The Lowdown on Reverse Mortgages Rules and Restrictions

By Cooperator Staff 2005 Feb Finance

Borrower must be age 62 or older
No monthly payment is required
Must obtain co-op board approval in most cases
Proceeds can be used for any purpose
No financial reports, credit history or medical reports required
Loan can be disbursed in the form of a lump sum, line of credit or a monthly payment option
Loan must be paid back upon the death of the borrower, if the borrower moves out or sells the home
Loan amounts vary based on age of the borrower; interest rates and adjusted value of the property; and geographic location of the home.
Single borrowers and older applicants qualify for higher loan amounts
Remember that reverse mortgages are not for everyone
Certain mortgage restrictions are attached to government loans

Share Twitter Facebook Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Selling housing for money or barter. Calculate the mortgage cost. Reduce maintenance costs.

Market Conditions: Where We’ve Been & Where We’re Going

A Conversation with Jonathan Miller, President & CEO of Miller-Samuel

Collecting Arrears

Part of Your Board’s Fiduciary Duty

3D illustration of a rubber stamp with the word refinance over a mortgage lender rate sheet. Debt consolidation and debt or loan refinancing concept.

The Uncertainties of Refinancing Your Underlying Mortgage

Today’s Interest Market Poses Challenges

News

10/17/2025 How Do New York City Property Taxes Work in Condos and Co-Ops? - Mansion Global

Every week, Mansion Global poses a tax question to real estate tax attorneys. Here is this week’s question. Q. I'm new to New York City. How do property taxes work in condos and co-ops, as opposed to a standalone house elsewhere in the country?
Read full story

10/14/2025 An iconic NYC landmark is becoming an apartment building — with records revealing luxury perks - NY Post

The Flatiron Building is certainly one of New York City’s most recognizable landmarks — but information regarding its highly anticipated condominium conversion has been kept far from the public eye. Now, however, some details on the hush-hush development are coming to light.
Read full story

10/7/2025 Explosion causes collapse at NYCHA Bronx apartment building - ABC News

There were no reports of injuries after an explosion in the Bronx caused a partial collapse of a high-rise apartment building on Wednesday morning. It happened at NYCHA's Mitchel Houses on Alexander Avenue in the Mott Haven section just after 8 a.m.
Read full story

10/6/2025 Manhattan’s luxury housing market is booming and bucking national trends — but for how long? - New York Post

While luxury housing markets from Dallas to Miami are struggling to keep pace, Manhattan’s high-end sector is one of the few bright spots. Sales of the borough’s priciest homes surged in the third quarter, even as nationwide numbers slid to their weakest summer in more than a decade. Yet a slowdown in the month of September — and the looming uncertainty of New York’s mayoral race — suggests the city’s luxury surge may not be on unshakable ground.
Read full story

10/3/2025 Flatiron Building condos will have enormous great rooms, unique layouts, and prices from $10.95M - 6sqft

More details have been revealed for one of New York City’s most anticipated new developments. The Flatiron Building at 175 Fifth Avenue is being converted to condominiums after over a century as a commercial property. With the offering plan officially accepted by the New York State Attorney General’s office last month, new information on prices, floor plans, and amenity spaces is now public. In the offering, apartments at the 22-story landmarked Beaux-Arts tower start at $10,950,000 for a three-bedroom, with the most expensive listed at $50 million for a five-bedroom.
Read full story

9/30/2025 $19.75 Million Central Park Condo in World’s Skinniest Skyscraper Tops NYC Luxury Sales - Realtor.com

The top residential sale in Manhattan last week is in the world's skinniest skyscraper, The Steinway Tower on Billionaires Row.
Read full story

9/29/2025 Entertainment lawyer for Madonna, Live Nation lists Plaza condo for $48M - Crain's

An entertainment lawyer who has worked with Madonna, Michael Bolton and Men at Work is looking to hit a high note in selling his Plaza District apartment.
Read full story

9/25/2025 Can condo conversions be a good pathway to homeownership? - New York Amsterdam News

In New York City, buying a home is a daunting process. There are down payments, negotiations, inspections, unexpected fees, closing costs, and much more, and that’s in the midst of simply trying to find a home in one of the most expensive housing regions in the world. But condominium conversions have emerged as an option for renters that could be a promising solution to maintaining affordable housing stock in the midst of a housing crisis.
Read full story

9/22/2025 Every condo at this former Central NY school comes with a perk: a $200K state subsidy - Syracuse.com

