering their products. This is the case with Aviva.

Aviva and Tied Sale Representatives
In July 2013, Aviva stopped providing in house representatives and moved to outside brokers with tied representative. It means these brokers are only allowed to talk about Aviva lump sum products or the flexible plan offered. Unless asked directly about other products the representative does not have to give you an alternative to Aviva. This makes the advice skewed, the products less competitive, and you could end up with results that do not fit your needs.

The Aviva equity release calculator works as a representative would. It is designed to give you results based on Aviva products only. Often it only offers the maximum lump sum plan results rather than any other Aviva product an independent website has access to. You could end up paying a higher interest rate, seeing a lower maximum than another company can provide, and overall results that are not the best for your situation.

Using an Independent Calculator
If you truly want to get independent results that are not skewed, but working to provide you the best equity release maximum lump sum then you need to find a website that is wholly independent from any equity release lender in the market. These websites exist as do their independent calculators.

A calculator on one of these websites is going to provide you with the best result after taking your information and checking to see the best interest rate available for your age and property value.

From these results you can then contact an independent broker who will not only look at the product the calculator provided results for, but also see if there are other options out there that could work better for you.

Independent Advice Factors in More Information
An independent equity release broker is able to ask you some pointed questions with regard to your needs, your health, and other factors. The information you supply is going to help the broker narrow down results in the market and possibly increase the maximum lump sum available to you. They may not always find a better product than the calculator results showed; however, they will try so that you can make an educated decision about the financial product best suited for you and your household.

Results are Guides
You should know that if you go off of a calculator including the Aviva equity release calculator results, it is an estimated number. The result is only a guide and should be used as such. If you attempt to use that number as a guarantee you may become disappointed after speaking with any adviser including an independent adviser.

The calculator is unable to examine all aspects of your life. It is unable to make anything but an impartial result based on the input you give it. The accuracy of information is one way to get results closer to what is attainable.

Your age must be used to get results, but the age you use has to be the youngest homeowner. This is a homeowner who is able to sell the property because they are named on the property title. If a person does not have rights to make decisions about the property they cannot count. The youngest person also has to be at least 55 years of age for an equity release plan. Plans are given out up to age 90, but again the youngest homeowner is the age that applies.

For property value you need to be as close to the potential market value as possible in order to get accurate results. An independent broker can do an appraisal to get the actual value, where you might be going off current sales in your area that are comparable to your home size, age, and upkeep. Keep this in mind as you look for the best equity release maximum lump sum. It will have a bearing on the results you receive.

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Do Home Reversion Calculators Still Exist?

Do Home Reversion Calculators Still Exist?

The equity release market has changed considerably since the beginning of the industry. Products have come and gone. For example, the Hodge Share Growth Option, a home reversion plan, is no longer available. Hodge Lifetime was a forerunner for all equity release schemes. The market is left with few companies offering the product. They include Bridgewater, Crown and New Life. Since home reversion payouts are dropping in these last few years; there has been a drop in tools available to consumers like you including home reversion calculators.

Impossible to Find – NO!
It is definitely harder to find home reversion calculators; however, it is not impossible. You just need to know where you can search for the tools to make certain you are on the proper website and not led astray. Doing a Google search will show you results of supposed websites providing these HR calculators; however, the actuality is they offer a lifetime mortgage calculator. These two types of calculators are very different in the results they offer, thus the need to find a true tool.

Instead of getting frustrated by the misleading results, you can visit Crown or www.homereversion.org. Crown Equity Release has an association with HomeReversion.org ensuring you find a proper calculator for your home reversion needs. By using this product on the aforementioned website, you can determine whether it is possible to gain enough tax free cash to help during your retirement.

Exploring the Differences in Products
Lifetime mortgages are loans available to retirees aged 55 or older. There are four types of lifetime mortgages, which are not currently relevant to the discussion. With a lifetime mortgage, you will need to pay the principle tax free sum plus any interest that has accrued at the end of the loan. The end of the loan is defined as your death or a move to a long term care facility. Lifetime mortgages can be transferred to new properties with some companies, not all but some, thus the definition of payment.

Home reversion is not a loan at all. There is no interest that applies to the concept. Instead, you allow partial control of your home to go to the buyer. You will sell your home, in full or part, in return for cash. It is tax free cash, to be used as you wish. The buyer signs a lifetime tenancy agreement with you allowing you to remain in the home until death or again until you wish to move. At the time you move or expire, your home is sold to the buyer in full. Any value or equity left in the home is given to your beneficiary or you.

The buyer then has full ownership of the home, which they can then sell to a new buyer. The new buyer will pay full value for the property, whereas you received only partial value based on the percentage you sold originally and at the end. An appreciation of your home allows for a higher percentage awarded to you.

