Home Equity Loan Types Application and Basics

May 20th, 2008 posted by Tips Expert

Home Equity Loan Introduction

Home equity loan is really about needing money to pay other bills or sometimes quick needs. We are talking about big money here when we talk of home equity loan like the kind of money that can pay for medical bills, home renovation and repair, school bills and more. In the process of a home equity loan application, the borrower will need to use the equity to which a collateral, in this case, a house, equates. There are two types of home equity loans, namely the open end home equity loan and the closed end home equity loan and each have its own identity, qualities and requirements before any application may be entertained by the home equity lender or the home equity lending company.

2 Types of Home Equity Loan

  • Closed end home equity loan - This type of home equity loan is what is usually called as the traditional loan. To some professionals in the home equity loan business it is commonly known as the second mortgage. In this type of loan however, the borrower will only receive the full loan amount at the closing of the loan where the loan payment is in a monthly basis. There is a fixed computation of the monthly payments to be made by the borrower while the duration of the equity loan full payment is usually set at a period of 10-15 years.
  • Open end home equity loan - This type of home equity loan is the flexible type. Unlike the closed end home equity loan, the borrower will instead of the borrower getting a lump-sum amount of the loan in full get a line of credit. Also, with an open end home equity loan, any borrower has the privilege to choose how much money he or she wants to borrow based on the home’s equity. It is also the borrower who sets the time when he or she wants to borrow money while the interest rate in this type of home equity loan is variable.

Home Equity Loan Basics

Simple as it may seem, home equity loans, just like any other loans are really simple, less the unnecessary issues where mostly a borrower is involved. Generally, a home equity loan is a loan that may be secured against the equity value of any home. The home equity is where the lenders measure the equity amount of your home and this is determined by computing at how much of the mortgage remains and what the current market value of the whole property has.

Home Equity Allowable Loan Amount

Many home equity loan lending companies would allow higher home equity loan value that may reach up to 75% of your home’s equity if there are no other cases or problems with your papers if you are the borrower. The loan may run from 10 - 15 years and at times up to 25 years as I’ve mentioned above in the introduction just like the interest rates would also fall in.

Purpose, Payment Terms and Conditions

In most cases, a home equity loan may also be considered as your second mortgage because even if you are in pending mortgage, it is allowed for you to get a second loan which is the home equity loan. Also this is because just like the mortgage, it will be paid in the same manner and in the same way. There are many purposes for a home equity loan aside from what I have mentioned above. There is also a very rare case where it is intended for use as debt consolidation scheme.

The fact that the increase in bad credit status has emerged a primary concern for home equity loan lenders and lending companies, the home equity loan has become a pronounced product as debt consolidation for curing bad credit status. As a Debt consolidation product, it became popular since it’s payment program would take time that favors debt consolidation problems.

Home Equity Loan for Bad Credit

Since the primary concern of the person with bad credit is the long term distribution of payments, it therefore becomes easy for them to fish out of bad credit as time passes by provided that they pay on time and in the right amount which is actually never that hard to maintain with home equity loans. Most of the banks then would be very happy with this situation where they have the chance to exchange unsecured debt for secured debt and this is a big favor in their business part. Security is always a primary concern after all and that can be had in the equity of your home.

Home equity loan have its ups and downs and it is really all up to you to grab it. I can only warn you however that if you fail to pay on the right time and according to the agreement, it can cost you to loose your property, so the secret here is really not a secret after all. Pay your loan and you will be paid back in return for doing so. It has its uses for some people so there really is no place for wasting this chance.

U.S. States Availability of home equity loans below:

AL - Montgomery, Alabama Alabama
AK - Juneau, Alaska Alaska
AZ - Phoenix, Arizona Arizona
AR - Little Rock, Arkansas Arkansas
CA - Sacramento, California California
CO - Denver, Colorado Colorado
CT - Hartford, Connecticut Connecticut
DE - Dover, Delaware Delaware
FL - Tallahassee, Florida Florida
GA - Atlanta, Georgia Georgia
HI - Honolulu, Hawaii Hawaii
ID - Boise, Idaho Idaho State
IL - Springfield, Illinois Illinois
IN - Indianapolis, Indiana Indiana
IA - Des Moines, Iowa Iowa
KS - Topeka, Kansas Kansas
KY - Frankfort, Kentucky Kentucky
LA - Baton Rouge, Louisiana Louisiana
ME - Augusta, Maine Maine
MD - Annapolis, Maryland Maryland
MA - Boston, Massachusetts Massachusetts
MI - Lansing, Michigan Michigan
MN - St. Paul, Minnesota Minnesota
MS - Jackson, Mississippi Mississippi
MO - Jefferson City, Missouri Missouri
MT - Helena, Montana Montana
NE - Lincoln, Nebraska Nebraska
NV - Carson City, Nevada Nevada
NH - Concord, New Hampshire New Hampshire
NJ - Trenton, New Jersey New Jersey
NM - Santa Fe, New Mexico New Mexico
NY - Albany, New York New York
NC - Raleigh, North Carolina North Carolina
ND - Bismarck, North Dakota North Dakota
OH - Columbus, Ohio Ohio
OK - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma
OR - Salem, Oregon Oregon
PA - Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania
RI - Providence, Rhode Island Rhode Island
SC - Columbia, South Carolina South Carolina
SD - Pierre, South Dakota South Dakota
TN - Nashville, Tennessee Tennessee
TX - Austin, Texas Texas
UT - Salt Lake City, Utah Utah
VT - Montpelier, Vermont Vermont
VA - Richmond, Virginia Virginia
WA - Olympia, Washington Washington
WV - Charleston, West Virginia West Virginia
WI - Madison, Wisconsin Wisconsin
WY - Cheyenne, Wyoming Wyoming