← Reverse mortgages in Colorado
Can you get a reverse mortgage in Colorado Springs if you still owe on your home? Yes, and it is common. The reverse mortgage pays off your existing loan first, which ends that monthly payment, and whatever equity is left over becomes available to you. On a typical $453K Colorado Springs home in El Paso County, a longtime owner often has plenty of equity to cover the payoff and still free up cash.
A typical Colorado Springs home is worth around $453K under Pikes Peak, and for a longtime owner most of that is untouched equity. A reverse mortgage only fits some situations, and I will say so when it does not. See how Colorado Springs compares on my Colorado aging-in-place overview.
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On this page
- Local reverse mortgage broker in Colorado Springs
- Aging in place in Colorado Springs
- What is my Colorado Springs home worth?
- Reverse mortgage calculator
- Cost of aging in place
- Is a reverse mortgage right for me?
- Learn how reverse mortgages work
- Reverse mortgage options in Colorado Springs
- How much a reverse mortgage costs in Colorado Springs
- Condos and HOA
- Reverse mortgage FAQs
Reverse Mortgage Specialist in Colorado Springs, CO
Who is a local reverse mortgage broker in Colorado Springs, CO? Christopher Gibson (NMLS #1910430) is an independent broker with C2 Financial Corporation (NMLS #135622). He helps Colorado Springs homeowners age 55 and older (age 62+ for the government-insured HECM) turn home equity into funds for retirement. Because the funds are loan proceeds rather than income, they are generally not subject to federal income tax.* Call or text 720-449-6622.
Aging in place in Colorado Springs, at a glance
The honest pros and cons, every measure I track, sorted by which way it cuts. Full detail below.
| Works in your favor | Neutral or mixed | Plan around it |
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Figures: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024 5-Year; County Health Rankings 2025 (life expectancy, county level); NOAA 1991-2020 Climate Normals; FEMA National Risk Index (per hazard, not the composite); USGS elevation. This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.
Why a reverse mortgage appeals to Colorado Springs homeowners 55+ attempting to age in place
Colorado Springs sits under Pikes Peak, a military and retiree city with five bases nearby, where a house bought decades ago now runs around $453K. For a longtime owner on a fixed income, that paid-off equity is exactly what a reverse mortgage is built to reach, most often to erase a monthly payment and stay put.
Colorado Springs is home to Fort Carson, Peterson and Schriever Space Force Bases, and the Air Force Academy, so a large share of longtime owners are military retirees on a fixed pension. Many bought here decades ago and have built up real, usable equity as the city has grown, equity a reverse mortgage can turn into cash or a line of credit without adding a monthly payment on top of that pension.
Colorado Springs reverse mortgage facts and figures
Colorado Springs is more attainable than the Denver metro, and that gap between a modest purchase price and today’s value is why the equity here matters. Here are a few numbers worth knowing:
Home values: Zillow, mid-2026. HECM limit: HUD/FHA 2026. Property tax: U.S. Census. Figures change, ask me for today’s numbers on your home.
What is your Colorado Springs home worth today?
Curious what your home could be worth, and how much equity you have to work with? Use my free home-value tool below. Enter your address for an instant Colorado Springs estimate you can track over time, at no cost and no obligation.
Reverse Mortgage Calculator
Let’s calculate how much equity you can unlock.
A reverse mortgage is a loan. The balance grows over time and is repaid when the last borrower leaves the home. You keep the title, and you remain responsible for property taxes, homeowners insurance, and upkeep.
Aging in place in Colorado Springs with a reverse mortgage: what it really costs
Colorado Springs is the only city outside metro Denver with a Level I trauma center, and it has a Level II as well. It is also the city where two of Colorado’s most destructive wildfires burned into subdivisions. Both facts matter to a homeowner deciding whether the plan is to stay put, and they pull in opposite directions.