Calculating Based on Value and Age
As you can guess, home value is going to apply to the amount of money you can obtain with home reversion. The more value a home has initially, the more you can get in a percentage. It is best to have an accurate value or as near an approximation as possible. Zoopla can help or Nationwide (if you have an old appraisal).

You must be 65 to take on home reversion. The older you are the more money you can receive. The premise is all about life expectancy for the company buying your home. They assume the older you are the quicker you will die. It sounds cold and it really is. They are in for the investment and potential money they can make, thus the less time you are in the home, the better, especially as the market improves. The more a home appreciates the more they can make on the resale.

Lifetime Mortgage Calculator
Results from a lifetime mortgage calculator are based on your age, home value, and the fact that there is an interest rate. You receive a specific percentage of the home sale just like home reversion, but you cannot determine what that percentage is.

With home reversion you can tell the home reversion calculators what percentage you want to sell of your home to see if it is going to result in enough cash to live during your retirement comfortably. An advantage is that you can always sell more of your home to gain more funds and still live in it.

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Search Online for the Best Equity Release Deals

Search Online for the Best Equity Release Deals

Retirement is an incredible part of life that allows older men and women to sit back and relax after they have spent their lives working and taking care of their families and homes. Those going into retirement will enjoy a certain amount of money each and every month; however, some retired people will find that the amount they are receiving is simply not enough in general or is not enough for them to enjoy added benefits such as carrying out home improvements or setting up a savings account for their grandchildren.

One easy way to obtain more money is by considering equity release. Since the credit crunch hit in 2010, equity release schemes have built their way back up to the top of the popularity charts and are now offering customers incredible equity release deals. The current crop of offers have arisen due to the increasing amount of competition the industry has brought upon itself. One which is proving cost effective is the equity release cashback deal and is only one of several benefits which are available when applying for an equity release currently that will give retired people the resources to live and improve their lives upon.

Deciding to get an equity release cashback deal at this moment this time will undoubtedly give you many options to consider. This will include whether a cashback deal is of value, as it may have an influence on the interest rate. For instance the Aviva Flexi plan now comes with the option of £0 cashback, £500 cashback & £1000 cashback. However, the more cashback you take, the higher the interest rate becomes. Therefore, a larger cashback would benefit the smaller releases. Conversely, the lower cashbacks would help the larger releases as they would benefit more from a lower interest rate.

However, don’t just choose an equity release provider because they have the biggest cashback deal! There are many facets of these plans that need analysis and it is important to do plenty of research between the various companies and the deals they provide to decide which plan is right for you.

All these equity release deals only apply on lifetime mortgages which are now the most popular form of equity release scheme available. As such, lenders are pushing their products aggressively with the resultant effect being a competitive marketplace.

With some equity release cashback deals also comes a free valuation, which means that NO upfront fees will be required by the lifetime mortgage companies. Therefore, at both ends of the application process you have money saving features to benefit your pocket on the overall set up costs.

Finally, to top off the great equity release deals currently available, the interest rates on equity release schemes are now the LOWEST they have ever been. For example the Aviva Flexi plan has rates now starting from 5.57% which is a considerable fall from the equity release interest rate highs of over 8% many years ago. The market has certainly taken some huge strides ever since those days.

Those who are retired deserve nothing but the best. If you find that you simply don’t have the amount of money you would like, consider an equity release. With the market providing cashback deals, free home valuations as well as incredible interest rates, it has never been a better time to consider a release of equity.

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Finding The New Administrators Of Northern Rocks Equity Release Mortgage Book

Finding The New Administrators Of Northern Rocks Equity Release Mortgage Book

If you are one of the old benefactors of Northern Rock Equity Release then you should be aware that Northern Rock do not write new equity release business any longer. This doesn’t means that your deal is over but in fact, they have sold off their equity release mortgage book to Papilio UK Equity Release Mortgages Ltd who are now responsible for managing all those old completed cases which were originally taken out with Northern Rock Equity Release.

There was a time when Northern Rock stood nothing less than the other major equity release lenders such as Aviva, Portman Building Society, Hodge Lifetime and even In Retirement Services. They got in deep trouble with the credit crunch that swept the financial world leaving them as one of the worst affected. After the sell off in March 2012, Papilio UK Equity Release became the new administrator, who are now handling all the enquiries of customers belonging to Northern Rocks equity release book.

If you are trying to enquire about taking some more cash from your home equity loan which was originally offered by Northern Rock, then you must know that the new Papilio administrators don’t allow you to take any further loans on your home. Apart from that, you might be shocked to hear that the rate of interest that you are paying to them is approximately 1.3% more than what the other lenders are offering in current scenario’s. Therefore, rather than struggling on thinking your bridges have been burnt, get some financial advice on this matter.

