When it comes to getting money out of the equity in your home for that project, or expense, that you have, a home equity line of credit (HELOC) may be the best way to go. It gives you a number of options that other equity loans do not give, along with the flexibility of being able to make some choices. Here is how you can make a home equity line of credit work for you.

A home equity line of credit is a second mortgage (in most cases), and as such, it will add another payment to your bills each month. This means that you need to be careful about how much you borrow. For this reason, you should determine how much of a payment you can afford each month so that it will not be a problem to come up with the money each month. You do not always want to let a lender determine this for you – they cannot lose whether you make the payment or not. Closing fees may or may not apply, but since many lenders have few fees for closing on a HELOC, you should look around and find one that does not.

Once you are approved for the loan, you will have an account set up for you, which will have a credit limit. You will be issued either a credit card, or a check book, that gives you access to the funds. Many lenders who give home equity lines of credit require that you make an immediate withdrawal, and some will require each withdrawal after that to also be of a minimum amount.

A home equity line of credit gives you the opportunity to withdraw as much money as you need – when you need it. There is also a draw period, which is a period of time that you are allowed to make withdrawals. This could be up to about 11 years – depending on your home equity line of credit terms.

During the draw period, you will be paying the interest on the amount of money that you have used so far. The interest that you will be paying will most likely be calculated on a daily basis in order to keep current with your withdrawals. You need to be aware, though, that unless you opt to do otherwise, you are only paying the interest, which means that you will have 100% of the loan to pay during the amortization period – or as a balloon payment at the end of the draw period. If possible, you may want to pay down some of the principal, too, in order to have reduced payments later. You will want, however, to check with the lender to make sure that there is not any early payoff penalty.

Certain fees may also apply to your HELOC. Some lenders will charge you with an account maintenance fee. This could result in a monthly charge, an annual charge – or both. There also may be a per withdrawal charge, and possibly even a no activity charge. Since a lender only makes money on a HELOC when you withdraw the money they do not want to see their money not being used – and earning interest for them. By looking around, however, you could find a home equity line of credit that does not have all of these charges associated with them.

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Part 2 (Excerpt)

The median income family can afford twice the median priced home; prices drop over 50%

And now I mentioned Dan Havey is back in the studio with us, Dan has done a lot of great things in the mortgage industry. He left us about a year and a half ago, is that right Dan?

Yes, I left the mortgage industry in October of 2007. Tell us a little bit more about yourself.

As you know I came originally from Wisconsin, where I got a degree in Business Finance and I came out here in 1989 and started working with my brother selling real estate owned-REO, bank owned properties for Fannie Mae, Countrywide, and the Resolution Trust Corporation-RTC which was the government entity that was put in charge of disposing of all the real estate owned by the 1800 S&Ls that had failed. I did that until about 1995 when I moved into the mortgage industry and there for 12 years I worked predominately with bankruptcy attorneys helping their clients get out of bankruptcy and foreclosure. I left the mortgage industry in October of 2007. Now I am working predominately in the arena of marketing for real estate and mortgage companies, helping out companies, just like Im here helping out Michael today, to get people to realize that right now actually is a really good time to buy.

There are a couple of points I want to make and it was something that Michael had said earlier. The first one was that 4% interest rate. Originally Obama said a couple of weeks ago, when he rolled out the mortgage plan, that they were going to take the $200 billion and use it to buy mortgage backed securities, well the article I was reading today said it appears that plan may have changed. Instead of buying the mortgage backs they were actually buying the stock of Fannie and Freddie to help support the company and keep these companies going under. I dont quite understand why being how they own them now.

Well youve got to hand it to the government they have really done a heck of a job helping Fannie Mae out, for instance today the stock is up to $0.41. Wow, doing so well, I remember when it was $150 or so, where it was at the top of the market.

Today, right now is definitely the best time even if rates dont get down to the 4% point. The beauty of it and were going to talk more about this in a later segment, is that we have seen a 51% decline in home values from the peak of the market. So you dont have to have the absolute greatest interest rate in order to be able to buy a house today. The median home price right now is $130,000 in Maricopa County, it was $264,000 just two years ago.

So the median home price is $130,000? We are going to talk a little bit about what a person has to make to actually qualify for that. Well it is definitely well within the means of a median income family. Right now a median income family makes about $64,000 in the state of Arizona according to the US Census Bureau and HUD. I ran some numbers today, I think at 6% interest and at that rate they can buy a $280,000 house. So you can buy twice the median home price if you are making just what the median income family would be in the state of Arizona. So the median household income buys double the median priced house in Maricopa County. That is correct, at 6% interest.

And the reality of it is interest rates are not even that high right now. So for people to be waiting for that perfect interest rate of 4% it doesnt really matter if it gets here or not because right now is such an incredibly fabulous time to be buying a house. There are so many foreclosures out there on the market right now, there are so many short sales out there on the market right now, and the point you made earlier is very important, that people have to get in and get prequalified, know exactly what they can buy. Now in many cases you are going to need a down payment, so get with your mortgage broker, get with Velocity Financial and start working on that program of getting those funds together for the down payment as well.

Dan Havey we talked in the past about whats available for financing these days, interesting to give little pat on the back for Velocity Financial is one of less than 15% of all of the lenders in the state of Arizona that are qualified to do FHA financed homes. Now FHA financing, people used to think it was only for first time home buyers, thats no longer the case. The FHA loan which only requires 3.5% down payment it doesnt matter if you have owned a home before and in many cases you can own another home now so long as your new purchase is going to be your primary residence you can utilize FHA financing and put only 3.5% down.

Duration : 0:6:42

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Remember, homeownership is still the single most important investment you can make in your lifetime. Look for other webisodes in this series by searching for “Smart Homeowners” or visit finishrich.com

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HOME ASIA PROPERTIES & CONSTRUCTION, INC.
Unit 807 Jose De Leon Center, Session Road, Baguio City
(beside Pizza Hut & RCBC Session)

Telefax: 074-442-4793
Mobile: 0928-524-8389
Email: homeasiaproperties@yahoo.com
Web: www.homeasiaproperties.bahay.ph

* LOT AREA: 255 sq.m., more or less
* FLOOR AREA: 350 sq.m., more or less

FEATURES OF THE HOUSE:

* 4 Common bedrooms with built-in cabinets (One common bedroom has a walk-in closet, and a
toilet & bath with bath tub)
* 1 Very spacious masters bedroom with toilet & bath (complete with shower area & jacuzzi) and
walk-in closet
* With spacious maid’s room, complete with built-in cabinets
* Spacious dining area
* Wide living area
* 2 common toilet & baths
* 2-car garage
* Landscaped surroundings
* With nice view of the majestic Cordillera mountains
* With mini-swimming pool located at the back of the house
* 3-storey house with attic

FEATURES OF THE SUBDIVISION:

* Clubhouse
* Tennis court
* Basketball court
* No water problem
* Picnic area
* Well-paved roads
* 24-hour security service
* Gated community with security guard
* With its own water tank & water pumping station
*Accessible via Marcos Highway or Kennon Road
* Walking distance to Camp 7 public market
* Near a water-refilling station
* Accessible through public utility vehicles (jeepneys & taxis)
* 5 minutes ride to Small World Foundation School at Lexber Heights Subdivision
* 5 minutes ride to the campus expansion project of St. Louis University (will open in 2010)

Duration : 0:5:12

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Expert: Jim DiVietri
Bio: Jim DiVietri Worked as a mortgage loan officer for over 5 years in Lansing, MI.
Filmmaker: Robert Rogers

Duration : 0:2:2

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