The 21 brand new condominiums that just went up for sale at the former St. Matthew’s School in East Syracuse come with unusually low prices — from $136,433 to $164,688.
Read full story

9/15/2025 The New York neighborhoods with the smallest (& largest) condos - AOL

While NYC condos have a median size of 921 square feet, at the neighborhood level, median sizes range between 631 and 2,045 square feet.
Read full story

9/11/2025 Elad Group details condo conversion plans for Midtown South office building - New York Business Journal

A century-old structure in the heart of New York City is getting a new lease on life, as plans emerge to convert its office spaces into more than 100 condominiums.
Read full story

9/9/2025 $22 Million New York City Condo Tops Most Expensive Sale of the Week and It Comes With Daily Catered Breakfast - Realtor.com

Luxury can bring along perks, and the most expensive condominium sold in New York City for the week ending Sept. 7 comes with daily catered breakfast. The condo at 111 West 57th Street was listed for $22 million, reduced from the original $27.5 million price tag when the building started marketing floor plans in June 2016, according to the Olshan Luxury Market Report.
Read full story

9/4/2025 Dylan Dreyer re-lists NYC condo with $500k reduction weeks after split from husband - Hello!

Dylan Dreyer and her husband, Brian Fichera, appear to be at odds over the fate of their $2.5 million New York City home amid their ongoing separation. The former couple first listed the property in January, signaling their impending split. However, reports indicate that the TODAY Show star temporarily pulled the home off the market last month, despite the divorce moving forward. Now, just weeks later, the property is back on the market – this time with a significant $500,000 price cut, bringing the new asking price to $1.99 million.
Read full story

9/2/2025 Inside Taylor Swift’s Multimillion-Dollar Real Estate Empire - Elle Decor

Taylor Swift may be best known for her impressive music career, though with eight homes across four states, she may be adding “real estate mogul” to her repertoire pretty soon. The 35-year-old pop megastar—who recently completed her record-breaking Eras tour—is worth an estimated $1.1 billion, according to Forbes, $150 million of which she has invested in real estate.
Read full story

8/29/2025 Barbra Streisand’s Former Upper East Side Townhouse Sells for $15.9 Million—Leading Luxury Sales in New York City - Realtor.com

The New York City luxury market had a $15.9 million celebrity sale with Barbra Streisand's former Upper East Side townhome going to a new owner.
Read full story

8/26/2025 Legionnaires' cases investigated at Bronx condo complex - NBC

Authorities are investigating at least two cases of Legionnaires' disease at a Bronx condominium complex to determine a possible connection, though they say those patients are not linked to the Harlem cluster that has infected more than 11 people, killing six of them, since late July.
Read full story

8/25/2025 ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’ creator pays $13M for Tribeca pad in celeb-friendly building - Crain's

A Tribeca building’s ties to Hollywood just got tighter. Screenwriter Jonathan Tropper, known for creating the Apple TV+ series Your Friends & Neighbors, and his wife, Stephanie Abram, have purchased a 3,000-square-foot condo unit on Greenwich Street for $13.3 million, according to a deed filed in the city register Thursday.
Read full story

8/22/2025 Brooklyn developer planning pair of Manhattan condo projects - Crain's

A Gravesend-based developer is planning to bring a pair of new luxury condo projects to Manhattan, including one that would rise on the site of the former Upper East Side carriage house of a JPMorgan executive from the early 20th century.
Read full story

8/20/2025 Does good cause eviction threaten Naftali’s Fifth Avenue condo? - Real Deal

You probably weren’t thinking about “good cause eviction” when you read in The Real Deal last week that Miki Naftali plans to demolish 800 Fifth Avenue after buying it from Eliot Spitzer. But Naftali surely did.
Read full story

8/14/2025 Cleveland Guardians co-owner pays about $18M for a condo on Billionaires Row

An owner of the Cleveland Guardians baseball team has a new home base on Billionaires Row. Home improvement entrepreneur Matt Kaulig has purchased a 3,400-square-foot unit at Central Park Tower, the 98-story Midtown spire considered the tallest residential building in the world.
Read full story

Show more news

Recent Articles

NY Metro Mortgage Delinquency Rate Lower Than U.S. Average

Condo Competition Has High-End Co-ops Relaxing Financing Requirements

More Tariffs to Hit Homebuilders

NY Metro Mortgage Delinquencies Lower Than U.S. Average

Imputed Equity & Co-op Prices in a Depressed Market