Home Improvement Loans
by Dan Lewis
Once you own a home, youll get the urge to make home improvements. Often, youll need a home improvement loan.
Home Improvement Loans
Whether youve lived in a home for years or just purchased it, youll get the urge to make improvements. Its a natural urge to want to redo bathrooms and kitchens or perhaps have a go at the landscape. Room additions are also popular, particularly if youre planning for an addition to the family. Room additions become extremely popular when you arent planning for a family addition, but have one coming anyway!
If youre going to make improvements, you are often going to need funds to make them. This is where home improvement loans come in. Such loans typically come in two forms, a home equity line of credit and a home improvement loan 2nd deed of trust.
Home equity lines of credits, known as HELOCs, are excellent options if you equity built up in the loan. Essentially, a lender will grant you a credit line equal to a percentage of the equity secured by a 2nd trust deed on the property. As you make improvements, you simply write checks off the line to cover the costs. Importantly, check with your tax professional to see if part or all of the repayment of the HELOC is tax deductible. Usually, youll get a significant write-off.
If youve just moved into the home and dont have much equity, you will want to look at a home improvement loan. As with the HELOC, a lender will issue you a loan in exchange for a 2nd trust deed on the property. The difference, however, is a lender will issue you a loan in excess of the home value, often to as much as 125 percent of the current appraised value. This gives you the cash necessary to make improvements even though you dont have much equity in the home.
Improving your home is a natural evolution of the ownership experience. Home improvement loans and home equity lines of credit give you the ability to realize your dreams.
Dan Lewis is with http://www.gwhomeloans.com - a San Diego mortgage brokers providing San Diego home loans. Visit http://www.gwhomeloans.com/services.html to learn more about options on San Diego mortgages from a San Diego mortgage broker company.
[/article1] [article2]Consolidate Debt With A Home Equity Loan
by Levetta Rivera
If you are a home owner who is having to borrow from Peter to pay Paul due to a mounting debt load, a debt consolidation home equity loan may be the answer. A debt consolidation loan will allow you to consolidate your high interest credit card and consumer loans into one low rate, affordable monthly payment.
A debt consolidation home equity loan is a secured loan. Your home will be used as collateral and the lender will have a lien on your home until the loan is paid off. None the less if you are drowning in a sea of debt, a debt consolidation loan can give you a new financial start. It can help you avoid bankruptcy as well as end harassing creditor phone calls. In addition, in most cases your monthly payment will be significantly lower freeing up cash that can be used for savings.
It is important that once you obtain your debt consolidation loan that you cut up your credit cards and close out the accounts. This will help you to avoid the temptation of running up another debt load on your newly paid-off credit cards. If this happens you can find yourself in a situation that is worse than before you consolidated your debt!
Another benefit of a home equity debt-consolidation loan is that the interest you pay on the loan may be tax deductible. You should consult your tax advisor regarding your particular situation but in most cases as long as the combined 1st mortgage and new debt consolidation loan do not exceed 100% of the value of your home the interest will be fully deductible.
For more information on home equity debt consolidation loans, or to compare rates and programs of home equity loan lenders visit http://www.equityloansource.com or http://www.badcreditloanshop.com
Levetta Rivera is a successful author and publisher of the following financial websites. http://www.equityloansource.com http://www.badcreditloanshop.com
[/article2] [article3]No Income Verification Home Equity Loan
by Levetta Rivera
A no income verification home equity loan is a second mortgage loan that does not require you to provide income documentation to qualify for the loan. This type of loan is great for homeowners who need a home equity loan but have hard to document income.
The majority of borrowers with hard to document income are either self-employed or commission based employees. Consumers who fall under these categories may have high income but have a lot of business related deductions that they write off on their taxes. This is good on the one hand as it reduces the taxable income and thus the amount of taxes owed, however, when it comes to getting a home loan it can hurt as most lenders use the average of your last 2 years taxable net income (the amount left after all of your deductions) to determine your income figure for qualifying purposes. This may cause you to have a debt to income ratio problem if you have a high debt load and thus keep you from qualifying for the loan. With a no income verification home equity loan, however, your gross income can be used for qualifying purposes as opposed to the net income.
In order to qualify for a no income verification home equity loan you will, in most cases, need good credit and a high credit score. Expect to pay a higher rate for this type of loan as opposed to a traditional loan in which you have to document your income. Also, even though a no income verification loan does not require you to document your income, some lenders may require that you have a certain dollar value of assets on hand which must be verified. Not all lenders have this requirement though - some lenders offer a program called NINA which stands for "no income no assets" meaning you do not have to document either. Loan guidelines and rates vary from lender to lender so it is a good idea to shop around to increase your chances of getting the best deal available to you.
For more information on no income verification home equity loans, or to compare rates and programs of home equity loan lenders visit http://www.equityloansource.com
Levetta Rivera is a successful mortgage broker and publisher of the following financial websites: http://www.equityloansource.com and http://www.militaryvaloan.com
[/article3] [article4]Home Equity Loan Line of Credit Vs. Other Conventional Loans
by John Ross
When it comes to getting money, you have two basic options. If you are a homeowner you can choose to take out a home equity line or credit (HELOC), or you can take out a conventional loan. Both of these products will provide you with the funds needed, but the similarities end there. With varying interest rates and repayment options, you have a wide array of choices. We will discuss the differences between these two options, and then decide on which one is best for the typical homeowner. Remember, that everyone's situation is different, so use your best judgment when choosing a loan product.
