Borrowing The Equity In Your Property To Consolidate Loans

July 29, 2010 by Daphne Grey  
Filed under Debt Consolidation

You may be having problems with your monthly bills. As economic times get hard, interest rates rise. This makes your credit card payments go up. Not only do the payments rise, but you pay less on your balance. This makes it much harder to pay them off. What was once manageable debt, can become a huge burden. If you combine that with other economic factors, you may be seeking a way to consolidate loans. Borrowing against your home equity is a good way to do that.

A good way to combine some of your debt is with a secured loan. One of the best sources of collateral is your home. In fact, it may be the best source of collateral that you can use. How much equity is in your property? Equity is the amount that your house is worth, after subtracting what you owe on it. For example, you may owe $70,000 on a $100,000 home. Your equity is $30,000.

A good place to start is your current lender. They are most likely to lend you the money. They already have a working relationship with you. They know your property, as they already have a vested interest in you. Borrowing may be easier with your current lender, also. You may not need an appraisal. This can save you money.

It is also a good idea to shop interest rates. Other banks or loan companies may have better deals. In any type of borrowing, interest rates are important. You want to get as low a payment as possible.

Suppose you owe about $20,000 on charge card debt. Maybe you owe that on four different accounts. Your payments could be $200 each month, per card. That comes to $800 every month. Suppose you decide to take a home equity mortgage. Your interest rate may be eight percent. You may get a deal with $490 payments over four years time. This can save $310 a month on your bill payments. This will work with any type of loan. It does not have to be credit card debt.

This will not only lower your bills, it will pay them off in four years. All of that debt will be gone. In addition, your property equity will be free to use again. In the future, you may wish to borrow money. You can fund a college education. You might decide to buy a new vehicle or make home improvements.

Summary

Borrowing on your home equity is an effective method to consolidate loans. Your monthly bill payments may go down by several hundred dollars. In addition, you can pay off charge cards in a few years. Your property equity will be free to use again, if you need to.

Creating a debt management plan is just the initial step in responsible management of funds. Paying off outstanding obligations or finding a way to consolidate loans will help to reduce debt.

Next Page »