Do you know what a 125 home equity loan is? I’m sure you know all about traditional home equity loans where you can borrow money using the equity in your home as collateral for the loan. These home equity loans provide many people with cash for a wide range of uses. Of course there are other types of equity loans besides the traditional home equity loan, and the 125 home equity loan is one of these options. A 125 home equity loan lets you get even more cash than usual based on the equity in your home.

Let me first define what equity is. Your home equity is quite simply the difference in what you owe the bank still and the value of your home. For example, if your home is valued at $300,000 and you still owe $150,000 to the mortgage company then you have $150,000 in equity. One nice benefit is that in a rising real estate market you gain additional equity simply through the rise in your homes value.

Traditional Home Equity Loans vs. 125 Home Equity Loans

In a traditional home equity loan you are offered a loan that does not exceed the amount of equity present in your home. So, if you have $25,000 in equity you’re able to get a loan for $25,000. This loan can be used to pay for anything you want from home improvements to education or even a vacation if you choose.

The difference between the traditional home equity loan and a 125 home equity loan is in the amount you can borrow. With a 125 home equity loan you can borrow up to 125% of the present equity value in your home. In this case if you have $25,000 equity in your home you would be offered a loan of $31,250. In the past many lenders would shy away from this type of loan since part of it is unsecured and increases their risk. These days however more and more lenders, especially online lenders are offering 125 home equity loans. If you’re thinking of applying for this type of loan you should know that a high credit score will help you greatly in getting approved.

125 Home Equity Loan Warning

The 125 home equity loan is especially suited for those who need access to a large amount of money. If you are thinking of using the money to start a business or take on a large home improvement project a 125 home equity loan could meet your needs quite well.

Keep in mind that as long as home values continue to rise or at least stay stagnant you’re in little danger from this type of equity loan. However, if your home value declines your equity will decline as well and you could actually end up owing more than your home is worth.

It really depends on your needs and circumstances to determine how much sense a 125 home equity loan makes for you. As I said previously, it can be very useful for those starting a business, particularly if you expect the business to have good cash flow. It is also useful for large home improvements since they are likely to increase your home’s value and also your equity. Just be careful that you don’t overextend yourself when taking a 125 home equity loan.



Thanks to Steven Walters for contributing this article to our Equity blog:

Home Equity Refinance

Ever feel lost when people talk about subjects like a home equity loan? It certainly does sound something like what you would hear on a business news show. But for every homeowner or someone considering property purchase, home equity is an important concept to grasp. It really isn’t very complicated either. Therefore, piror to understanding a home equity loan, let’s first talk about home equity.

What is home equity?

Equity can simply be understood as the monetary value of something you own after you deduct the amount of outstanding loan you have on it. For example, if your house is worth $200,000 and you owe your finance company $50,000, then the equity of your home would be $150,000. So basically, the more loans you clear on your home the greater equity it will have. A surge in the real estate market and prices of property also helps in adding on to your home equity.

What is a home equity loan?

Now that you have an idea of what a home equity is, let’s get into a home equity loan. Simply put, it is the process of taking a second mortgage on your home. For example, if your have recently bought a house for $200,000 on mortgage, a home equity loan will allow you to secure a second mortgage of 25% of your first mortgage, which would be $25,000 in this case. Depending on the lender, one may even be given as much as 80% of the original mortgage for their second mortgage.

Six key aspects to consider

1. First of all, issue a home equity loan only if you must. It is always better to not have any additional loans than the one you already posses.

2. If you do feel you need to secure a home equity loan, then you will generally need to have a great credit score since this loan is mostly given to those who are considered “qualified borrowers,” i.e. those who have a good track record of paying back on time what they have borrowed.

3. Keep in mind that apart from the credit score, your home itself will also be on the line as collateral with the lender. So defaulting on your loan could result in losing your home.

4. One good advantage of a home equity loan is the fact that the interest rate is generally lower than those of credit cards. So if you do need to borrow money through a credit card for something large, then this would be a less expensive option. But make sure you do a proper comparison of the cost of borrowing money with other options that you might have.

5. The interest you pay on your home equity loan is also tax deductible, which can be a huge benefit when you are cash strapped. But there are limitations to this, so look into it carefully.

6. Shop around. Don’t jump into the first option you see on being issued a home equity loan. Find out how you can get the best interest rate (fixed or adjustable) and read the fine print on your withdrawal limit.



Thanks to Alan Lim for contributing this article to our Equity blog:

Reverse Equity Mortgage

Research result shows that credit card debt is the main debt problem for most of debtors. Credit card carries high interest rate, if you continue delay your credit card payment or continue to pay only the minimum due amount, it will quickly roll up the total debt and drag you into a serious debt trap. Hence, credit card debt must be resolved fast to avoid making your debt situation worse. If you have build up your home equity, you are at a good position to get your debt issue resolve by consolidating your credit card debt and other high interest debt with your home equity.

Why consolidate debt using your home equity?

