DanfioSearch tools/

Type a tool name, a pinyin spelling or a synonym - both languages are searched.

Reverse Mortgage Calculator

U.S. only tools

A reverse mortgage (the FHA-insured HECM) lets at least one borrower aged 62 or older turn home equity into proceeds without a monthly payment. How much is available starts with a single number: the Maximum Claim Amount (MCA) — the smaller of the appraised value and the national mortgage limit (plus the contract price for a HECM for Purchase) — multiplied by a Principal Limit Factor (PLF) that HUD publishes for each borrower age and Expected Rate.

Reverse Mortgage Calculator - Danfio

https://danfio.com/tools/reverse-mortgage-calculator/ - printed from this page

Currency: USD ($) - display only, nothing was converted

$

The property value from the collateral risk assessment. If a second appraisal is required, HUD uses the lower of the two.

For a HECM for Purchase the contract price also caps the Maximum Claim Amount.

The rate the factor is looked up at. For a fixed HECM it is the Note rate; for an adjustable it is the mortgagee’s margin plus the current 10-year CMT. Both are the number on your lender’s Expected Rate disclosure — this page takes your typed value rather than guessing a stale weekly index.

The Principal Limit Factor for the youngest borrower’s age and the Expected Rate. The 45% default is an illustrative stand-in (roughly a 70-year-old at a typical rate) — replace it with the factor on your lender’s HECM disclosure or from HUD’s published tables before treating the result as real.

Used for the 183-day birthday rounding of the borrower’s age.

The age used for the factor is the youngest Borrower or Eligible Non-Borrowing Spouse, rounded up if the next birthday is under 183 days after closing.

An ineligible NBS does not set the factor, but HUD requires that the amount that would have been available had they been eligible be disclosed.

Results update as you type. Nothing leaves your device.

Currency symbol

Symbol only - nothing is converted and no exchange rate is used. Figures quoted in the explanation text stay as the sources publish them.

Estimated initial principal limit

$225,000.00

$500,000.00 maximum claim amount × 45% factor = $225,000.00

Maximum claim amount (MCA)
$500,000
PLF
45% illustrative — see the callout below
Expected Rate
6.5% fixed: the note rate
Youngest age
71 years rounded up — the next birthday is within 183 days of closing
This PLF is an example, not your factor. The 45% default stands in for roughly a 70-year-old at a typical rate; it is not (and a table-driven calculator without HUD’s factor tables cannot know) your real number. Replace it with the Principal Limit Factor on your lender’s HECM disclosure — or from HUD’s published tables on the HUD website, which HUD 4000.1 calls “a multiplier supplied by FHA … available on the HUD website” — before treating anything on this page as a real estimate.

How the MCA is built

Appraised value
$500,000 binds the MCA
National mortgage limit
$1,209,750 2025-cycle conforming-chain derivation, $806,500 → $1,209,750
Maximum claim amount (MCA)
$500,000 the smallest of the legs above
Expected Rate, as you enter it, is the Note rate for a fixed HECM — HUD 4000.1: “the Expected Rate is the same as the Note rate.” The principal limit is the MCA × factor; a lender then subtracts mandatory obligations and any required set-asides to get the amount actually made available at closing.

This calculator does that multiplication from your inputs, using the exact wording of HUD Handbook 4000.1 for the MCA, the 183-day age rounding, the Expected Rate rules and the disclosure requirements. The one piece it cannot supply is the PLF itself: FHA issues the factor on the HUD website, there is no static table this page could honestly pin, so the PLF is a clearly-labeled field you fill from your lender’s disclosure.

About this reverse mortgage calculator

Until the last borrower leaves or sells, a reverse mortgage makes no monthly payment and instead grows a balance secured by the home. At least one borrower must be 62 or older, and how much can be drawn starts from the maximum claim amount multiplied by a principal limit factor HUD publishes.

