Posts Tagged ‘Lump Sum Cash’

Guide to Refinancing Through a Home Equity Loan

December 15th, 2009

A home equity loan is an excellent option to go for if you want to find a solution to your mind-blowing financial problems. If you have bought your home and have been paying for your mortgage for a while now, your home will surely have appreciated. This will entitle you to an increase in home equity, which you can use to borrow against. Here are some guidelines to help you in proper decision making when taking on a home equity loan:

What’s the difference between a Home equity loan and Home equity line of credit (HELOC)

A traditional home equity loan involves giving you lump sum cash, while a HELOC simply gives you a credit card or a check book which is set at a maximum amount which you can use for your purchases. Choosing from between the two should be a matter of personal decision, one that is based on your financial needs as of the moment. A traditional one may seem notorious as it tends to get used up more uncontrollably when in the wrong hands. However, if you look at it closely, the same problem can be encountered with a HELOC. Generally speaking, the closing costs for both are the same even if the HELOC involves a lot more workload for your lender. This is due to frequent accounting that needs to be made on your outstanding balance and frequent interest rate changes, which would have translated to higher fees.

Going for a Low Closing Cost Home Equity Loan

The competition in the market for mortgages today is quite heavy. Closing costs today has never been as ideal with excellent offers available. There are low closing cost loans, and there are even some who offer no closing costs. However, you should be vary when pursuing the latter as there are quite a number who do not offer excellent services – you get what you pay for (and not pay for) anyway. Usual closing costs involve appraisal, documentation fees, title examination, and so on. Closing costs from lenders vary greatly. If you want to get the best value, make sure you shop around for a reputable lender which will give you the best offer and a good closing cost.

What are the Costs Involved

The good news is that loaning against your home equity can be done without having to hurt your bank account. As was mentioned, most lenders offer low closing costs these days. The average closing cost today amounts to more or less one to 1. 5% of your loan amount. This will surely be within reasonable budget considering the processes involved. Take note that taking on a home equity loan should be a lot cheaper and less complicated than first mortgages. It is just a matter of finding the best deal and negotiating with the right lender.

Home Equity Loan – Advantages and Disadvantages

December 13th, 2009

 

A loan taken out for the purpose of transforming the equity in your house into cash that can be used for other purposes is known as a home equity loan.  A loan taken with the equity in your home as collateral can be structured in many ways. It is actually a second mortgage in many ways, and will result in less of your home’s value being accessible should you decide to sell the property.  It is an excellent way to obtain access to a sizable amount of cash, depending on the amount you owe on your home and the market value of your home.  The difference is your home equity.

 

Advantages

 

Most borrowers determine that the home equity loan works to their advantage.

 

Single Payment

 

Using a loan against the equity in your home as opposed to trying to take out a combination of personal loans and increased credit card debt means that you will only have one payment monthly for the loan rather than a half dozen or dozen small ones.  The home equity loan as a single unit is probably going to be easier to obtain than numerous smaller loans all at the same time.  You only need remember the due date and amount on one loan and thus you can prepare for and budget well into the future.

 

Available Cash

 

When you take out an equity loan on your home, it usually results in a larger amount of cash available to you all at once.  No matter what the reason for the lump sum cash is, having it in one sum often serves as a way to give you a clean start from financial problems that are eating away at your financial freedom and at your sanity.

 

Disadvantages

 

It is important that you not lose sight of the disadvantages of the loan against home equity.

 

Increased debt

 

When you obtain a home equity loan, even if it is to pay off other debt, you will almost always increase the total amount of debt that you owe.  You should study carefully whether the increased debt is offset by the advantages that a single payment–possibly smaller in size is worth going even further into debt.  If your goal is to change the ability of your family to meet future obligations or to add to the debt load as an investment toward the future, such as paying for a college education for yourself or your family, the debt load may be justifiable.

 

Economy of the area

 

Before taking out a home equity loan, it is important to look realistically at the area’s economy.  If housing prices in the community or in your neighborhood are beginning to fall, obtaining an equity loan to improve your home so that you can sell it and move on may not be a good idea.  You may find that the increased asking price necessary to clear the loans on your house will mean no buyers will be able to qualify to purchase your house.

 




By: Alan Lim

The Basics of Home Equity Loan

December 9th, 2009

If you are a homeowner, you surely have heard so much about home equity loan. What is this all about? Owning a home is not only a major turning point in your life, but is actually an investment that will increase in value over time. In time, your home value would increase. This means that your house which originally cost you $150,000 10 years ago can now be sold for $200,000.

Consequently, if you purchase a home and pay for it through home mortgage, you are slowly building on home equity. It is simply the difference between the current value of your home and the value you still owe your lender on the mortgage. You can then expect your home equity to increase in two ways – it increases as you pay your monthly mortgage payments, and as the market value of your home increases in time.

Home equity is actually one of the most important advantages you can get when buying a home. It is a great financial resource and your money stored in the bank. You can borrow against it through a home equity loan in cases when you badly need some extra cash. If you want to take on a home equity loan for college tuition, home renovation or to pay off your debts, you have two types to choose from: a second mortgage (known as the traditional home equity loan) and the home equity line of credit loan. What are these two all about?

A second mortgage loan merits you lump sum money which is based on the equity built on your home. On the other hand, a line of credit loan entitles you to a credit card or a check book with a corresponding maximum credit amount that you can use for purchases. The amount you can spend is again based on your home’s equity.

Whichever type it is, is low interest and tax deductible. Thus, with all else being equal, the choice of which one to choose is entirely up to you. It will depend on your needs for the moment. If you need the lump sum cash to pay for big purchases, then a second mortgage will do. On the other hand, if you need to spend it in small but regular amounts, then you might find a line of credit more suitable.

However, it is still very important for you to bear in mind that when taking out a home equity loan, your lender can repossess your home anytime if you fail to pay the necessary dues. If you fail to pay your monthly payments for a while or if you fail to pay your home equity loan in full as agreed upon, your lender or your bank can take your house away and use its current value to get what you owed them. As in all mortgages, make sure that you assume the responsibility to pay for what you need to, or you stand the risk losing your home.