Why Choose A Home Equity Loan?

There are many reasons for choosing a home equity loan. A home equity loan allows homeowners to obtain a loan in addition to their original loan using the equity in their home. Home equity loans are generally a second mortgage, and are used for personal use.

Home equity loans are also known as equity release schemes. Home equity loans are aimed mainly at those homeowners that have paid their mortgages off. They can receive a cash lump sum or some income by unlocking that capital.

People take out a home equity loan for a variety of reasons. Some people do it in order to finance home improvements, buy a new car, consolidate their debts or go on holiday. Others may want to receive a regular income source so that they can pay for residential care, or just the cost of care.

Home equity loans have fixed rates with longer terms, over a fixed period of time. Home equity loans can be ideal for longer-term financial goals because you receive the amount of money you borrow in one lump sum. A home equity line of credit is similar to a credit card, where you may regularly use it up to your credit limit.

One of the premium features of a home equity line of credit is that the interest rate is typically lower than that of a credit card.

A Home Equity Loan will usually mean that you get better interest rates, but you should always remember that your house is at risk if you fail to repay the Home Equity Loan.

The amount you can borrow with a Home Equity Loan depends on the amount of equity in your property. Equity is the market value of your property minus any outstanding mortgage or loans you have on it.

People with poor credit ratings will find a Home Equity Loan more easily accessible to them because the lender is taking a lot less risk themselves. Home equity loans are also beneficial for people with a poor credit rating. A lot of traditional lenders categorise such people as "high-risk". Home equity loans for such borrowers don't pose any risk as in case the borrower defaults on the repayments, the lender can sell the house to reclaim the money from the available equity.

Here are some of the benefits of a home equity loan:

A Home Equity Loan is an easy and manageable route to generating extra cash.

Using Home Equity Loan for debt consolidation means that with one single payment each month, you have more control over your monthly budget.

With a remortgage you have the same expenses you do when taking on a mortgage: surveys, valuation, mortgage indemnity and solicitors fees to pay. With Home Equity Loan you have none of this, making it easier to arrange.

Repayment period on Home Equity Loan can be anything from 5 - 25 years.

You can use Home Equity Loan for any purpose - for example, debt consolidation, home improvements, buying a car or going on holiday.

Protected payment plans for Home Equity Loan can provide extra peace of mind.

Always consider your options carefully, as your home is at risk if you do not keep up repayments on a mortgage or other loans secured on it.


About the Author:

John Mussi is the founder of Direct Online Loans who help UK homeowners find the best available loans via the www.directonlineloans.co.uk website.
Source: www.isnare.com

Why Get a Home Equity Loan?

If you're a homeowner, chances are that you've been deluged with offers from finance companies to lend you money based on the equity you have invested in your home. A home equity loan is a loan extended to you that is secured by your home. The amount of the loan is based on how much 'equity' you have invested in your home. The basic explanation of 'equity' is 'the difference between your home's value and how much you still owe on the mortgage'.

In other words, if you bought your home for $125,000 and put $20,000 down on it, financing $105,000, then your equity in your home on the day that you close the deal is $20,000. Now imagine several years pass. You've paid off $15,000 toward your mortgage - but at the same time, the value of your house has increased to $175,000. Your equity in your home is now $85,000: $175,000 (your home's current value) - $90,000 (the amount you still owe on your home) = $85,000.

A home equity loan allows you to turn the equity you have in your home into cash by borrowing money and using your home as collateral to insure that you'll repay it. If you default on the loan, the bank or housing agency can force the sale of your home to recover its money.

There are many reasons that people apply for home equity loans, though most fall into a few broad categories. The reason for taking out a home equity loan will often determine what kind of loan you apply for.

Debt Consolidation

By far one of the biggest reasons that homeowners apply for a home equity loan is to consolidate their debts. If you have outstanding debt to several different creditors at several different interest rates, it's often to your benefit to consolidate all those loans. To do that, you can take out a home equity loan for the amount that you owe on all your debts together - or more - then use that money to pay off all your outstanding debts in full. By doing that, you trade writing several checks each month for writing one check, which is often less than the amount that you've been paying on all of the debts combined. This is because you're also trading in the higher interest rates on your credit cards and loans for a lower interest rate on one loan. Chances are that you've also set a fixed time to pay back that loan, most often 15 years, though it could be as little as five or as much as thirty.

