Ms. Lank: I am 61, and in early 2007 I refinanced my home with a company that offered me a plan on which I could pay as low as $57 a month during the next seven years. Of course the rest of the money I really owe is added to the principal.

I was hesitant but due to the low option and the choice for seven years, I decided to go for it. Of course the mortgage company convinced me the house would double in value while my debt was rising.

Should I try to change my mortgage, or keep paying the lower amount and saving the rest of the money and then try for a reverse mortgage when the seven-year plan expires? -- J.M.

Answer: How much do you owe on the property right now? Unless the debt is quite a bit lower than what your place is worth today, you're not going to be able to get a new loan, so you'll have no decision to make. Even so, if -- as I suspect -- you have a high rate of interest, then your debt is going up at a fast rate, and you should explore every possibility with your lender.

If, on the other hand, the mortgage is at a normal rate, not much more than 6 percent, you might as well hold on for the next six years and wait until property values go up.

You talk of "saving the rest of the money" you don't send in, but I don't know where you could stash it and get as good a return as by making full mortgage payments. There's nowhere else you can earn 6 percent (probably more, whatever your rate is) for a guaranteed no-risk return right now. Make a full principal-and-interest payment every month. Your debt won't keep getting larger, and you'll be in a better position to refinance or even try for a reverse mortgage in 2014.

Gift Or Inheritance

Hi Edith: In today's paper you answered a question from a man who inherited his mother's house when she passed away. He had asked if he can write off the time spent fixing it up while she was alive. Your answer included that when the mother passed away, the son inherited the mother's cost basis for the property. So in other words, if she would have purchased the house like my parents did in 1958 for $24,000, and it is now worth $320,000, he would inherit the cost basis of $24K plus any improvements done over the years.

I always thought an heir got the cost value of the house in today's market (which would be the $320,000, no taxable profit when he sold). Are we talking about the same thing here, or could you clarify? -- P.

Answer: Take another look. That's not quite what the man wrote, and it's not quite what I answered. Continued...