Ray wrote:
This isn't really a "home repair" question, but some readers of the
newsgroup might help, based on experience.

I have a sister, single and living alone, who needs to begin drawing
down the equity in her home. She's 81, not in the best of health. The
appraised value of the home is $500,000, with no mortgage at this
time.
I've looked into "reverse mortgages" a bit and there are aspects of
these that bother me -- not the least being substantial activation
costs.
We are considering an alternative of simply taking a 30-year mortgage
for the maximum we can in such a loan. We would then invest the
proceeds in an ETF muni-bond fund and begin drawing down the
principal at $30,000 a year.
My question is, how much can we expect to borrow? I would hope to get
$400,000, which would be 80 percent of the appraised value. Is that a
realistic possibility?

The amount that can be borrowed is based on how much you can pay. For her
that would probably be zero. Any mortgage money borrowed would most likely
cost more that it would earn on secure bonds. She should probably sell the
house to a family member and then rent back with a secure lease.