You may already be familiar with a traditional loan product. These are usually based on your credit rating and your ability to repay the loan. The lender will review your past tax returns, credit score, as well as your salary. They may also factor in your income potential in the near future, if you are currently enrolled in a higher education program or up for a promotion soon. The main benefit of such a loan is that you have little at stake if you fail to repay the loan. They may have the ability to garnish your wages or hurt your credit rating, but you will be able to keep your home. The main disadvantage to this type of loan is that you can expect to pay a much higher interest rate than that of a home equity loan. You may also find yourself unable to take out as much as you would with a HELOC.
A Home Equity Line of Credit is a completely different time of loan. The bank will determine the amount of equity that you currently have in your home (value of the home- amount of liens= equity). They will then allow you a credit line that is a percentage of your equity. You will likely receive checks or a bank card that will allow you to make withdrawals on your own schedule. You can borrow as little, or as much as you want as long as it is within your credit limit. You will then make monthly payments based on the balance of the loan. Most lines of credit will require a minimum payment to cover interest, but the actual payment amount is up to you. The process is very similar to that of a regular credit card, except that you have your home backing up your purchases. The main advantage to this type of loan is that you can usually enjoy a much lower interest rate, and pay as much or as little during the life of the loan. The main disadvantage is that if you fail to pay the balance off, you could lose your home. So it is important to only take out what you can repay.
Which one is better? It all depends on your personal situation. If you have had trouble in the past with credit cards and revolving credit, a HELOC could be a very dangerous thing. Maxing out your HELOC has a lot more at stake than maxing out a typical credit card. So it is important that you have your finances and budget in place, prior to taking out such a loan. If your credit is poor, a HELOC may give you options where a traditional loan would not. Bottom line; understand your situation and you should have no trouble deciding the right loan product for your needs.
John Ross is a freelance author, providing tips and ideas relating to home equity loans. You can find more of his articles at: www.loanchbox.com/ , www.loanchbox.com/online-home-equity-loans.html and www.loanchbox.com/fixed-rate-home-equity-loan.html The Loanchbox is a user friendly website designed to teach the basics behind home equity loans.
[/article4] [article5]Home equity loans: abusive lending and how to avoid it
by Dan Johnson
Home Equity loans were initially designed to allow individuals who had not yet paid off the full amount of their home, the ability to borrow against what portion of the home they had paid for. So for example, a couple who had been making monthly payments for many years on their 30 year lease, could use the money they had already put into their home as collateral when they needed a loan to send their child to college. So, while the initial intent of the loan is regarded by some as noble, in practice it has served as a free-for-all for unscrupulous lenders and other scam artists.
Explaining Sub-Prime Lending Home Equity Loans fall into a broad category known as sub-prime lending. Unlike prime lending, which is heavily regulated and offered to those living in good neighborhoods with fair to good credit, sub-prime lenders target those in bad neighborhoods with worse credit ratings. Because they offer loans to individuals who otherwise might have difficulty finding a loan, they were and are able to justify to the government the need to have greater free reign when it comes to setting the interest rates and finance charges associated with their loans.
This window, combined with the deep pockets of Home Equity Loan firms able to grease the campaigns of politicians, has prevented the industry from coming under the heavy scrutiny and regulation of prime lending. Consequently, what is seen in this industry is widely varying interest rates, and charges that are completely disproportionate with the risk incurred by the lending institution.
How to Protect Yourself For the investor interested in taking on a Home Equity Loan, there are a few measures which can be taken to radically diminish the chances of being taken advantage of. The first precautionary step is to request a copy of the loan a full week before you sign it. The lending institution is required by law, to provide you with a copy of the loan many days in advance of you signing it. It is a rather simple task to ask for the loan, and the lending institutions response often reveals much about the quality and legality of the loan. If the lending institution says, that either the loan paperwork is not yet ready, or otherwise fails to produce the paperwork inside of a week prior to the signing, you should walk on the loan.
The catch-22, and consequently the reason why Home Equity Lenders are able to take such advantage of borrowers, is that often they are facing foreclosure and desperately need the loan. While your need may be very real, signing a sub-standard loan will ultimately put you in far worse shape than you ever were before.
Recognizing the Hidden Charges The second, and potentially most important technique to prevent predatory lending, is to demand that all loan costs not be rolled into the APR, but be listed and paid by you up front. What predatory lenders do to entice individuals into taking a loan, is to soak up the equity in a home and offer you a small kickback on the side. So, taking the example of our couple above, let us imagine that they have $50,000 in equity in their $100,000 home and have a fixed mortgage rate of $650 a month. They then go to a Home Equity Lender who tells them that upon signing the loan they will get $20,000 in cash and their new interest rate will be $580 per month. What they do not tell the borrower is that they have also cashed out the other $30,000 dollars in equity and paid it to themselves in "refinancing fees." In addition, the new mortgage they receive may either be variable, meaning that as interest rates climb so will their new payment, or be back loaded, meaning that by the end of the loan the payments may reach $1,200 a month.
Can Home Equity Loans be useful? Yes, but only under ideal circumstances. By and large, they are a product designed by unethical lending companies to take advantage of those desperate for a little cash now. If you plan on applying for a Home Equity Loan, it is vital that you take the two steps outlined above as well as have an experienced independent third party go over the loan and its convoluted terms with you.
Dan Johnson enjoys writing about home equity loans.
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