Reverse mortgage etc? ? ?

Ray · 2009-08-10T14:06:00+00:00

This isn't really a "home repair" question, but some readers of the newsgroup might help, based on experience.I have a sister, single and living alone, who needs to begin drawing down the equity in her home. She's 81, not in the best of health. The appraised value of the home is $500,000, with no mortgage at this time.I've looked into "reverse mortgages" a bit and there are aspects of these that bother me -- not the least being substantial activation costs.We are considering an alternative of simply taking a 30-year mortgage for the maximum we can in such a loan. We would then invest the proceeds in an ETF muni-bond fund and begin drawing down the principal at $30,000 a year.My question is, how much can we expect to borrow? I would hope to get $400,000, which would be 80 percent of the appraised value. Is that a realistic possibility?