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Vince Olszewski was in something of a financial pickle: he owned his 45-year-old Southeast Side home free and clear but had no cash to make basic repairs.

The roof leaks. The water heater rattles. The doors need to be replaced.

"It will cost $20,000 in repairs to get it done properly," Olszewski said.

But with $660 from Social Security every month as his only source of income, Olszewski, 80, decided to take out a reverse mortgage, an option that an increasing number of seniors are exercising across the country.

With home values appreciating fast over the last few years, many seniors are finding themselves rich in home equity. This option allows them to pull out more equity than ever before and stay in their house, though some financial advisers warn it can be misused.

In a regular mortgage, a home buyer makes payments to a lender, paying down the debt and building equity. In a reverse mortgage, homeowners over age 62 receive cash from a lender in a lump sum, payments or line of credit. The increasing debt doesn't have to be paid back until after the homeowners die, move out or sell the home.

The amount that seniors can pull out is a function of the age of the homeowners, the value of the home and the interest rate, which is adjustable, said Frank Formi-sano, a mortgage officer who specializes in reverse mortgages with Prime Capital, 5357 E. Pima St. Proceeds are generally tax-free, and many have no income or credit restrictions.

Reverse mortgages carry costs that range from about 5 to 8 percent of the principal loan limit, Formisano said.

Fees may be paid up-front, but most often, seniors choose to amortize the costs of the loan over time. FHA mortgage insurance costs about 2 percent of the principal amount. The mortgage broker fee can run the same. There may also be finance costs including the appraisal fee, escrow and courier fees.

In Olszewski's case, his house was valued at $155,000. After he closes on his reverse mortgage in mid-September, he'll owe about $7,600 on the $109,585 available to him. That's about 7 percent.

If seniors still owe on their house, they can still obtain a reverse mortgage and use a portion of their new proceeds to pay off their old mortgage. Formi-sano said even seniors who haven't seen much appreciation in their homes can take out a reverse mortgage, as long as they "have a pretty good amount of equity in their home."

About 95 percent of all reverse mortgages are insured by the Federal Housing Administration. Under FHA loans, the maximum lending limit in Pima County is about $240,000, Formisano said. A senior can still live in the home and use proceeds of the mortgage to pay for a spouse's care in a long-term facility.

"There's more and more latitude for reverse mortgages if proceeds are used for home health care and long-term care. There's a lot of changes recently for the benefit of the senior," Formisano said.

More and more seniors are participating.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development endorsed 205 reverse mortgages issued in the Tucson metro area in the first nine months of the 2006 federal fiscal year, which runs Oct. 1 to Sept. 30. That's a 215 percent increase from the 65 loans insured during the same time frame in fiscal year 2005 and a 101 percent increase over the 102 loans issued here in all of fiscal year 2005.

In 2001, only 21 reverse mortgage loans were endorsed in the Tucson area.

That may be because the mortgages are also being marketed to seniors like never before — a concern for some senior advocates.

Actor James Garner, who starred in television's "The Rockford Files" and a movie titled "Space Cowboys," is a spokesman for Irvine, Calif.-based Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corp., the largest originator of reverse mortgages in the United States.

Actor Robert Wagner, from TV's "Hart to Hart" and "Austin Powers" movies, pitches for the Senior Lending Network, a program offered by the Mortgage Warehouse based in New York.

The marketing targets seniors who need to be careful with how they spend their best resource, said Kay White, executive director of Administration of Resources and Choices, a nonprofit that provides financial counseling to seniors.

"Reverse mortgages are wonderful for seniors who need reverse mortgages," White said. "Given 22 years in this chair, the best place for seniors to keep their money is within their home until they truly need the money for such things as essentials of daily living. Food, medication, home health care, home repair."

But White is leery of drawing on home equity for other kinds of purchases — including taking dream cruises, buying new cars or even paying off credit card debt. She also said seniors should be careful about how loans are structured.

"We have financial advisers who are convincing seniors to proceed with a reverse mortgage, and they're selling them a product, i.e. making money off the senior at the same time," White said. "They're linking an annuity or life insurance or stock investment to the money that's being received from the reverse mortgage, and I think a senior should be extremely wary of anyone who's encouraging to sell a reverse mortgage and selling them a product at the same time."

Formisano said he strongly disagrees with White's take on how the proceeds should be used.

"Suppose they're 70 years old and they've never had a cruise and they want a cruise. What's wrong with that? Suppose they want to help their children go to college? What's wrong with that?" Formisano said.

Olszewski said he doesn't see a problem with using the money as he sees fit. He owns his house and may be able to draw its entire value thanks to his reverse mortgage.

In fact, he's planning to take a "dream" trip to Germany, where he has extended-family members.

"I'd like to have a real good vacation. The last time I went out of state was '81," he said.

Olszewski also said he has and wants to pay off $18,000 in credit-card debt. A fair chunk of Olszewski's debt was incurred when he received a telephone call too good to be true. The caller said he had won $1.5 million and only had to pay $4,600 out of his own pocket for "insurance."

"It was a scam," Olszewski said.

He said credit card companies "hound you something terrible. Once I get these credit cards paid off, I don't want to even look at them," he said.