# My Reverse Mortgage Was Denied.



## boaterboi (May 12, 2017)

Because I have a guest room above my garage that does not have an entrance through the main house. Any FHA mortgage is hard to get on an older home. They want everything perfect. This could be a blessing in disguise though as I will retain my home equity.


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## jujube (May 12, 2017)

Can that room just be listed as a "storage" room?  Would a storage room need to have an inside entrance?


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## boaterboi (May 12, 2017)

jujube said:


> Can that room just be listed as a "storage" room?  Would a storage room need to have an inside entrance?



From what they say that won't work. It's a furnished guest room with a bathroom and exterior stairs and deck. I would probably have to rip everything down and then they might find another reason to deny me. I'm looking into other financial options. Just beware of the difficulty in getting an FHA mortgage. My family in Alaska ran into a similar problem because they haul their water. Many Alaskans who don't have city water haul water because the ground is mostly rock and there is little ground water anyway. Keeping my home's equity does open more options in the future if I should want or need to move.


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## mathjak107 (May 13, 2017)

with reverse mortgages your agreement also says that anything they feel need maintenance you have to do .  it may be rare they come back and inspect properties , but they can and they can tell you they want the roof , the furnace etc replaced whether you have the money or not


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## dpwspringer (May 13, 2017)

mathjak107 said:


> with reverse mortgages your agreement also says that anything they feel need maintenance you have to do .  it may be rare they come back and inspect properties , but they can and they can tell you they want the roof , the furnace etc replaced whether you have the money or not


Good to know, I was not aware of that and that could be a significant factor.


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## mathjak107 (May 13, 2017)

yep , every agreement spells the maintenance factor out . last thing the bank wants is you to stop taking care of it when you have no money for repairs or equity left in the home . they can call the loan in if they want and take the house  if you break the agreement .


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## terry123 (May 15, 2017)

Why haven't you been renting out the space since it has a bath and outside stairs.  There would be someone there but not in your main house and also some income.


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## fmw (Sep 8, 2021)

boaterboi said:


> Because I have a guest room above my garage that does not have an entrance through the main house. Any FHA mortgage is hard to get on an older home. They want everything perfect. This could be a blessing in disguise though as I will retain my home equity.


Government rules can be frustrating and arbitrary.  I have had issues with buying home owner's insurance because we live in the country and have a very old barn on our property.  We have had to write the barn out of home owner's policies.  We also had an issue because we have a hay field and the reverse mortgage is not for working farms.  Our home is not a working farm.  It is a relatively new house located on what was once a working farm.  We grow hay to feed horses.  We got past that.


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