
Reverse Mortgage (HECM) Loans in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado & More
Tap your home equity without monthly payments — ideal for retirees 62+
A New Look at Retirement Cash Flow
How a Reverse Mortgage Loan Can Be a Smart Game Changer
Everyone could use more cash on hand, but not many people know how to access the wealth that's right at their fingertips. With a reverse mortgage loan, you can:
What Would Retirement Be Like with More Cash?
Retirees in America believe that having a fully paid off house is the holy grail of financial security. In fact, many people hold off on retiring till their mortgage is done. But do we ever ask why? When your mortgage is paid off, is your house worth more? Does your net worth suddenly take off? No, and this is the heart of the misunderstanding.
Having a paid off house is special because you don't have to make monthly mortgage payments.
With a reverse mortgage loan, you don't have to make monthly mortgage payments, and you can also have a significant infusion of cash.
The specific answer to that question may be different for everyone. More vacations, living closer to the grandkids or finally getting those home renovations you've always wanted. But the most important answer to that question is practically universal—retirement would be much better with more cash on hand.
It's an unfortunate irony that nearly all retirees would like to have more cash, but a great option for unlocking wealth they already own—the reverse mortgage loan—is not well known and is so often misrepresented.
Why a Reverse Mortgage Loan is Really Just Cashflow
If you ask people what they think about reverse mortgage loans, chances are you will get some pretty strong opinions. But these days, the most popular reverse mortgage loans are Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs). HECMs are federally insured and 100% reliable.
As long as the house is the primary residence, it's maintained, insured, and the property taxes are paid for, it can never be taken away. It's always yours and your spouse's, and you'll never owe more than the house is worth at the time it is sold. That means the loan will always be paid for in advance, and you can do whatever you want with the proceeds (which are tax free!).
All that is to say, a reverse mortgage loan is really just about cashflow—converting the equity in your home into liquid, tax-free cash.
When the Gold Standard is Just "Good"
Going back to the 1960s, having a fully paid off home was the gold standard for retirement. Even today, many people delay their retirement specifically until their mortgage is paid off. And having that equity is good, but is it really great? Can you fund investments with home equity, or bolster retirement savings, or buy a vacation home? No, you can't. The truth is, you can't even buy groceries or gas with home equity.
A reverse mortgage loan simply takes the equity in your home and turns it into tax-free money, and you get to live in the house for as long as you want. Since there's no risk of foreclosure from missing monthly mortgage payments, it's really just a way to turn wealth you own but can't touch into a new source of cash to secure and improve your retirement. Of course, you will still maintain the home and pay taxes and insurance.
Home Equity is Good, But Cash is Better
A common misconception is that you lose something with a reverse mortgage loan. But all you're doing is converting equity into tax-free cash while you continue to live in your home. And if you were to choose a line of credit as payment, the amount that you don't spend actually continues to grow every year.
For many people, the typical paradigm during their earning years is to place the biggest portion of monthly income into their home. What's left after life expenses goes into their nest egg. When we retire and income decreases to just Social Security and pension, we start drawing from our nest egg to make up the difference. Despite being the most significant asset for many people, their home does not offer monetary assistance in retirement. In fact, it often sucks money up for payments, taxes, maintenance, renovations, etc.
But with a reverse mortgage loan, the home not only takes care of its own expenses, it adds a tremendous amount of tax-free cash to bolster either income or investments.
The Top Three Benefits of Reverse Mortgage Loans
No Monthly Mortgage Payments
With a reverse mortgage, you are not required to make monthly mortgage payments. The loan is repaid when you sell the home, move out permanently, or pass away.
Stay in Your Home
You retain ownership of your home and can continue living in it as long as you meet the loan obligations, such as paying property taxes, homeowners insurance, and maintaining the property.
Flexible Payment Options
You can choose how to receive your funds: as a lump sum, monthly payments, a line of credit, or a combination of these options, giving you flexibility to meet your financial needs.
Why a Reverse Mortgage Loan is Really Just Cashflow
If you ask people what they think about reverse mortgage loans, chances are you will get some pretty strong opinions. But these days, the most popular reverse mortgage loans are Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs). HECMs are federally insured and 100% reliable.
As long as the house is the primary residence, it's maintained, insured, and the property taxes are paid for, it can never be taken away. It's always yours and your spouse's, and you'll never owe more than the house is worth at the time it is sold. That means the loan will always be paid for in advance, and you can do whatever you want with the proceeds (which are tax free!).
All that is to say, a reverse mortgage loan is really just about cashflow—converting the equity in your home into liquid, tax-free cash.
