Help me die poor!

Mar 03, 2007 8 Replies
H

I am a sigle bloke, aged 54, with about £140 of equity in my house. I owe £30,000 on my mortgage and £50,000 on other, unsecured loans.



I have recently hit hard times and would really like to get my hands on $80,000 fast cash to pay off all my debts.



I have no dependents and do not feel a necessity to leave anything to anyone in my will.



I have heard rumours of companies who pay out cash in return for gaining ownership of your house when you die. Is this correct, or am I dreaming? I vaguely think I saw mention of such a deal in a TV advert recently. Anyone know of any such arrangements on offer, or similar things? Any leads would be appreciated.



Hank


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A

£140 of equity isn't going to go very far with an equity drawdown scheme !

AWEM

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H

PS - Sorry, I accidentally posted to the wrong group.

Hank

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H

£140*k* !! :-) "Equity drawdown scheme" may be the term I needed - thanks!

Hank

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A

These deals are very poor value indeed.....

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S

Don't you need to be aged 60 or 70 to take advantage of them .

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B

Usually. There was a recent case where someone survived to be a ripe old age, and had arranged some kind of equity release scheme with a man who desperately wanted her house. She outlived him, and his widow had to continue the payments.

Rare, though.

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F

I read that as:- "She cultivated him..."

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J

"Equity Release" is the generic term - some of the products also have a ongoing income or "drawdown" element to them. There are a couple of basic classes of product - some which are basically "roll up" or "lifetime" mortgages where you get a lump sum and then the payments toward the mortgage roll up until you die. Then the house is sold, the mortgage paid off, and anything left passes into your estate. The longer you live the less will be left, with the possibility that there will be no value left over[1]. The other type are what are called "home reversion plans". Here you elect to give up a proportion of your house. Less generous than the lifetime mortgages generally, but you do get to leave a known size of legacy.

With all these schemes the older and more infirm you are the better the deals you will be offered.

All of these products are complex and heavily advice lead, so it pays to find a broker who knows the market well - they also take a number of months to arrange typically.

[1] The schemes of old that could end up with your estate actually owing money don't exist any more. Most providers are members of the Safe Home Income Plans (SHIP) scheme.
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