Refinancing Your Home Equity Loan ? How To Use A Home Equity Loan

Posted by Nick Niesen on October 29th, 2010

Refinancing your home equity loan can help you save cash through lower rates or lower payments. To get the most out of your home equity, use your second mortgage as part of your overall financial plan. That may mean consolidating debt, paying for home repairs, or investing in a college education.

Getting The Most Out Of A Home Equity Loan

Home equity loans offer low rate credit, lower than almost any other type of financing. Your home?s equity is also your investment, and ideally should increase in value over time.

When you choose to borrow against your home?s value, make sure that you are getting the most out of the deal. Trading in high interest credit card debt for a low interest second mortgage financially makes sense. So does increasing your property?s value through home repairs and upgrades.

Make sure that you also take advantage of any tax benefits that your home equity loan qualifies for. In most cases, paid interest can be deducted on your IRS return.

Refinancing For Increased Savings

Refinancing your home equity loan can further increase your savings through reduce rates. Most home equity loans have adjustable rates, which are susceptible to rate increases. Refinancing your loan can help you lock in lower rates and select better terms with fewer annual fees.

You can also reduce your interest rates and payments by picking a shorter loan period. Choosing to pay your loan every two weeks can also save you hundreds.

Another option is to combine both your first and second mortgage through a refi. Merging the two loans into one saves you money on both application fees and interest rates.

Strategies To Find Refinancing

To get the best deal on your refinancing, take some time to research loan offers. You can get loan quotes online without hurting your credit score. By providing lending companies with some basic information, you get numbers that you can base your refi decisions on.

Take a look at a number of available loan terms. For example, compare the savings of refinancing both of your home loans and just your home equity loan. You can also adjust the payment period and rate terms. With this added information, you can be sure you are getting every advantage from your home?s value.

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Nick Niesen

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Nick Niesen
Joined: April 29th, 2015
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