When the Gold Standard is Just "Good"
Going back to the 1960s, having a fully paid off home was the gold standard for retirement. Even today, many people delay their retirement specifically until their mortgage is paid off. And having that equity is good, but is it really great? Can you fund investments with home equity, or bolster retirement savings, or buy a vacation home? No, you can't. The truth is, you can't even buy groceries or gas with home equity.
A reverse mortgage loan simply takes the equity in your home and turns it into tax-free money, and you get to live in the house for as long as you want. Since there's no risk of foreclosure from missing monthly mortgage payments, it's really just a way to turn wealth you own but can't touch into a new source of cash to secure and improve your retirement. Of course, you will still maintain the home and pay taxes and insurance.
Home Equity is Good, But Cash is Better
A common misconception is that you lose something with a reverse mortgage loan. But all you're doing is converting equity into tax-free cash while you continue to live in your home. And if you were to choose a line of credit as payment, the amount that you don't spend actually continues to grow every year.
For many people, the typical paradigm during their earning years is to place the biggest portion of monthly income into their home. What's left after life expenses goes into their nest egg. When we retire and income decreases to just Social Security and pension, we start drawing from our nest egg to make up the difference. Despite being the most significant asset for many people, their home does not offer monetary assistance in retirement. In fact, it often sucks money up for payments, taxes, maintenance, renovations, etc.
But with a reverse mortgage loan, the home not only takes care of its own expenses, it adds a tremendous amount of tax-free cash to bolster either income or investments.
The Top Three Benefits of Reverse Mortgage Loans
A reverse mortgage loan converts your home equity into cash, and for many people, it's a life changing influx of money. So you may find it surprising that there are many tax benefits to these loans—and here are the top three.
Reverse Mortgage Loan Proceeds are Tax Free
Reverse mortgage loan payouts are loans, not income, which makes them off limits to the IRS. No matter how big, and no matter what you intend to use it for, every dollar of your payout is 100% tax free.
There are many different ways you could choose to receive a payout, such as a line of credit, lump sum, monthly advance, or combination. Regardless of the type of payout you choose, that money is still tax free.
Strategic Deferment of Taxable Retirement Income
If you are on Social Security, and you are also drawing cash from other sources that qualify as income, you could be looking at paying federal taxes on up to 85% of the total amount.
2 Tax-Advantageous Ideas:
- Non-taxable reverse mortgage cash could enable you to only take out money from your IRA in the lowest tax bracket percentage.
- If you're in the Medicare gap, a lower taxable income might get you lower insurance premiums through the ACA or even enable you to qualify for Medicaid.
Protecting Your Legacy for Heirs
Many people look forward to having a fully paid off home so they do not have to make monthly mortgage payments, and they have wealth in the form of home equity to bequeath to heirs.
With a reverse mortgage, you also avoid monthly mortgage payments, but the cash provided by the loan may be a far more effective tool to transfer wealth than home equity. In order to reap the financial benefits of an inherited home, your heirs would have to sell the home. That means they lose a significant portion of your hard-earned dollars to real estate agent fees, capital gains taxes, and potentially probate fees as well.
A skilled financial advisor could help you create an estate plan that applies your reverse mortgage loan proceeds to tax-advantageous financial vehicles. This could minimize the amount of money that the government takes from your legacy.
Yes, You Really Can Buy a Home Using a Reverse Mortgage Loan
This could be one of the best kept secrets in real estate. Reverse mortgage loans aren't just for the house you currently own, but they can be used to buy the home that you really want.
With a reverse mortgage loan for purchase, you're taking out the reverse mortgage on the home that you are purchasing. As you will need to cover anywhere from 30% to 70% of the total cost of the home, the reverse mortgage isn't going to pay for the new home completely. You'll need to use other funds to cover the balance. Most people sell their existing home and combine those funds with the reverse mortgage loan proceeds, but you can use a variety of other liquid assets as well, like savings or retirement accounts.
The best part may be you still wouldn't have to make monthly mortgage payments, just like with any reverse mortgage loan. You must still pay taxes, insurance, and maintain the home.
Does This Sound Like You?
Phil and Laura, who are 62 and 59, want to move to a newly constructed home in an area that's ideal for retirees. The problem is that home values are close to double in the new community compared to where they live currently.
With a reverse mortgage for purchase, Phil and Laura can make their move and never have to make monthly mortgage payments again.