No account is needed to run the page, and the birthday, closing date and Expected Rate you enter are never uploaded. The maximum claim amount is the lesser of the appraised value and the national mortgage limit, the principal limit multiplies that by the factor you supply, and the age is rounded to the nearest year when the next birthday falls within 183 days of closing, following HUD Handbook 4000.1.

Read the lender disclosure before you rely on any figure here. Occupancy rules, the below-20-percent counseling flag, servicing fees, the mortgage insurance premium, property-tax and insurance obligations and the requirement to keep the home as a principal residence sit outside the model. This is an estimate from your inputs, not financial, tax or legal advice.

How this reverse mortgage calculator works

The maximum claim amount

HUD 4000.1 defines the MCA as the lesser of the appraised value and the national mortgage limit; for a HECM for Purchase the contract price is added as a third, binding leg. This page takes the same minimum: your appraised value, the national limit and, when you switch on HECM for Purchase, the contract price.

The national limit here is derived from the 2025-cycle conforming chain HUD prints in 4000.1 — the $806,500 conforming limit, the 150% high-cost 1-unit limit of $1,209,750, and $1,814,625 for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Virgin Islands. The HECM national limit tracks the maximum-claim cross-references in sections 255(g)/(m) of the National Housing Act and section 305(a)(2) of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Act. If HUD’s next published cycle does not raise it, this value is carried forward; that recheck is logged on this page’s sources.

The principal limit factor and Expected Rate

The PLF is, in HUD 4000.1’s own words, “a multiplier supplied by FHA used to calculate the initial Principal Limit and is available on the HUD website.” The principal limit is the MCA times that factor. FHA looks the factor up by the youngest borrower’s age and the Expected Rate — and because the factor tables are not published as a static page this site can keep on record, the factor is a field you fill in, labeled as such.

The Expected Rate is the rate the factor is looked up at. For a fixed HECM it is the Note rate; for an adjustable HECM it is the mortgagee’s margin plus the weekly-average 10-year CMT index from the Federal Reserve Board Statistical Release H.15. Both arrive as your typed value, so the page never guesses a stale weekly index — the number on your lender’s Expected Rate disclosure is always the right one to enter.

How the borrower’s age is rounded

HUD 4000.1 rounds the age to the nearest whole year when the next birthday falls within 183 days of closing. This page applies the same rule: enter the youngest borrower or eligible non-borrowing spouse’s birthday and the closing date, and the age shown is either the completed years or one year more when the next birthday is under 183 days away.

If the youngest age works out below 62, no principal limit is shown — the youngest borrower or eligible non-borrowing spouse must be at least 62 for a HECM.

Disclosures the rules require

HUD 4000.1 requires two extra disclosures this page reproduces honestly. First, when there is an ineligible non-borrowing spouse, the mortgagee must disclose the principal limit that would have been available at the youngest ineligible spouse’s age. Second, when the factor is below 20 percent, the mortgagee must advise you to discuss with a HECM counselor whether that helps your situation.

The ineligible-spouse age is computed here with the same 183-day rounding, but the disclosure amount itself needs HUD’s factor tables, which this page does not fabricate — the figure comes from your lender’s HECM system or disclosure documents. The below-20-percent case is flagged exactly as the handbook states.

Worked examples

Each example below was run through the calculator on this page when the site was built, so the numbers match what you see when you enter the same inputs.

Typical claim below the national limit

Appraised value: $500,000.00 · HECM for Purchase: No - standard HECM · Rate type: Fixed rate · Expected Rate: 6.5% · PLF — see your HUD table / lender disclosure: 45% · Closing date: Oct 1, 2026 · Youngest borrower / eligible NBS birthday: Jan 15, 1956 · Ineligible non-borrowing spouse: No

Estimated initial principal limit

$225,000.00

$500,000.00 maximum claim amount × 45% factor = $225,000.00

Maximum claim amount (MCA): $500,000 · PLF: 45% · Expected Rate: 6.5% · Youngest age: 71 years

A $500,000 appraisal sits under the national limit, so the MCA is the full $500,000 and the 45% illustrative factor gives an initial principal limit of $225,000.

