The Newbie Guide to Home Equity Loans

Home equity loan is often reviewed as an advantageous loan for both the consumer and lender. Home equity loans are the secured loans, which require the home as the collateral security. It has become a popular mortgage option among the home owners. Home equity loan is appreciated over other loans because lenders are more lenient about the terms and conditions. The lenders are flexible about the home equity loan as it is a secured loan. The home owners can utilize the home equity loan for any purpose as it is cheaper than most other types of loans.

One can avail equity loans even if any mortgage is present on it. The equity loan amount will then be calculated with respect to the volume of the equity you owe in the home. It can be computed based on the difference between the outstanding amount in the mortgage and the current market value of the home. As the lenders will be confident about the loan amount, the market value appraisal of the home is usually high up to 125%. Even though 125% or 100% appraisal is not feasible in all times, most of the home equity loans provide high appraisal values of 80%. Moreover credit reports are not given much importance in the loan approval as the lenders have the security of the home.

The home equity loan application requirements are also simple. The additional prerequisites for the equity loan application include the proof for ownership of the home, and the proof for your current equity in the home. The home equity loan is provided for any type of homes such as single-family home, duplex, a townhouse a condominium unit, and a modular home. The home equity loan processing is a step wise process, in which the property appraisal is the first step. The title search and document preparation are also the part of the equity loan processing. And obviously as in any other loans, the lenders will check for the employment status and may monitor your debt to income ratio. The increased debt ratio such as more than 38% expenditure may affect your loan appraisal. However it will not be a major constrain, if your home has appreciable market value. The home equity loan processing will take around 5 days, in an average.

The main advantage of home equity loan is its interest rates. The home equity loans are usually structured as fixed loans for long periods ranging from 10 years to 30 years. Hence home equity loan can be used to meet any requirements such as debt consolidation, home improvement, paying medical bills, personal loans and even for a holiday. However do not think that home equity loans can be a safe deal for the borrowers always. The lenders may come up with many attractive offers, since they will have the advantage over your precious asset. They will offer the maximum amount and long tenure period as they can get more profit from it. Moreover the lenders will ultimately become the owner of your valuable asset, if you are incapable to repay the debts.

Home equity loans are one of the cheapest loans that you can avail, however, be cautious while your step in since the risk involved in equity loan is also high, if the borrower finds it hard to make the repayments in time.