Current Home
$391,400
Could continue living here
New Home with Reverse Mortgage
$600,000
$391,400 down, no monthly mortgage payments
You'll Own the Home, Not the Lender
When you purchase with a reverse mortgage loan, it's the same conditions as taking out a reverse mortgage loan on an existing house. The protections you could receive are discussed more completely in the next section, but the big points are as follows:
Eligibility Requirements
One spouse must be 62 years or older to be eligible for a reverse mortgage. In Texas both spouses must be 62 years or older
Home must be a primary residence (live there 6+ months per year)
The property must be single-family home, a 2 to 4-unit dwelling or FHA-approved condo
Must meet minimal credit and property requirements
Must receive reverse mortgage counseling from a HUD approved counseling agency
Must not be delinquent on any federal debt
Today's Reverse Mortgage Loans Are an Appealing Opportunity
Did you know that reverse mortgage loans now have extremely strong consumer protections, including federal insurance?
"HECMs" Are Highly Regulated for Consumer Protections
"HECM" stands for Home Equity Conversion Mortgage, and it's the most popular form of reverse mortgage—for good reason. It's so popular that many people use "HECM" interchangeably with the term "reverse mortgage."
Since 2013, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have continually added consumer protection to HECMs.
Here's Why HECM Are So Attractive
You Always Own Your Home
Even though you receive a payout for the equity in your home from a reverse mortgage loan, you are still the homeowner. And even if you spent every penny of the loan proceeds, no one—not the lender or the government—can make you leave your home as long as you pay taxes and insurance and maintain the home.
You always own the home—even if all the loan proceeds are spent.
You Don't Have to Make Monthly Payments
The obligation of a monthly mortgage payment is a serious responsibility, and it keeps many people from retiring when they really want to. With a reverse mortgage loan, you are never obligated to make monthly mortgage payments.
If you want to make payments for cash flow or tax purposes, you may do so, but there is no obligation, and it does not impact your ownership of the home. The only costs you need to take care of are property taxes, homeowner's insurance, and home maintenance.
Your Loan Can Never Exceed the Value of Your Home
If the homeowners sell the home or pass away, the value of the home is used to pay back the reverse mortgage loan balance. If the loan is less than the home is worth, the excess cash goes either to the homeowners or their heirs.
But let's say the housing market is down when the loan needs to be paid off, and the loan amount far exceeds the market value of the home. Do the homeowners or the heirs have to pay the difference? No, they do not!
If the loan exceeds the proceeds of the home's sale, the Federal Housing Administration pays the balance—not you or your heirs!
A Non-Qualifying Spouse Is Still Protected
Only one homeowner must be 62 or older to qualify for a reverse mortgage loan. But what happens if a spouse of the borrower is younger than 62 when the loan is taken, and the qualifying spouse passes away?
As long as the surviving spouse is on the title, they retain full ownership of the home, just as if they had been the one to take out the loan originally.
Is This Surprising to You?
We suspect that it is. Most people with a negative view of reverse mortgage loans—even people who are considered financial experts—base their opinions on what reverse mortgage loans used to be like before 2014. Either that, or they confuse bespoke reverse mortgage loans with the federally insured HECM loans that we've covered in this article.
Serving Borrowers Across 10 States
Dana Peterson is licensed to originate reverse mortgages in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington. Whether you're a retiree in sunny Florida, a senior homeowner in the Pacific Northwest, or someone aging in place in the Rockies, we understand the unique property markets, tax considerations, and retirement planning needs in each state.
What Our Clients Say
Real experiences from real borrowers.
John Sarnecky
24 October 2025
Excellent service with West Capital Funding, Irvine California. Randy Mathis is at the top of the loan business. He saved us a lot of money by getting...
Kimberly Bell
24 October 2025
Eddie at WCL made our re-fi as painless as possible. He is patient, very nice, and extremely helpful. And did it all with a great sense of humor!
Alex Kissling
22 October 2025
Jon was great to work with on the refi of our property. Our situation wasn't straightforward, but Jon listened to what we were looking for, was able t...
Shawn Landreth
22 October 2025
WCL is super easy to work with and has options that work for whatever your needs, and at whatever timing you need!
Holly Pulido
22 October 2025
Sean and his team, Ryan are the kindest communicators. It wasn't checking boxes on next steps, it was from the perspective of the loan applicant that...
Cheverlyn C
21 October 2025
Austin was able to help me with both a refi and a HELOC. We did the refi on our primary to lower the rate and then we got cash out from our investment...
Virginia Donoso
21 October 2025
I'm so happy and grateful to have found someone like Robert Martin, who guided me through this entire process. This was something completely foreign t...
