Hi Mary,

Good news - you have more flexibility here than you might think.  Let me answer your specific questions and then walk through all your options.

Can you make payments to the servicer without taking out a new loan?

Yes.  A reverse mortgage has no required monthly payment, but you can make voluntary payments at any time and in any amount without penalty.  There is no prepayment penalty on a HECM.  You can pay a little each month, make occasional lump sum payments when you have extra funds, or pay off the entire balance whenever you are ready.  The servicer is required to accept your payments and apply them to the balance.  After 10 or 11 years, the balance has grown, but chipping away at it over time is a completely valid approach and reduces the interest accruing on the outstanding balance.

Can you sell some of the acreage to raise funds?

This is where it gets more complicated.  The property securing your reverse mortgage is collateral for the loan, and any change to that collateral - including selling off a portion of the land - requires lender and HUD approval through a process called a partial reconveyance.  You cannot simply sell off a portion of the property without the lienholder's involvement.

That said, it is not impossible.  If you want to pursue this, contact your servicer and explain what you are trying to do.   They will need to evaluate whether the remaining property after the sale still provides sufficient collateral for the outstanding loan balance.  If the remaining acreage and home still adequately support the loan, a partial reconveyance may be approved.  Get that conversation started before you do anything with the land.

Your full range of options

Beyond voluntary payments and a potential land sale, here are the other paths available to you.  If you have family members willing to help, they can contribute funds toward the payoff - there is no restriction on where the payoff funds come from as long as the balance is satisfied.

If you want to eliminate the loan and have the means to do so over time, voluntary monthly payments work exactly like paying down any other debt.  You retain full ownership of the home throughout the process.

If your goal is to exit the reverse mortgage completely and you have enough equity, selling the home is the most straightforward path.  You pay off the reverse mortgage balance at closing and keep whatever equity remains.

If none of those work, a traditional or forward mortgage is another option - though you mentioned not wanting to take out a new loan, so that may not be the right fit.

The most important first step is to call your servicer, explain that you want to start making voluntary payments, and ask them to walk you through the partial reconveyance process for the land.  Both of those conversations can happen on the same call.

Reference: HUD Handbook 4000.1, Section VI - HECM Servicing, Prepayment and Voluntary Payment provisions.