Waldo Canyon and Black Forest are why your premium looks like that
The Waldo Canyon Fire burned into Mountain Shadows in June 2012, destroying 346 houses with $352.6 million in insured losses. A year later the Black Forest Fire destroyed 486 houses in June 2013, about $300 million. Two fires, two summers, more than 800 homes, inside a single metropolitan area.
For a reverse mortgage that history is not background. Hazard insurance is a property charge you must keep current for the life of the loan, and a lapse is a default. Statewide premiums are reported up more than 100% since 2019. If a carrier non-renews you and you land on the Colorado FAIR Plan, know the terms: a $750,000 cap, settlement at actual cash value rather than replacement cost, and fire, lightning and smoke as base perils with no liability coverage. Since July 2026 you are entitled to your wildfire risk score, an explanation of how mitigation changes it, credit for mitigation you have already done, and an appeal.
Where you live in this city decides your exposure
The west side against the foothills, Mountain Shadows, and the Black Forest and Franktown edge to the north are genuine wildland-urban interface. Much of the east and southeast of the city is not. Two Colorado Springs homeowners with identical houses can be in completely different insurance markets, and the mitigation credits now required by state law are worth more on the west side than anywhere else in the city.
The tax picture is remarkably light
The median Colorado Springs homeowner pays $1,765 a year on a home the Census values at $452,600, an effective rate near 0.39%. El Paso County sits at the low end of a state that already runs among the lowest effective property tax rates in the country. The squeeze on a fixed income here comes from insurance and care, not the assessor.
The exemption, and the program that cancels a reverse mortgage
Colorado exempts 50% of the first $200,000 of actual value for owners 65 and older with ten consecutive years of ownership and occupancy. Apply by July 15; it renews automatically. A reverse mortgage does not affect it, because a HECM is a deed of trust and title never moves.
The property tax deferral is the opposite and people mix the two up constantly. Colorado bars reverse-mortgaged homes from the deferral program outright, and a separate rule capping mortgage liens at 75% of value would disqualify a HECM regardless. Use the exemption; do not plan on the deferral. One dated item: the Qualified Senior Primary Residence classification, which lets a senior who moves keep the reduction without restarting the ten-year clock, ends after tax year 2026.
Colorado senior property tax exemption
The carrying cost, and what drives it here
Median monthly cost to hold a debt-free Colorado Springs home: $607. That is $7,284 a year of taxes, insurance, utilities and HOA dues. Of that, $1,765 is the median property tax bill. Median income for households here headed by someone 65 or older is $67,377. That leaves 25% of senior owners in this city past the 30%-of-income threshold.
Colorado Springs holds one of the lowest median property tax bills of any large city in this state at $1,765, which keeps the monthly figure down. That is worth knowing because it means the pressure on your budget here is coming from insurance and utilities rather than the county. Those are the lines that have moved since Waldo Canyon, and they keep moving.
How high you live is part of the housing decision
Colorado Springs sits at 6,338 feet. Meaningfully high. Below the AHA’s 9,840-foot line, but not by so much that it drops out of the conversation once someone is managing a lung or heart condition.
Higher than Denver, and higher again in the neighborhoods against the foothills. It matters to the loan too. A reverse mortgage runs on continued occupancy, which means an altitude-driven move is a genuine risk to the plan and not just to your health. The mechanics are on my Colorado reverse mortgage page.
Your address matters more than your ZIP code here
Colorado Springs is not one insurance market, it is several. A house backing onto the Black Forest burn scar and a house on the east plains inside the same city get priced very differently, and after Waldo Canyon the carriers stopped pretending otherwise. Before we talk loan structure, find out what your renewal actually says, because that premium is a property charge you carry for the life of the loan. My Colorado page covers the FAIR Plan limits and the new wildfire score disclosure rules.
