Should you get a home equity loan?

Getting a home equity loan is a widespread method of refinancing debt and it has a number of advantages.  But there are a few potential ‘gotchas’ that are worth looking at before taking the plunge.

First, what is a ‘home equity loan’?  The basic idea is plain: obtain a line of credit, secured by the equity in your home.  That is, if you have a specific amount of ownership in your house – say, as a result of having made a down payment or payments over a period of time (as several homeowners do) – borrow against that equity.

A lot of homeowners will take out a HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit), as they’re called, for them to use the money for the purpose those loans were invented: financing home improvements.  That purpose gave the loan its original name.  But, because of tax implications and other reasons, the HELOC developed to serve other purposes.

Interest paid on most kinds of debt is not tax deductible, but interest paid on a home loan is.  Therefore, interest paid on a HELOC can in fact be a form of less costly debt.

Say you have a 12% HELOC for up to $10,000.  With the majority HELOCs you don’t actually borrow the whole amount at once.  You pull out, much as you would a credit card, as needed and desired.

So, you have many benefits.  You can only borrow what you need – making the payments and the interest owed as low as possible.  One also get to reduce the taxes by a percentage of the interest paid every year.

If you had a credit card that charges 12% APR, the advantage is obvious.  You pay a net lower amount of money to the lender as a consequence of using a HELOC over a credit card to finance your spending.

But, like any loan, it’s vital to keep in mind that a home equity loan is just – a loan, or debt.  If one of your major troubles is the failure to exert the willpower to refrain from purchasing beyond your means, you have just found another provider to feed your addiction.  As a result, a home equity loan may in fact make your more basic problem worse, rather than better.

But, if you have made a pledge to be in charge of your debt, and are seeking ways to lessen your overall expenses, a home equity loan can be a rational way to employ.

One necessary exercise is to actually compute how much money you would be spending per month – and over the life of the debt – in one situation versus the other.  Many debt calculators are readily available on the Internet to help you do just that.

Sometimes you will have to ponder whether you wish to spend more money over the life of the debt as opposed to having a smaller monthly payment, but bigger total amount of interest.  The better calculators will assist you run through both scenarios, changing amounts to help you weigh the advantages and disadvantages.