Appraisal above the national mortgage limit

Appraised value: $1,900,000.00 · HECM for Purchase: No - standard HECM · Rate type: Fixed rate · Expected Rate: 6.5% · PLF — see your HUD table / lender disclosure: 60% · Closing date: Oct 1, 2026 · Youngest borrower / eligible NBS birthday: Jan 15, 1956 · Ineligible non-borrowing spouse: No

Estimated initial principal limit

$725,850.00

$1,209,750.00 maximum claim amount × 60% factor = $725,850.00

Maximum claim amount (MCA): $1,209,750 · PLF: 60% · Expected Rate: 6.5% · Youngest age: 71 years

Above $1,209,750 the MCA is capped by the national limit (the 2025-cycle derivation shown on the page), so a $1.9M house and a 60% factor come to $725,850.

HECM for Purchase binds at the contract price

Appraised value: $500,000.00 · HECM for Purchase: Yes - HECM for Purchase · Contract price: $420,000.00 · Rate type: Adjustable rate · Expected Rate: 7.25% · PLF — see your HUD table / lender disclosure: 50% · Closing date: Oct 1, 2026 · Youngest borrower / eligible NBS birthday: Jan 15, 1956 · Ineligible non-borrowing spouse: No

Estimated initial principal limit

$210,000.00

$420,000.00 maximum claim amount × 50% factor = $210,000.00

Maximum claim amount (MCA): $420,000 · PLF: 50% · Expected Rate: 7.25% · Youngest age: 71 years

With the purchase option on, the $420,000 contract price is the smallest leg of the MCA; at a 50% factor the initial principal limit is $210,000. The adjustable Expected Rate is margin plus the 10-year CMT, taken from the disclosure.

A low factor triggers the counseling flag

Appraised value: $800,000.00 · HECM for Purchase: No - standard HECM · Rate type: Adjustable rate · Expected Rate: 7.25% · PLF — see your HUD table / lender disclosure: 15% · Closing date: Oct 1, 2026 · Youngest borrower / eligible NBS birthday: Jan 15, 1956 · Ineligible non-borrowing spouse: No

Estimated initial principal limit

$120,000.00

$800,000.00 maximum claim amount × 15% factor = $120,000.00

Maximum claim amount (MCA): $800,000 · PLF: 15% · Expected Rate: 7.25% · Youngest age: 71 years

A 15% factor puts the initial principal limit at $120,000 and trips the below-20-percent notice — HUD requires the mortgagee to advise discussing with a HECM counselor whether such a factor helps.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between the principal limit and what I receive?

The principal limit is the initial ceiling HUD’s formula allows before deductions. A lender then subtracts mandatory obligations and any required set-asides, and origination costs and the upfront mortgage insurance premium are paid from the balance at closing, so the cash you actually draw is smaller. The page shows the principal limit and says so.

Why can’t this page look up my PLF for me?

HUD 4000.1 calls the factor “a multiplier supplied by FHA … available on the HUD website,” and the tables are served from HUD’s systems rather than a static page. Two separate network checks (a US runner and a direct local fetch) found no static table to pin, so inventing one would be worse than leaving the field to you. Enter the factor from your lender’s HECM disclosure — the label on the field says exactly that.

Which Expected Rate should I type?

For a fixed HECM, the Expected Rate is the Note rate. For an adjustable HECM it is the mortgagee’s margin plus the weekly-average 10-year CMT index from the Federal Reserve Board’s H.15 release. Both are the number on your Expected Rate disclosure; the page takes your typed value so it never guesses a stale weekly index.

What does the 183-day age rounding do?

When the next birthday is less than 183 days after closing, HUD rounds the borrower’s age up to the next whole year for the factor lookup; otherwise it uses the completed years. This page applies that rule to the youngest borrower or eligible non-borrowing spouse and prints whether it rounded.

