Almost any given day of the week theres a good chance youll see at least one advertisement for a home equity loan on television. They are certainly growing in popularity. How do they work; however, and are there any benefits in them for you?
Basically a home equity loan allows you to borrow money using your home as collateral as long as you have paid down the original home loan so that you now have equity built up in the home. Lets say you originally bought the home for $100,000 and have paid that loan down to $75,000. The home has also appreciated in value and is now worth $125,000. You could potentially take out a home equity loan for $50,000.
There are definitely some advantages to home equity loans. One of the most important is that you can usually obtain a lower interest rate on a home equity loan than many other types of loans. In addition, even if you have problems with your credit, you can probably still qualify for a home equity loan because youre using the equity youve built up in your home as collateral. In addition, the interest you pay on the loan is typically tax deductible. Finally, unlike other types of loans in which you may only be able to...