What You Need to Know About Using Home Equity to Borrow Money

Written by Posted On Friday, 07 December 2018 09:55

Borrowing money by using home equity is nothing new, but many people are still misinformed about what they need to know about how to do it. Tapping your home equity for a loan is easier to get an approval of than trying to get other types of loans. Below are further details on this.

Computing Your Home Equity

Your home equity is the value that you own in your home. The more money you pay for your mortgage, the larger your home equity gets and the easier it will be to qualify for loans that use home equity as collateral. Your home equity can also get larger if real estate prices rise in your area. This is because home equity is computed as the difference between your home’s current market value minus the money you still owe in your mortgage.

Computing your home equity means that you have to get your home appraised to have an idea about the current market value. You need details on how much you’ve paid in total as well because the more information you have, the easier it will be for you to apply for a home equity loan.

Getting a Home Equity Loan

A home equity loan is a loan that is secured by your home equity. You will be lent a certain amount by the lender based on the value of your home equity as well as your perceived ability to pay. Below are 3 common types of home equity loans and some information about them.

  • Mortgage Refinance means that you’ll negotiate a new contract with your lender after breaking your first mortgage contract. You may need to pay a penalty fee for your first mortgage but you’ll gain access to as much as 80% of your home equity. This can be helpful if you have a big expense coming up and you’re confident that you can take advantage of better interest rates to pay off this new loan.
  • A HELOC or a Home Equity Line of Credit is a revolving line of credit tied to a set value of your home equity. With a HELOC, you can access as much as 65-80% of your home equity at one time or little by little as needed. You can pay off a small amount and borrow again over and over just like what you do with a credit card as long as you pay the minimum payment required per month. A HELOC also has a lower interest rate than a second mortgage so if you’re looking for flexibility and a better interest rate, a HELOC could be for you.
  • A Second Mortgage is another loan that you apply for on top of your primary mortgage. By getting a Second Mortgage, you need to make sure that you’re able to pay off 2 mortgages at once. This can be a burden for those who are financially struggling but an advantage for those who just need access to a large amount of money as a lump sum.

Know that by applying for any type of home equity loan means that you’ll be using your home as collateral for a loan. Contact us if you have questions or if you need help assessing which home equity loan you should get and need help borrowing money.

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Danny Papadopoulis

Homebase Mortgages is a leading Toronto mortgage broker, which specializes in all types of mortgages ranging from home equity loans, second mortgages, private mortgages, bad credit lending and more.

https://www.homebasemortgages.ca/

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