There are at least 3 good reasons to consolidate all your debt with home equity:

1. Lower interest rate. As compare to other loan, home equity loan is comparatively much lower that other loans, which make it easier to be paid off. If you continue repay the same amount you pay now and the interest rate has been lower, meaning that you pay more toward the principal and making your debt to be paid off faster.

2. The interest of your home equity loan is tax-deductible; you save on interest pay for home equity loan from the tax-deduction.

3. Lower monthly payment. If you find hardship repaying your current debt repayment, then selecting longer repayment term with a home equity loan will help to lower the monthly payment so a level that is affordable by your current financial situation. Be aware that by taking long period of loan term, you will be paying more in total interest.

Consolidation Debt Using Home Equity

There are three ways to consolidation debt using home equity: Cash-out Refinance, Home Equity Loan and Home Equity Line Of Credit.

Cash-out Refinance

In this method, you are getting a new mortgage with the amount high than your current mortgage and use it to pay off your current mortgage and have enough balance to clear your credit card debt. For example, your existing mortgage still remains $100,000 and you owe credit card debt of $12,000; you will need to refinance your existing mortgage to get $112,000 of new loan to pay off your existing mortgage plus the credit card debt.

Home Equity Loan

Home equity loan is a second mortgage which you use you home equity to pledge for a loan. For example, your home market value is $150,000 and you still owe for a mortgage of $100,000; this means you have a home equity equal to $50,000. You can apply for a home equity loan up to the value of home equity, in this case is $50,000. But normally, lenders will only approve a home equity loan up to 80-85% of your home equity.

Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)

Credit card has credit limit so do the home equity line of credit, the difference between these two is home equity line of credit use your home equity as the revolving line of credit. Based on your home equity, lenders will pre-approves you with a credit limit where you can withdraw the amount up to that credit limit. . In the home equity line of credit, interest only count on the amount being draws out.

What You Should Not Do With Your Home Equity

Although home equity is a good option to resolve your debt issue, but you will put your home at risk if you default the home equity loan repayment. Hence, don’t get the loan up to the maximum value of you home equity can provide you because you are adding more debt into your account by doing that. Use your home equity to apply for loan that enough to repay your consolidated debt. And remember to repay the home equity loan on time so that you won’t lose you home because of foreclosure.

In Summary

You can always convert home equity to pay off your consolidated high interest debts and save with lower interest and lower monthly repayment. But be aware for the risk of losing your home if you fail to make repayment. Hence, you need to put your repayment plan in place to ensure you won’t miss any repayment schedule of your home equity loan.



Thanks to Cornie Herring for contributing this article to our Equity blog:

Mortgage Refinance Rates

Can you answer thebill’s question about Equity?:

I produce videos for a startup company. I get paid after each finished project. Recently, I got offered to some "equity" but the catch is that my regular paycheck will be reduced. I have an idea what equity actually is but not quite sure how it works. I basically get a certain percentage of the company right and hope the company grows?

I guess my main question is what should I ask the company or what do I need to know before I sign the papers. What’s a good offer and what’s a bad one? Thanks.

Reverse Equity Mortgage

What is Home Equity?

Your home equity is the appraised value remaining in your home after you subtract the remaining balance you owe on your existing home mortgage(s). It can be thought of as the part of the home you actually own instead of the bank: the part you’ve paid for so far.

It isn’t difficult to build equity in your home, and chances are if you’ve owned your home for a while and have been making your regular mortgage payments, you probably have built a considerable amount of home equity already. Though the housing market rises and falls in cycles, the overall tendency is consistently upward. In other words, property values tend to rise over the long term.

How Can Home Equity Be Used?

Once you have equity in your home, you can start to use it to fund nearly anything you want or need. Having equity in your home puts you in a powerful position, as you can use that equity to qualify for credit and borrow money. Buy a new car, take that dream vacation, fund a college education, make renovations and improvements to your home. Whether to pay for an emergency or finance a dream, there are two primary ways to tap into the wellspring that is your home equity: a home equity loan and a home equity line of credit.

What Are Home Equity Interest Rates Like?

A good question to ask before borrowing money from any source is: how much is it going to cost in the long run? Because your home is being used as collateral on the home equity loan or home equity line of credit, the risk for the lender is considerably lower, and therefore interest rates on home equity loans and home equity lines of credit are usually lower than the average interest rate on a credit card.

Home equity loans and home equity lines of credit are, however, usually higher than the interest rate on the average fixed rate mortgage. And in general, home equity loans usually have lower interest rates than home equity lines of credit.

What Are Some of the Other Benefits of Home Equity?

As if borrowing money weren’t advantage enough, home equity offers a bevy of other benefits as well, including:

* tax advantages (in many cases, interest paid on home equity loans and lines of credit are tax deductible)

* you can use equity to build more equity (if you tap into home equity to make improvements to your home, you raise your home’s value, thereby building more equity)

* debt consolidation (you can use it to pay off higher priced loans or debt)



Thanks to Somerset Mortgage Lenders for contributing this article to our Equity blog:

Reverse Equity Mortgage