Harold J
21 October 2025
Great people to work with
Janelle Carlson
21 October 2025
Excellent experience from start to finish. Super knowledgeable with an out of state purchase. Travis was very professional and quick to respond to all...
Amy Osborne
21 October 2025
Great experience with Daniel
James Cirillo
21 October 2025
Great lending institution and far superior experience vs the big banks, which are cumbersome, difficult, and inefficient. Carlos Duenas was my lender...
Justin Ryan Pokrywka
21 October 2025
Nate Ferrer was a pleasure to work with. He was a great communicator and found a loan program that worked for my unique situation. He always followed...
wendy Taylor
21 October 2025
The whole team did an outstanding job, I had a very complicated situation and everyone worked extra hard to accomplish the difficult task. Thank You E...
Rodney Smith
20 October 2025
Brian was great to work with. He was upfront and honest about the entire process. He is also extremely knowledgeable of the process. He was the first...
Mae Abad
20 October 2025
The service they provided me was exceptional. Brian and his team at West Capital Lending was very quick and efficient. My first time expwrience in ref...
Dan Dabasol
20 October 2025
Prompt, excellent and trust worthy. Always welcoming and open to any concerns and questions. He was confidently and thorough communicator. He will wor...
jose alvarez
20 October 2025
Scott ! Always has taken care of our Family and trusted him .
Shannon Merritt
20 October 2025
I had the absolute pleasure of working with Aaron Beck on the purchase of my home, and I can't recommend him highly enough. From start to finish, Aaro...
Jason Duncan
19 October 2025
Ryan was great, took very little time to complete application and Ryan was there every step of the way, I would highly reccommend this loan company!
Todd Stevenson
19 October 2025
Working with Jedd Lara and his team on securing our recent mortgage was an absolutely outstanding experience from start to finish. We went into the pr...
Deborah Weisberg
19 October 2025
Sam Rubio and Clare Lenza make a fantastic team! After months of working with them, they found the best Reverse Mortgage Program to suit my needs. Sam...
Netsy Rivera
17 October 2025
I can't be thankful enough for what Rafy Boulos from WCL did for me or my family. His professionalism and knowledge to help us, has changed our life 4...
Kahana Bigelow
17 October 2025
Thank you Garrett for making our refinance as easy and painless as possible!!! It really helped lesson our stress financially. The whole process as si...
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17 October 2025
Daniel Becerril is amazing. My go to person
Imelda Hinojosa
17 October 2025
West Capital Lending, under the exceptional guidance of Jon Meer, provided the solution I needed. The process was expedient, communication great and c...
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17 October 2025
I was very happy with Nathan, he is very responsive and made the process very easy. I would give him a 10 out of ten.
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17 October 2025
Scott is knowledgeable and professional. He listens and is very attentive when asked questions. Hope to continue working with him again in the near fu...
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16 October 2025
Abraham was extremely professional and was able to answer all of our questions and got us a loan tailored to our needs!!!!
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16 October 2025
In a world full of scams and distrusting people, we investigated Sam Zadeh and West Capital Lending prior to contacting him and noticed some great rev...
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16 October 2025
Aaron was incredible—walked us through the process, asked all of the right questions to get us the loan we needed quickly and painlessly. He is a pro...
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7 September 2025
Scott went above and beyond to tailor the loan product to my unique situation. A+++
Has Your View of Cash Flow in Retirement Changed?
Most American retirees have a specific idea of what their finances will be like in retirement. They have Social Security, maybe a pension or a nest egg to live off of while they enjoy a home free of monthly mortgage payments. But why necessarily settle for that, especially if you have things you'd like to do, or places you'd like to be, and you're missing out on some of them due to cash flow?
You have smart options available to "change the game" of your retirement finances. If you think that a reverse mortgage loan could be right for you, reach out to a reverse mortgage loan planner.
West Capital Lending is Here for a Better Retirement
At West Capital Lending, customer service is a way of life. Our loan officers will meet with you, your family, financial planner, accountant, and any other advisor to find the absolute best solution for you.
This is not a commitment to lend. All loans subject to credit approval and underwriting guidelines.
West Capital Lending is an Equal Housing Lender. This is not a commitment to lend. All loans are subject to credit approval, underwriting guidelines, and acceptable collateral. This whitepaper does not constitute tax or financial advice. Please consult a tax and/or financial advisor regarding your specific situation.
Company NMLS: 1566096 | MLO NMLS: 173133 (Dana Peterson)
Address: 24 Executive Park, STE 250, Irvine, CA 92614
Licensed in: AL, AZ, CO, FL, ID, OK, PA, TN, VA, WA
