People tap into their home equity for a variety of reasons, with the two most common reasons being consolidating debts and making home improvements. The question is whether you should take out a home
equity loan (second mortgage) or a home equity line of credit (HELOC). Each has its benefits and drawbacks.
Some of the advantages of both home equity loans and home equity lines include lower interest rates and potential tax savings, and both offer interest only payment options in case you are short on cash. With a home equity loan, you get a lump sum at the beginning of the loan that you start paying back immediately. A HELOC gives you a revolving, variable interest rate credit line that you don’t start paying back until you start using the line of credit.
According to the Federal Reserve, home equity lines of credit annual percentage rates (APRs) are based solely on a publicly available index (such as the prime rate published in the Wall Street Journal or a U.S. Treasury bill rate). However, it is an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) loan. With rising interest rates, they’ve gotten a lot more expensive, doubling to 8 percent in the past three years.
The Federal Reserve states that APR for traditional second mortgage loan takes into account the interest rate charged plus points and other finance charges. However, because you are paying a fixed home equity rate instead of a variable rate, your payments will be the same throughout the life of the loan, which makes financial planning because the payments won’t fluctuate with interest rate changes.
Which loan you choose depends on your individual financial circumstances. A HELOC can be useful for people who need fluctuating amounts of money to pay recurring expenses or a short-term financial backup plan, but may not be the best choice for someone interested in long-term debt consolidation or someone who needs a set amount for a specific purpose, such as a home addition.
Maria Ny is an experienced free-lance writer. She writes articles covering a broad range of subjects ranging from Bankruptcy Reform, Credit Repair to mortgage refinancing. Check out her informative articles online at Nationwide Home Equity Loans.
To learn more and get accurate rates quotes 2nd mortgages and home equity loans from loan professionals online please visit the loan resource center at Second Mortgage Loans or check out Home Equity Lines.
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Good Question? Yes, rising interest rates is a consideration, but so are some other things that might be even more important depending on your situation and your overall goals. Here are some things to consider from a situation that came up recently.
The goal in the example is to get the mortgage paid off within 5 years. The interest rate is only one of the technical considerations. Many people make decisions based on these technical details that are out of our control. Yes, managed, but not controlled.
The best way to stay in control and confident is to remember your primary goal and your reasons for choosing the product and terms you did in the first place. It is also important to know your exit plan - ie. when do you abandon the current program?
All this is not to say don’t lock in; rather, don’t make the decision based on fear of interest rates rising. In the case of mortgages, a good mortgage broker will consider your financial planning goals and present you with solutions that will meet those goals. In the example above the goals are: to be mortgage free before retiring from work, to maintain flexibility of payment while still considering new work, being confident in your decision based on different outside influences (i.e. interest rate).
Your broker will also present you with the pros and cons of switching in the context of your financial goals and current financial situation. There are costs, time, etc. that all come into the picture.
Before a meeting with your financial advisor or mortgage broker, it is helpful to know what your top monthly mortgage payment could be; what your time frame for payout is (in months) and other considerations and factors that could affect your payment plans. Some examples here could be different work, and therefore different income where you might be able to make higher or not as high payments, or possible lump sums of money that could be applied to the mortgage, or even the need for extra cash in the case of an emergency or terrific opportunity.
There is a lot to consider. This is why the expertise of a financial planning professional is so valuable, because getting focused too much on the rate of return before everything else will not help you stay in control or make decisions that are supportive of the bigger picture. This is the same approach you need to take with your investments: consider the bigger picture, goals, current needs, etc. first, then work your way toward considering the interest rate.
Copyright© 2006 Tracy Piercy
MoneyMinding
Tags: CFP, financial planning, interest rate, lock in mortgage, moneyminding, mortgage rates, Tracy PiercyCFP, financial planning, interest rate, lock in mortgage, moneyminding, mortgage rates, Tracy PiercyShare This