Free tools to estimate what you could draw from a reverse mortgage, how the balance grows over time, and how it stacks up against a HELOC. No account required.
Estimated proceeds
Know the numbers before a salesperson explains them to you.
Estimate the cash you could draw from your home equity.
Check the range →See how the balance grows over the years.
Check the range →Your equity and loan-to-value right now.
Check the range →Compare the two ways to tap home equity.
Check the range →A reverse mortgage can turn home equity into tax-free cash with no monthly payment, but the balance grows and the fees are real. These tools estimate what you could draw, show how the loan compounds over time, and compare it to a HELOC so you can look at the numbers before talking to a lender.
Four calculators live on this page, and most visitors only need one of them. Here is how to pick without reading four sets of instructions.
If you want a dollar figure, start with the reverse mortgage calculator. Punch in your home value, your age, and what you still owe, and it returns what a HECM could hand you today, capped at HUD's lending limit. If the question is really "what does this cost me over time," the loan balance calculator is the honest one: no monthly bill lands in your mailbox, but interest and mortgage insurance stack onto the balance every year, and this tool shows where that number lands after 10, 15, or 20 years. If you are not sure a reverse mortgage is even the right shape of loan, the home equity calculator tells you what you are working with before you decide anything, your equity, your loan-to-value, and roughly what a conventional lender would let you tap. And if the real fork in the road is reverse mortgage versus a HELOC, the comparison tool asks three questions (your age, whether you can handle a monthly payment, how much you need) and tells you which product is built for your answer.
None of the four require an email address. That is on purpose. A lot of reverse mortgage sites trade a "free estimate" for your phone number, which is how the calls start before you have decided anything. These run entirely in your browser.
Take a $450,000 home, a borrower who is 70, and an existing mortgage balance of $60,000. Feed those into the calculator and here is what happens under the hood.
HUD's lending limit for 2026 caps the home value used in the formula at $1,249,125. A $450,000 home is well under that, so the full value counts. At age 70, the principal limit factor (HUD's age-based share of home value a borrower can access) is 0.49. Multiply: $450,000 times 0.49 is a principal limit of $220,500. Subtract the $60,000 mortgage payoff, which has to be cleared at closing, and then subtract roughly $14,000 in estimated closing costs. What is left: $146,500 available to the borrower, as a lump sum, a line of credit, or monthly draws.
Two things move that number more than anything else. Age is one: the same $450,000 home for a 62-year-old borrower uses a 0.40 factor instead of 0.49, which drops the principal limit to $180,000, nearly $40,000 lower before any deductions. Existing mortgage balance is the other: every dollar still owed on the home comes straight off the top, dollar for dollar. A homeowner who has paid off the house entirely walks away with a meaningfully bigger number than one carrying a large remaining balance, even at the identical home value and age.
The calculators on this site use HUD's published principal limit factors by age and the current HECM lending limit, the same inputs a lender's software uses at a high level. What they do not do is price in your specific interest rate, your specific lender's origination fee, or mortgage insurance premiums down to the decimal, because those vary by lender and by the day you lock a rate. Treat every result here as a planning-grade estimate, close enough to decide whether a reverse mortgage is worth pursuing further, not a number to write into a contract.
The state-by-state figures elsewhere on this site use median home values as a stand-in for "a typical home in that state," which means your own number could run higher or lower depending on your specific address, condition, and local market. A HUD-approved counseling session, required before any HECM closes, is where the estimate gets replaced with a real one.
Authoritative U.S. government sources for further reading and to verify the figures on this page:
A reverse mortgage lets homeowners 62 and older borrow against their home equity without monthly mortgage payments. Critics point to high upfront costs, accruing interest that reduces estate value, and the risk of foreclosure if taxes, insurance, or maintenance fall behind. It is not inherently bad, but it suits some borrowers and not others. Consult a HUD-approved housing counselor at hud.gov before deciding.
The amount depends on the borrower's age, current interest rates, the appraised home value, and any existing mortgage balance. Older borrowers can generally access a larger share of their equity. A 70-year-old might access roughly 50 to 60 percent of eligible home value, but individual results vary. Use a HUD-approved lender's calculator or speak with a licensed reverse mortgage counselor for a personalized estimate.
When a reverse mortgage borrower dies or permanently moves out, heirs generally have the option to repay the loan or sell the home to settle the debt. Under HUD rules, heirs may satisfy the loan by paying 95 percent of the current appraised value, even if the loan balance exceeds that amount. This protects heirs from owing more than the home is worth. Consult HUD or a licensed lender for details.
Yes. A reverse mortgage can go into default and lead to foreclosure if you fail to pay property taxes, homeowners insurance, or necessary maintenance, or if you move out of the home as your primary residence for more than 12 consecutive months. The loan does not require monthly payments, but those ongoing obligations must be met. A HUD-approved counselor at hud.gov can explain all conditions before you commit.
A timing note: HUD sets its HECM lending limit once a year, typically each January, based on national home price data from the prior year. Interest rates, which move the principal limit factor along with age, get revisited too. If you are close to a decision, run these numbers again after a new HUD lending limit is published rather than working off last year's cap, since a higher or lower limit changes the ceiling this whole calculation is built on.