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In simple terminology, a home equity loan is a loan taken against your house. A home equity loan is also called a mortgage or a second mortgage. Another synonym for home equity loan is equity release schemes.

While taking a home equity loan you are actually borrowing the worth of your house. If the house is completely owned by you, then the term used for home equity loan is “mortgage”, otherwise if your house is not fully paid off but has equity, it is called a “second mortgage”. From now on we will use one term for both to facilitate better understanding. We will call them Home Equity Loans.

A home equity loan is an extra loan that you take against your home in addition to your mortgage; hence this is called a second mortgage. This enables a home owner to encash equity without refinancing the first mortgage. Most people are under the impression that the only way to raise cash is by selling their homes. However reality differs and factually one can take a second mortgage to free up the first mortgage also.

Equity is the difference between the amount you owe on your current home mortgage and the current value of your home.  Furthering this definition, suppose you sell your home, the amount of cash left in your pocket after paying off the mortgage is called Equity. This equity when taken as a loan from a lender, without actually selling your home comes to be known as home equity loan.

Many lenders or loan companies allow you to borrow bigger amounts calculated by subtracting the balances of outstanding mortgages from 125% of the market value of your home. However the actual equity is the difference between appraised worth of your home and the balances of your outstanding mortgages.

There is no bar on how you can use the home equity loan. You can use it for any purposes as it suits you. A home equity loan is usually a one-time fixed interest rate loan, which is paid out at one go.

The rates of interest or the cost of the loan will depend on options you choose viz. the term of the loan and the amount; of course another important factor has always been your credit rating. The longer the term of the loan, the more you pay out as interest, also if the amount is more, the more interest you pay.

As always with any liabilities one undertakes certain words of caution are advised. Check all your options thoroughly before making a decision. Choose the amount carefully and take only what you need and specify the term which you think would be comfortable for you to repay in. No point accumulating liabilities in exchange for spending on pleasures or acquiring unnecessary assets.

Home equity loans are easily accessible to people with poor or bad credit rating since the lender is taking a lesser risk as the loan is secured against their home.

A Home Equity Loan usually means that you get the best interest rates on the loan, i.e. you get the loan at a lesser cost compared to other loans because of assured security, but one should always remember that the house is at risk lest you fail to repay the Home Equity Loan.

Owning a house is the Greatest American Dream. Additionally, having a house to save you from monetary needs adds up to the benefits of owning the greatest American dream.

You have tightened your belt during the time you are saving for your house. Now, that you have enough equity in that property, you may loosen up a bit by making use of your equity through Home Equity Line of Credit.

Home Equity Line of Credit or HELOC, can help you in myriad of financial necessities. It can help you have a fund when you need it and for whatever purpose you may need it.

Although, you should be careful because putting your house as collateral may cause you to loose your house if you fail to pay your debt. This should make you think many times before you embark on taking money through home equity line of credit.

However, if your purpose of taking out money by means of home equity line of credit is to pay for medical bills or children’s college education, these expenses are inevitable.  Thus, taking out money by means of home equity line of credit can be your best bet.

Additionally, if you want to consolidate your debt, HELOC or home equity line of credit may also be beneficial. This is because compared to credit cards and other unsecured credit facilities, the interest rate in a home equity line of credit is somewhat smaller. Another benefit of this means of taking out money is that consumer credits interests are tax deductible.

However, having said the benefits you may have from acquiring a credit through home equity line of credit, you may also need to look at the possible consequences if you fail to pay your debt.

The most important consideration is the possibility of loosing your house to pay off the debt.

It is thus recommendable that while you are considering the flexibility of a credit line, if you need a lump sum fund, you may consider taking out a Home Equity Loan instead. This is because in a home equity loan, you pay the interest and part of the principal debt regularly.

This is in contrast to the variable interest rate that applies in a home equity line of credit. Additionally, in a home equity credit line, your payments balloons at the end when you need to pay the principal amount of debt.

The flexibility of the home equity line of credit extends up to paying only the interests and paying the entire principal loan at the end of the term.

This makes it quite hard, and if you are not ready for such balloon payment, the risk of loosing your house is intrinsic in this case.

This is the reason why financial experts recommend that before you sign any contract that puts your house as collateral, you may need to scrutinize yourself a bit.

• Will you need the money lump sum? Ask about Home Equity Loan.
• Do you need fund periodically? Ask about Home Equity Line of Credit.

Consider also asking for payments terms, interest rates and what conditions will make the lender consider you in default. These questions once answered may help you realize if putting your house as collateral is the best solution to your monetary needs.

There are other credit facilities, for this reason, you may need to do your research first before deciding.

Various debt management websites can help you understand the eccentricities of financial management that will help you avoid loosing your most precious asset.

Home Equity Lines of Credit, or HELOCs, are open-ended, revolving loans that allow future advances up to the approved credit limit. Much like credit cards, they offer cash when it is needed with flexible payment options during the draw period. The draw period of a Home Equity Line of Credit is the amount of time the line of credit is open for, usually ten years, after which the balance must be paid.

Advances taken out during this draw period may have small monthly payments in which only minimal amounts are paid toward the principle with the rest of the payment going to accrued interest, or interest only payments may be made. At the end of the draw period, many plans have balloon payments in which the monthly payments will drastically increase to cover the rest of the balance due or the entire balance may be due immediately. There are plans that offer repayment of the Home Equity Line of Credit loan over a fixed period of time after the draw period has ended.

Interest of Home Equity Lines of Credit is usually variable and tied to the Prime Lending Rate, the rate in which most major banks charge their largest and most credit worthy customers. These variable rates usually have a cap to limit how high of an interest rate can be charged and some have limits as to how low the interest rate can get. Variable rates are subject to quarterly adjustment though some plans offer a fixed interest rate. The interest paid on Home Equity Lines of Credit is only paid when the funds are used and is usually tax deductible.

Like Home Equity Loans, Home Equity Lines of Credit have fees that may be charged for taking out the loan. Some plans call for one-time; up front fees while others have annual fees. Plans that offer low monthly payments during the draw period may require a balloon payment at the end of the loan period requiring the entire remaining balance to be paid. Other fees can also apply such as appraisal fee, credit check fee, and closing costs. The Federal Truth in Lending Act protects the borrower by requiring the lender to inform the borrower of all costs and terms when the application is given.

California residence taking out a Home Equity Line of Credit have the option of whether or not to allow outside and affiliate companies to have access to their private financial information. Through the California Financial Information Privacy Act, the lender can only disclose financial information about California residences with other companies if it is mandatory in securing the loan. Any other use of the information is at the borrowers’ discretion.