Home equity loans: The right choice for your situation?

Accessing home equity for remodeling, debt consolidation, or meeting unexpected expenses can be a good choice or a not-so-good one. Use these tips to determine if a home equity loan or line of credit can improve or sabotage your financial well-being. Estimating home equity: Home values have changed in many areas. Contact a real estate professional familiar with your neighborhood or use an online valuation site to see if values have increased or dropped. Your home equity equals the home's value minus the total mortgage loans against it. Understand how much you can borrow: Mortgage lenders require more equity than they used to for a refinance. If you have less than 20% home equity, you'll have a hard time refinanci... Read More >>

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