Just like it sounds, you receive a lumpp sum up to the limit determined by your age, interest rates, and the equity in your home.  

An annuity is a payment to you of fixed monthly payments for a set period of time. Funds can be automatically deposited into your bank account.  The following are the types of annuity payments:

Tenure-You receive fixed monthly payments for as long as you live in the home. The monthly payments continue for as long as you live in your home, even if the total amount you receive exceeds the value of your home. Most importantly, you will never owe more than what the home is worth, regardless of the number of payments you receive.

Modified Term- Your receive fixed monthly payments for a pre-determined period of time, plus access to line of credit. You receive smaller monthly payments because a portion of your equity has been set aside in the line of credit.

Modified Tenure- Your receive fixed monthly payments for as long as you live in the home, plus access to line of credit. You receive smaller monthly payments because a portion of your equity has been set aside in the line of credit.

You access funds at your discretion.

Advantages: 

1) Flexibility-You can access funds as needed.

2) Growth feature-The unused balance grows. The reason is that your home has presumaly appreciated in value over the past 12 months and that you are one year older.  One option may be to refinance the reverse mortgage to take advantage of the increasing unused factor.

The least expensive reverse mortgages are the ones offered by state or local governments. But generally these loans can be used for only a specific purpose, like home repairs. Many are only available to persons with low to moderate incomes.

Local and some state government agencies offer deferred payment loans for repairing or improving your home. This gives you a one-time, lump sum advance. No repayment is required for as long as you live in your home.

DPLs can be difficult to find, in part because they go by a variety of names and descriptions.

You may be able to combine a DPL with a HECM loan. To do this, the DPL lender must agree to be repaid after the HECM is repaid.

Some DPL programs even forgive part or all of the loan if you live in your home for a certain period of time. In other words, you may end up paying nothing back ever . If you can find and qualify for a "forgivable" DPL, you would most likely have more equity left at the end of the loan than you had at the beginning. In any case, a DPL is one of the best bargains you can find.

Proprietary reverse mortgages are generally the most expensive type of reverse mortgage. But if your home is worth more than the limit for your county, one of these loans might give you larger cash advances than a HECM.

Proprietary reverse mortgages can be used for any purpose, and are open to homeowners aged 62 and over. There are no income limits.

If you live in a higher-valued home, you might be able to get more cash from a proprietary plan than from a HECM.