Home Equity Loans – second mortgage

FacingMortgageCrisis asked:

The only time you should consider taking out a home equity loan is if it will increase the value of your home. While taking out a home equity loan to help pay down other debt may help in the sort term, it is not a long term solution to a debt problem. Ifyou have more questions, you can call the United Way’s helpline at 1-800-427-4626 or 2-1-1 for information about trusted community resources in the Greater St. Louis area you can turn to.

Duane

Cornie Herring asked:


Research result shows that credit card debt is the main debt problem for most of debtors. Credit card carries high interest rate, if you continue delay your credit card payment or continue to pay only the minimum due amount, it will quickly roll up the total debt and drag you into a serious debt trap. Hence, credit card debt must be resolved fast to avoid making your debt situation worse. If you have build up your home equity, you are at a good position to get your debt issue resolve by consolidating your credit card debt and other high interest debt with your home equity.

Why consolidate debt using your home equity?

There are at least 3 good reasons to consolidate all your debt with home equity:

1. Lower interest rate. As compare to other loan, home equity loan is comparatively much lower that other loans, which make it easier to be paid off. If you continue repay the same amount you pay now and the interest rate has been lower, meaning that you pay more toward the principal and making your debt to be paid off faster.

2. The interest of your home equity loan is tax-deductible; you save on interest pay for home equity loan from the tax-deduction.

3. Lower monthly payment. If you find hardship repaying your current debt repayment, then selecting longer repayment term with a home equity loan will help to lower the monthly payment so a level that is affordable by your current financial situation. Be aware that by taking long period of loan term, you will be paying more in total interest.

Consolidation Debt Using Home Equity

There are three ways to consolidation debt using home equity: Cash-out Refinance, Home Equity Loan and Home Equity Line Of Credit.

Cash-out Refinance

In this method, you are getting a new mortgage with the amount high than your current mortgage and use it to pay off your current mortgage and have enough balance to clear your credit card debt. For example, your existing mortgage still remains $100,000 and you owe credit card debt of $12,000; you will need to refinance your existing mortgage to get $112,000 of new loan to pay off your existing mortgage plus the credit card debt.

Home Equity Loan

Home equity loan is a second mortgage which you use you home equity to pledge for a loan. For example, your home market value is $150,000 and you still owe for a mortgage of $100,000; this means you have a home equity equal to $50,000. You can apply for a home equity loan up to the value of home equity, in this case is $50,000. But normally, lenders will only approve a home equity loan up to 80-85% of your home equity.

Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)

Credit card has credit limit so do the home equity line of credit, the difference between these two is home equity line of credit use your home equity as the revolving line of credit. Based on your home equity, lenders will pre-approves you with a credit limit where you can withdraw the amount up to that credit limit. . In the home equity line of credit, interest only count on the amount being draws out.

What You Should Not Do With Your Home Equity

Although home equity is a good option to resolve your debt issue, but you will put your home at risk if you default the home equity loan repayment. Hence, don’t get the loan up to the maximum value of you home equity can provide you because you are adding more debt into your account by doing that. Use your home equity to apply for loan that enough to repay your consolidated debt. And remember to repay the home equity loan on time so that you won’t lose you home because of foreclosure.

In Summary

You can always convert home equity to pay off your consolidated high interest debts and save with lower interest and lower monthly repayment. But be aware for the risk of losing your home if you fail to make repayment. Hence, you need to put your repayment plan in place to ensure you won’t miss any repayment schedule of your home equity loan.



KRIS

Andrew Bicknell asked:


One of the best ways to pay off debt is getting a home equity loan or 2nd mortgage which will allow you to consolidate all your debts into one monthly payment. The majority of consumers in this country are over burdened with credit card debt, consumer loans, car loans and other financed items. Paying off all that debt can take time and patience. A good first step is consolidating all those bills into one more manageable loan.

If you are new to debt consolidation you may be asking how does a debt consolidation home equity loan work?

The idea behind this type of loan is really quite simple. The equity in your home is the difference between how much it is worth and how much you still owe on your mortgage. Aside from your credit score the amount of equity in the home will determine whether or not you will qualify. It is important to remember that a debt consolidation loan is not free money but because it usually comes with a lower interest rate it is easier on the budget and easier to pay off.

Before you decide on go out and get this type of loan it might be worth looking at some of the benefits it can bring.

The big benefit of getting a debt consolidation home equity loan is the easing of the debt burden. But there is a catch that you have to watch out for. Once you have used the equity in your home to pay off debts it is vitally important that your cease to use any and all credit cards and do not start financing new purchases. Not doing this can lead many people right back into an even bigger debt problem with the added threat of losing their home that was used as collateral.

Another benefit of getting a home equity loan is the interest paid is deductible on your yearly income taxes. While not quite as rewarding as having no debt being able to recoup some of the cost of the interest on your loan can make life a little easier. Aside from mortgages and home equity loans other debts such as credit card interest, car loans, payday loans and others are not tax deductible.

A home equity loan or line of credit can be a way for many people swamped in debt to gain some financial breathing room. These loans are not an instant fix, but rather a way to move all debts into one easy to deal with payment with a lower interest rate. It can be a good first step on the road to a debt free life. But this route to financial freedom will only work if you stay away from credit cards and work a budget that will get you on the road to building wealth.



ABRAHAM

Marlon Dirk asked:


When it comes to your home mortgage, if you’ve owned your home for a while, there’s a good chance you have equity built up, this can allow you to get a home equity loan. Home equity loans are usually low interest loans that use your home or property as a security interest. As market values climb, real estate properties usually increase in value; hopefully, your home mortgage allows you to increase your equity. The whole point of purchasing real estate is to eventually own a piece of property whereby the increase in market value allows you to have a piece of property worth more than your loan.

This increase in market value is considered home equity. After paying on your home loan for several years, you can have several thousands of dollars in home equity available. A home equity loan is often available for those homeowners who have equity built up. The home equity loan can be used for a variety of different uses from improving the home, purchasing other pieces of property, going on vacation, to solving a debt problem. You need to be careful when it comes to home equity loans, after all, your home is again going to be used as security, and you need to understand that you can lose your home, even with a home equity loan.

Thoroughly research any home equity loan and make sure you shop around for the best home equity loan financial package. There are a variety of different institutions willing to loan you money on your home equity. Not only do you need to thoroughly research the financial company, but you also need to understand your home equity loan contract. There are plenty of available financial companies and a lot of them are available on the Internet, make sure your financial company itself is secured, reliable, and has a good reputation.

You can also shop for home equity loans and you’ll find a variable interest among the different financial packages. Many of the Internet financial companies are going to be able to offer you a lower interest home equity loan than your downtown financial institution. Their low overhead allows them to not only operate less expensively, but to pass on those savings to the consumer. Online Internet financing companies are often major financial companies, and you can apply right online. You don’t have to actually sign on the dotted line in order to find out how much your home equity loan is going to cost you. This means that you can shop with several different companies, apply for several different types of loans, and then choose the best home equity loan package your credit history will give you.



MARIO