You’ve got a lot of decisions to make when you buy a home: property type, city, neighborhood, square footage, amount of yard space.

But choosing a mortgage lender is almost as important as choosing your home, especially in today’s real estate market. The right lender can help you gain a competitive edge over other buyers and get into the home you want.

Many people have very strong opinions on reverse mortgage loans. Frequently, those opinions are based on misconceptions about what reverse mortgages are and how they work. One such fallacy that continues to live on is that reverse mortgages are just a loan of last resort—something that’s only for cash-strapped homeowners to utilize when all other viable solutions have been exhausted. 

In a recent New York Times article titled Reverse Mortgages Are No Longer Just for Homeowners Short on Cash, the author writes: “It was conventional wisdom that a reverse mortgage was a last-resort option for the oldest homeowners who desperately needed cash. But a growing number of researchers say these loans could be a good option for people earlier in their retirement […] who are not needy at all.”

Many homeowners find peace of mind in having a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC), often known as a second mortgage,on their homes. Just having access to several thousands of dollars should it be needed in an emergency provides peace of mind for millions of Americans.