Considering the power of the compounding interest, you should consider the potential savings you could make by switching to another equity release lender who is offering a much better rate of interest.

An equity release remortgage is therefore one angle that should be explored further. This option could be exercised as it not only promises you a huge saving on interest in the long run, but also the new lender may be able to assist with further borrowings on top. Therefore you can opt for an immediate release of equity or even have a cash reserve to be accessed at any time in the future via a drawdown lifetime mortgage basis.

If you are worried about repayment and other miscellaneous charges on account of closure of your original Northern Rock equity release mortgage then take a breath of relief. The total set up cost to switch over is not as much as you might anticipate.

Currently, Papilio are letting customers go with NO early repayment charge given that they wish to reclaim their initial investment. You can find many current equity release brokers offering free advice and free valuations as well as cashbacks up to £1000 upon the remortgage of your property. Looking diligently, you can even strike on the interest rate as low as 5.57% per annum.

With interest rates never been so low & having the security of fixing them at today’s rates for life, never has there been a better time to review your old Northern Rock lifetime mortgage.

Call 0800 678 5159 if you require further assistance about contacting Papilio UK Equity Release Mortgages Ltd.

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Which providers offer Enhanced Lifetime Mortgages?

Which providers offer Enhanced Lifetime Mortgages?

Equity release mortgages are varying as people’s needs are different. Usually you would just visit the normal equity release schemes which would either be a type of lifetime mortgage or a home reversion scheme. However, there is a fresher type of equity release called the enhanced lifetime mortgage. This lifetime mortgage can provide an even greater maximum lump sum that doesn’t require you losing ownership of your home like in a home reversion plan.

You generally consider an enhanced lifetime loan if you are in poor health or such that is deemed to be eligible due to smoking or excessively drinking. New applicants to this lifetime mortgage find it appealing due to their poor health. This is because lenders believe that you will die sooner than people applying for a normal equity release so they can recoup their money sooner. Therefore, you would receive a higher lump sum with this scheme, meaning that you can enjoy life without any monetary restrictions.

To apply for an enhanced lifetime mortgage you need to be at least 55. There is an application to fill out that asks specific questions about your health and lifestyle. This application looks at lifestyle choices such as smoking and drinking that can be dangers to your health. The application also asks your weight to see if there are obesity or heart concerns. The provider will take into consideration if the applicant has a severe health issue like cancer or other life threatening diseases. This is due to the fact that with a decreased life expectancy of people with illnesses, the provider will release more equity.

There are three main providers of an enhanced equity release scheme: Aviva, More2life and Partnership. You should look at approaching these companies if you are looking to borrow and you suffer from minor or severe health impairments. Alternatively, you should speak to a financial advisor to see if you are eligible for an enhanced equity release scheme.

The enhanced equity release scheme is often overlooked by applicants, because they are not as promoted as normal lifetime mortgages but companies like Aviva or More2Life are becoming more popular with this product. Also, applicants fear that because of their health that they would have the opposite effect in the amount of cash they will receive for their equity.

Enhanced schemes are not for everyone. As stated, there needs to be a significant health risk to your life expectancy for you to qualify. If you speak with one of the providers available to you and feel this scheme is not for you, do not give up. There is monetary help out there for you. You may want to speak with a financial advisor to see what other plans you might be eligible for.

Highlights of Enhanced Lifetime Mortgages:
1)      You do not sell your home to obtain cash.
2)      The cash you receive in a lump sum payment can be used as you wish.
3)      You will not have to pay any monthly payments or interest with this mortgage option.
4)      It is for individuals who have severe health issues or potentially reduce life expectancy.
5)      There is a potential for leaving an inheritance.

Concerns:
1)      Your family will need to pay the mortgage back. This may be through the sale of your home. If there is a sale needed your family may still get an inheritance based on the housing value increase of your home. The sale price minus the outstanding loan balance with interest may equal extra funds.
2)      If you have a companion, partner, or are married you may be leaving your partner without extra funds for their retirement by taking out equity when you are at an earlier age.

Enhanced equity release schemes allow you to take money out when you are 55, but there can still be quite a few years left for your spouse or even you should medical changes occur. One major benefit of the enhanced plan is having the funds to cover extra medical expenses that may not be a part of NHS, such as cancer treatments that are not covered under your UK government programme.

Applicants also have a tendency to keep health problems secret, which is understandable. In the case of enhanced lifetime mortgage the sicker you actually are the more you can receive for your equity. Companies should be making potential customers more aware that this option is actually available to them and applicants should not shy away from disclosing any health issues.

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