Life expectancy, weather and the cost of being here
A local figure of 76.2 years against 77.1 nationally is the least comfortable number on this page, and one of the more useful. Prices across the Colorado Springs, CO metro area sit at 101 on the federal parity scale, where 100 is average for the country. On the weather, snow needs clearing on roughly 12 days a year, and 14 days a year top 90F, with 274 days a year seeing no measurable precipitation. Put together, keeping this house once it is yours outright costs a median $607 a month, which is 11% of typical income past 65.
Sources: Colorado Encyclopedia on the Waldo Canyon and Black Forest fires; U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024 5-Year (B01001, B25034, B25035, B25077, B25103); Colo. Const. art. X §3.5 and C.R.S. §§39-3-203 and 39-3-207; Colorado Division of Property Taxation; SB24-111 and SB26-116 (Qualified Senior Primary Residence classification and its repeal for tax years from 2027); C.R.S. §§39-3.5-103 and 39-3.5-105 and the Colorado Treasury property tax deferral program; SB25-261; 24 CFR §§206.27(b)(3) and 206.205; CDPHE designated trauma facilities; Colorado Division of Insurance and the Colorado FAIR Plan; HB25-1182. Statewide sources for Colorado’s exemption, deferral, insurance and income tax rules are listed on my Colorado reverse mortgage page. Assessment rates and mill levies are set annually and change. Figures are educational, verify your own before relying on them. This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.
Wondering whether a home is one you could grow old in? Score any home in about 15 minutes, and see how a reverse mortgage can fund the upgrades.
Use the Aging-in-Place ScorecardQuick guide: is a reverse mortgage right for me?
First, answer four short questions, and the guide will point you toward the resource that fits your situation. Of course, it is general guidance for learning, not an approval or a quote, and nothing you tap is stored.
Free guide: Your Home Can Help
My complete guide to reverse mortgages for Colorado homeowners, the retirement squeeze, the myths, your options, real client stories, and what it really costs. No email required.
Learn how reverse mortgages work
Want the full details before we talk? These guides cover everything, no local sales pitch, just the facts.
Reverse mortgage options in Colorado Springs: HECM vs. jumbo
HECM covers most Colorado Springs homes; a proprietary jumbo is built for higher-value homes above the FHA limit and for many condos. For the full side-by-side of HECM, jumbo, HELOC, and HEI, see the reverse mortgage comparison table, or the types of reverse mortgages for a plain-English rundown.
Buying a home? Consider a HECM for Purchase (H4P)
A HECM for Purchase lets you buy your next home using a reverse mortgage, so you put down a portion and finance the rest with no required monthly principal-and-interest payment. For a Colorado Springs owner trading a two-story for a single-level home near the Peak, it is a clean way to move without taking on a new monthly payment.
How much you can access depends on age, rates, and value. Start your own estimate with the reverse mortgage calculator below.
Full detail, including what you would need to bring at each age, is on the HECM for Purchase page.
How the process works, step by step
Consultation, HUD counseling, application, appraisal, closing, with a three-day right to cancel. Most HECM files fund in 30 to 45 days. Here is how a reverse mortgage works, step by step.
How much a reverse mortgage costs in Colorado Springs
The biggest cost is FHA mortgage insurance: 2% of the home’s value upfront, plus about 0.5% a year on the balance, and that upfront premium funds the FHA insurance behind that non-recourse protection. On a typical Colorado Springs home at $453K that is about $9,100 at closing, and most of it rolls into the loan. Every fee, itemized.
The honest trade-offs (the balance grows, you still cover taxes and insurance, and it rewards a longer stay) are the same anywhere. I lay them all out in the pros and cons of a reverse mortgage.
Why work with a mortgage broker, not a bank
A bank sells you one rate sheet. I shop the same loan across more than 30 wholesale lenders, which also opens up the proprietary and jumbo programs a single bank cannot offer, and at Colorado Springs’s $453K median that is often the difference between a HECM and a materially bigger draw. C2 Financial Corporation, NMLS #135622.