What is an ineligible non-borrowing spouse disclosure?

If a spouse is on the title but not a borrower and does not meet the deferral-period rules, HUD still requires the loan to disclose what the principal limit would have been at the youngest ineligible spouse’s age. That age is computed here; the actual disclosure amount needs HUD’s factor tables, so it comes from your lender’s HECM system or disclosure documents.

Is the below-20-percent flag a rejection?

No — it is the disclosure HUD 4000.1 prescribes: the mortgagee must advise you to discuss with a HECM counselor whether a factor below 20 percent may improve your situation and to weigh the costs. The calculator just raises the same flag honestly instead of pretending the number is generous.

Does taking a HECM mean the lender owns my house?

No. The home stays titled to you (or your trust); the HECM is a lien like any mortgage. The loan becomes due when the last borrower leaves or sells, at which point the balance plus accrued interest is repaid from proceeds — and with a fixed-rate single draw, the balance grows mainly through interest and the mortgage insurance premium.

Assumptions and sources

  • Maximum Claim Amount, Principal Limit, Expected Rate, 183-day age rounding, ineligible-NBS disclosure and below-20-percent counseling wording: HUD Handbook 4000.1, Update 17 redline (last revised 11/26/2025), “Reverse Mortgages — Allowable Mortgage Parameters” (handbook pages 600–604). Includes “Principal Limit Factor refers to a multiplier supplied by FHA … available on the HUD website” and “the Expected Rate is the same as the Note rate” for fixed HECMs.
  • 2025-cycle conforming chain (printed in 4000.1 U17): conforming $806,500 → high-cost 150% 1-unit $1,209,750 → AK/HI/GU/VI $1,814,625; the HECM national mortgage limit = $1,209,750 via the §255(g)/(m) ↔ §305(a)(2) cross-reference. Derived from the printed 2025 limits — if HUD’s 2026 cycle does not raise them this value carries forward; recheck when HUD publishes the next limits.
  • Expected Rate for adjustable HECMs: mortgagee’s margin plus the weekly-average 10-year CMT index published in the Federal Reserve Board Statistical Release H.15 (HUD 4000.1).
  • No static HUD PLF table exists to keep on record: the HUD pages reached do not print factor tables. The factor is therefore a clearly-labeled user input, never invented here.

Last reviewed 2026-10-04. An estimate, not financial advice; your lender's Loan Estimate overrides it. Read the full disclaimer.

Where a figure on this page comes from an official agency — HUD, IRS, FICO or a state body — the site keeps a dated snapshot of the source page in its sources library, and a scheduled job re-checks that snapshot, so the number can be traced back to the document it came from.

Related tools

HELOC CalculatorLoans & MortgagesFree HELOC calculator for a home equity line of credit: estimate available credit, interest-only draw payments, a repayment schedule and total interest.Estimate available credit and HELOC payments →Home Affordability CalculatorLoans & MortgagesFind the maximum home price that fits your income, debts and down payment using the 28/36 debt-to-income rules, including tax, insurance and HOA.See what you can afford →Mortgage CalculatorLoans & MortgagesFree mortgage calculator with property tax, insurance, HOA and PMI. See your monthly payment, total interest and a full amortization schedule instantly.Calculate mortgage payments →Down Payment CalculatorLoans & MortgagesFree down payment calculator: how much cash you need, what share of the price that is, how long the monthly saving takes, and the loan payment on the rest.Work out a down payment →Airbnb Profit CalculatorLoans & MortgagesWork out what a short-term rental earns after the platform fee, the lodging tax, cleaning and the fixed costs, and the occupancy it needs to break even.Estimate Airbnb profit →Amortization Schedule CalculatorLoans & MortgagesGenerate a full amortization schedule for any loan: every payment split into interest and principal, with yearly totals and a CSV export.Build an amortization schedule →