Home Improvements

If you want to make improvements or repairs to your home, it only makes sense to get the money OUT of your home to do it. Home improvements are one of the top five reasons that homeowners give for taking out home equity loans. If the reason for making improvements is to increase the home's value or prepare it for a sale, then you should definitely take a look at the home improvements that return the most on your investment. In many cases, when the reason for taking out a home equity loan is to pay for home improvements, the homeowner applies for a home equity line of credit rather than a flat out loan.

Weddings, Vacations and College

Special events like weddings and vacations are the third most popular reason for taking out a home equity loan. For a wedding or other special event, where there will be multiple payments made to different merchants, a home equity line of credit is often a better choice than a lump sum home equity loan.

About the Author
Joseph Kenny is the webmaster of the loan information sites http://www.selectloans.co.uk/ and also http://www.ukpersonalloanstore.co.uk.

Your Auto Financing Options

You've found the car that makes your heart race by 120 beats per minute. Now only one thing stands between you and the car of your dreams: financing the buy. In a perfect world, you'd pay the total price in cash without blinking. But if you're comparable to the seven out of ten car and truck buyers who don't exist in a perfect world, chances are you'd be paying for your car by way of one of several financing schemes.

Understanding the basics of each car financing choice is key to choosing the automobile financing strategy that best suits your position. Here is an overview of auto financing options that may be obtainable to you.

Auto Loans from Lending Institutions

You can get a car loan from a bank, credit union, or other lending institutions. The car that you buy will serve as collateral for the auto loan. This means that the lender can repossess your automobile if you default on the car loan. Auto loans are a popular car financing option because they on average offer reasonable interest rates and are rather uncomplicated to get.

Two factors are likely to affect the total cost of the car loan. One is the term or duration of the loan. On average, the longer the term of the loan, the lower your monthly installment will be. But you'll end up paying additional towards interest and this will increase the total expenditure of the auto loan. If you can afford it, get a short-term loan. Your monthly installment will be higher, but you'll be paying less money over all. The second factor that may affect the total cost of your car loan is your credit rating. Creditors with less-than-stellar credit history are commonly charged a higher interest rate because of the elevated credit risk.

Dealer Financing

Like traditional auto loans, dealer financing is reasonably effortless to get. Most dealerships keep relationships with several lending institutions, so they can arrange car loans even for car buyers with blemished credit histories. To compete with standard bank loans, most dealerships offer zero percent or extremely low interest on dealer loans. Still, such loans are available to car buyers with stellar credit ratings. Customer experts advise car buyers to get pre-approved on an auto loan from a bank or credit union before approaching the dealership for possible financing. By getting loan pre-approval from another lending establishment, a car buyer gets the upper hand when bargaining for a lower rate on a dealer loan.

Home Equity Loans and Home Equity Lines of Credit

If you own a house and have accumulated considerable equity on your property, then you may consider getting a home equity loan or a home equity line of credit. Home equity loans are fixed or adjustable rate loans that you repay over a set time. Home equity lines of credit are open-ended, adjustable-rate revolving loans with a maximum credit limit based on the equity of your residence. Home equity loans incline to have lower interest rates than credit cards and other types of individual loans. Interest payments on home equity loans may also be tax-deductible up to a certain extent. Home equity loans and home equity lines of credit use your home as collateral, so be sure you are financially qualified of paying the monthly installments if you don't want run the risk of losing your home.

Credit Cards

A credit card advance or credit card draft from your credit card company can assist you drive your dream car home. Like home equity lines of credit, credit card advances or credit card drafts are revolving lines of credit with variable interest rates. To entice existing customers to avail themselves of credit card drafts, credit card companies forgo cash-advance fees, assure low rates during the initial term of the loan, or offer high credit limits. However, because credit card drafts are unsecured, they generally have higher interest rates than home equity loans, traditional auto loans or dealer loans. Financing your auto purchase through credit cards could also leave you vulnerable to hefty penalty charges if you make a late payment or surpass your credit limit.



About the Author:

Brennan Howe is webmaster of http://carbuy.freeinfosites.com where you can find extensive car buying advice.

Source: www.isnare.com