Everyone is missing some valuable information  pitfalls  Let me explain   The Federal Governemnt does not automatically repay any loan deficiency a lender can file to have any deficiency paid them via the Federal Government ie the FHA reserves the right to pay or not pay any shortfall   These loans are extemely expensive for seniors and until regulated or limited more heavily I think they should be avoided ie upfront costs are absolutely too high   You may get  to  of your equity in monthly installments  payments but you are also loosing equity in that the interest you are not paying is compounded on the back of the loan  Interested is paid on the principal balance growing each month but also compounded on top of interest on top of interest  So when you get to the end of the loan you may have given up  to  of your homes equity to obtain a fraction in a monthly payout  installment  It would be wise for seniors to sell instead of taking on this risky loan program   Seniors  borrowers of Reverse Mortgages also get hit with a monthly fee  I think the pitfalls need to be clearly listed here so that seniors can see all the facts  The fact is that they are only givin the positives