What happens to your home and your heirs
You keep the title, and the loan is non-recourse, so you and your heirs can never owe more than the home is worth. Heirs can repay, refinance, or sell and keep the rest, and Colorado has no estate or inheritance tax to complicate it. Timelines and the 95% rule.
What about condos and HOA approval?
A HECM needs the whole project FHA-approved and plenty of Colorado Springs buildings are not. Ask me early if you are in a condo, because the project's approval status decides which programs are even on the table. A proprietary loan can often finance one that is not, so check the building before you assume the answer is no. Property and eligibility rules.
The HUD counseling requirement, explained
HUD requires an independent counseling session before closing on any reverse mortgage nationwide, not a Colorado rule, usually low-cost or free, and it has to be finished before I can pull an FHA case number. I will send you the HUD-approved El Paso County counselor list so scheduling never stalls your file. What the session actually covers.
Reverse mortgage FAQs for Colorado Springs homeowners
Can you get a reverse mortgage in Colorado Springs if you still have a mortgage?
Yes, and it is common. The reverse mortgage pays off your existing mortgage first, which ends that monthly payment, and whatever equity remains becomes available to you. You just need enough equity to cover the payoff. Here is how qualifying with an existing mortgage works.
Can I get a reverse mortgage on a Colorado Springs condo?
Often, yes. A standard FHA HECM needs the whole condo project to be FHA-approved, and many buildings are not. When that is the case, a proprietary reverse mortgage can usually finance a non-approved or non-warrantable condo. I check your specific building first.
How much can I borrow in Colorado Springs?
It depends on the youngest borrower's age, current rates, and your home value. Most Colorado Springs homes fall within the standard FHA HECM limit, while higher-value homes may also fit a jumbo program that exceeds it.
Is counseling required in Colorado?
Yes. You must complete a session with a HUD-approved counselor before closing. It is usually low-cost or free. I will point you to approved El Paso County counselors so scheduling never slows you down.
Do I still pay property tax with a reverse mortgage in Colorado Springs?
Yes. With a reverse mortgage you keep title and remain responsible for property taxes, homeowners insurance, and upkeep. Many counties, including El Paso County, offer a senior property-tax exemption you may qualify for, and you can even use reverse-mortgage funds to help cover those ongoing costs.
Have a question about a reverse mortgage in Colorado Springs? Call or text me at 720-449-6622. No pressure, just straight answers.
Colorado Springs neighborhoods and nearby areas I serve
I work with homeowners across the city and greater El Paso County. That includes Old Colorado City, the Broadmoor, the Old North End, Briargate, Rockrimmon, Cheyenne Cañon, and Ivywild. Core ZIP codes include 80903, 80904, 80906, 80907, 80918, 80920.
In addition, I also help owners in nearby communities such as Manitou Springs, Fountain, Monument, Woodland Park, Cañon City, and Security-Widefield, and across El Paso, and Teller counties. See every area I cover on my reverse mortgages across Colorado page. Do not see your area? Reach out and ask.
If aging in place is your goal, local resources like the Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging, and Silver Key Senior Services can help you plan, and my free Aging-in-Place Home Scorecard lets you score any Colorado Springs home in about 15 minutes to see how ready it is to grow old in.
Reverse mortgages in nearby communities
About Christopher Gibson
Christopher Gibson (NMLS #1910430) is an independent mortgage and reverse mortgage broker with C2 Financial Corporation (NMLS #135622), serving homeowners across the states he is licensed in. Serving Colorado Springs and nearby communities. Call or text 720-449-6622. More about Christopher.
Read reviews of Reverse Mortgages & Home Loans with Christopher Gibson at C2 Financial
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*This is general information, not tax advice. Reverse mortgage proceeds are loan advances rather than income and are generally not subject to federal income tax. Consult a CPA or tax advisor about your specific situation. Receiving loan proceeds may also affect eligibility for need-based government benefits such as Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income (SSI).