Anyone know anything about Home Equity loans?

How do you go about finding the best one? There seem to be so many lenders out there.

Re: Anyone know anything about Home Equity loans?

At one point we considered it as a backup for the wedding, TG we didn't need it, but we were looking a line of credit, not a loan.

One of the things we didn't like was that the home needed to be additionally insured, so that even if we didn't use the line of credit we had to pay an insurance premium.

Sorry thats all I remember

As for who to get it from, we went to the bank that has the mtge. We both own apts, so we went to both banks, and both were almost identical.

Re: Anyone know anything about Home Equity loans?

I am getting one through Financial Equities. They are a company in Westbury

Re: Anyone know anything about Home Equity loans?

hmm...maybe I got a HELOC...when it comes to these things I am clueless!!!

Re: Anyone know anything about Home Equity loans?

Did you check your mortgage company? Sometimes they offer good rates to thier exsisting customers. We have our mortgage with M&T Bank and they were offering 2.25% over prime for a line of credit.

Do you want a line of credit or a loan?

Re: Anyone know anything about Home Equity loans?

I do not have a mortgage on my home, so I dont have an existing mortgage broker.

We want to borrow about 15%-20% of the value of the house to make some improvements. Plus, we would love to get the tax advantages.

Re: Anyone know anything about Home Equity loans?

I think that if you get a line of credit it has its tax advantage.

Here is the website for M&T bank. I would call them and see what the rates are and what the tax advantage is between a line of credit and a loan.

Good Luck...we will be doing this in a few months!!

M&T Bank

Re: Anyone know anything about Home Equity loans?

one more thing...good for you that you do not have a mortgage!! That is fantastic!! How long had you had your place???

Re: Anyone know anything about Home Equity loans?

Thanks Lisa. I think Luke has a credit union with his job so maybe we could start there.

Weve been in the house for close to 5 years. We havent had the money for any major improvements but now we have the possibility of a tax advantage and a nicer kitchen/redone basement, etc. and low mortgage rates - its a tempting idea.

Re: Anyone know anything about Home Equity loans?

we want to get a line of credit so that when we need the $$$ to do things we can draw on it. Its good for 5 years then you have to 're-apply' for another one. its not really applying, they just reopen a new line for ya!

Re: Anyone know anything about Home Equity loans?

I think (although I dont know much about this obviously) that we need a loan over a line of credit. For one, we want a fixed rate. Two, we need a lump sum of cash b/c we are planning on doing 2-3 large jobs in a short period of time. After that, we dont need any more money.

Re: Anyone know anything about Home Equity loans?

I took out a home equity loan from Bank of New York. I own an apt. and took it for improvments as well.

I think they're all pretty much the same, rates etc. at this point. I went to BoNY b/c it was the bank where I had the mortgage with.

Good luck!!!!!

Re: Anyone know anything about Home Equity loans?

With a line of credit the bank expects you to witthdraw a large sum in the beginning, and you can pay it all back whenever, though a loan sounds better

Kudo's for owning your home

Re: Anyone know anything about Home Equity loans?

Maybe a line of credit is better then b/c we want to pay back more than the payment when we can without penalty.

what are the major differences between them?

Re: Anyone know anything about Home Equity loans?

Fleet and Washington Mutual both have NO closing costs and that is major factor in an equity loan.
Make sure you check that out or factor those figures in when doing an equity loan. The rate is also fixed. I don't think either have pre-payment penalties either.
Many LOC are not fixed, but set when you USE the money.

Re: Anyone know anything about Home Equity loans?

Stef - I have notes at home. I'll Fm them tonight or tomorrow

I did a quick search and found this

A home equity loan, sometimes called a term loan, is a one-time lump sum that is paid off over a set amount of time, with a fixed interest rate and the same payments each month. Once you get the money, you cannot borrow further from the loan.

A home equity line of credit (HELOC) works more like a credit card. You are allowed to borrow up to a certain amount for the life of the loan -- a time limit set by the lender. During that time you can withdraw money as you need it. As you pay off the principal, your credit revolves and you can use it again. Let's say you have a $10,000 line of credit. You borrow $5,000, but then pay back $3,000 toward the principal. You now have $8,000 in available credit. This gives you more flexibility than a fixed-rate home equity loan.

Re: Anyone know anything about Home Equity loans?

I'm not sure how much help I can be, but my DH and I just started to look into this ourselves. I'll share what I've learned so far...
We went to the bank where we have our accounts, just for conveniece. After reading this thread I am going to check out the bank that holds our mortgage too.
At our bank the home equity loan had a higher interest rate. If I remember correctly significantly higher. With a loan you have a set monthly payment and a set interest rate, along with a set loan amount. If you're doing home improvements this mights be hard to predict.
The home equity line of credit works similar to a credit card. They approve you for a certain amount, depending on the equity you have and the amount you want to 'borrow'. You get checks to go along with your home equity line of credit that you can use for anything. There is a minimum monthly payment (like credit cards). You do have to agree to borrow a % of the total credit line or there is a penalty fee, and there are some stipulation of when you can pay it off without fees, but they weren't unreasonable. The interest rates for the home equity line of credit were variable at this bank. It's 1% for the first 4 months, and after that it's prime -.25.
Does that help at all??

Re: Anyone know anything about Home Equity loans?

we wanted the Line of credit to pay it back immediately

Re: Anyone know anything about Home Equity loans?

here is a good website to check the current rates and find out info.

Hope it helps!!

Bank Rates

Re: Anyone know anything about Home Equity loans?

Stef we just took out a home equity line of credit. We did it through the same company that has our mortgage since they were offering us a terrific rate. We have an adjustable rate, but you can get a fixed rate, although the interest is usually higher. With the adjustable we were able to choose to pay either just the interest on whatever money we draw or 1 1/2% of the outstanding balance. We chose to just pay the interest because we can pay whatever we want above that amount without penalty and it is applied directly to the principal. So even though we have the line of credit right now, we owe nothing because we haven't used it yet. Once we do use any portion we will then have to pay at least the interest on the amount that we used. We have a book of checks and can just write out a check when we need to access the account.

I hope this helps. Also I did not forget your question about my contractor. He is crazy busy and was just able to get back to me today. He is only licensed in Nassau and Suffolk so he would not be able to do the work for you. He said he does not a few people and might be able to get you a reference if you need one.