An equity release calculator is a financial tool that allows you to ascertain how much equity you can release from your property. With the calculation in hand, you can then go about accessing some of the equity tied up into your property without the need to sell the home or move out. Indeed, an equity release mortgage only ends upon death or when you move into long term care, which is when the house is sold and the lender recovers their money.
There are two main types of equity release plans, and many different providers within each sector. With so much variety, it is only natural that most providers and reputable equity release comparison and advice websites offer an equity release calculator to users who simply want to get an idea of how much they could potentially release based on their individual circumstances.
A good equity release calculator is one which is freely available, and offers fair and objective results with complete transparency. Companies like Equity Review.com that pioneered the equity release calculator on their website still offer a good and objective service. However, there is no shortage of equity release mortgage calculators today, and a number of them are not entirely true to their purpose.
By simply inputting criteria relevant to your personal situation, equity release calculators will put forth answers that will hopefully provide the results you are looking for in your quest to enhance your standard of living in retirement.
So how do you measure the best equity release mortgage calculator?
Primarily, the main focus should be on accuracy of the calculation. Equity release providers do not tend to change their lending criteria that often that it shouldn’t be an excuse for the equity release calculator results to be inaccurate. It should uncover which of the Equity Release Council members offer plans with the highest loan-to-value at each age attained over 55.
This shouldn’t be exclusive to healthy persons. Remember, if one holds a poor health record due to various qualifying illnesses then an enhanced or impaired lifetime mortgage would become available & offer a greater lump sum than normal. Therefore, a good calculator website would reflect this product & the higher releases available from more2life, Aviva & Partnership a calculator should also take this into account.
Secondly, the experience of using equity release calculators should be simple & user friendly. This should involve the minimum number of steps in order to complete the process. This is where some calculators do fall down & deter potential equity release enquiries being made.
Negative experiences for equity release calculators
It is not uncommon for companies to use the equity release calculator as a ploy to attract customers, and to gather personal data for unsolicited marketing and advertising. Most equity release calculators require some basic data, including the applicant’s age, property value, and any inheritance protection needed; some also require personal data including email, name and other contact details. It is fair for companies to seek some data from customers as this information is useful for companies to analyse their service and understand how and when it is being used.
While it is fair to ask for details from customers, it is necessary to make it clear if these details are being gathered for marketing purposes. A good equity release calculator is therefore one that is true to its purpose – in that it is freely available and quick to use, and offers truly impartial and up-to-date results without the need to fill in long forms with information that is largely irrelevant to the calculations.
While there are some cases of equity release calculators being misused, there are also companies that offer the best equity release calculator service. Some good examples of a free and fair equity release calculator service is www.equityreleasesupermarket.co.uk who were among the first to offer this application in the market, and have continued to provide an up-to-date and convenient service to users ever since.
Call Freephone 0800 321 3156 if you wish to speak about any equity release calculator enquiries.
