Home Equity Loan (pay, taxes, credit, checking account)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am a small business owner (electrical contractor). Business has been slow and I have gotten myself into a rut. I have about $20K in credit card debt and my savings is just about gone.
I put half down on my condo 12 years ago, $115K. I bought it for $225K. That was the height of the bubble, now it's worth about $160K in real world price. The assessment for 2019 tax purposes was $145,900. I owe $90K on the mortgage.
My credit has always been excellent, until I got this credit card debt. I have never missed a payment or anything like that, but just having so much debt has brought my score way down.
I applied with TD Bank who holds the mortgage on my condo about a home equity loan, the minimum they could give me is $25K and with my lower credit score and the value of the condo I was not approved.
I am looking for $15-25K to 2 purposes. One is to keep a large chunk of money in the bank to pay my bills when it gets slower And the other reason is to use some for advertising to get more work. Once work comes in things change quickly.
I was wondering if there was any other reputable bank that I might qualify for a home equity loan from in my situation?
home equity loans today require the same income and credit standards as a mortgage .
one of the problems of dumping a lot of money down in to a house or paying more then you have to each month is it can be trapped .. there is no way short of taking a loan to get at your own money .. plus in tough times you may not qualify for that loan .
while people look at paying off a house faster as some form of security , it may be a case of the emperors new clothes . the real security is in having liquidity and able to access your own money without hoping a third party like a lender gives you a loan merely using the house as collateral .
Mathjak is right - it may not help you to hear that, but I could have used to hear that in the past as I made the same mistake as you OP. I bought a townhouse for around $165K, all cash, and invested a lot of my money in long term things that were illiquid. Then before long I found myself with $5,000 in my checking account after a down year, also a small business owner, and ended up selling random things to bridge the gap between income and liabilities. Eventually I got myself out but it was a good lesson that the security of my lower monthly payments (only HOA dues and annual property taxes) wasn’t worth the lack of liquidity I had put myself into. Whoops.
i paid cash for my first house in 1987 after selling a co-op i bought as an insider for a very high profit... by paying cash i missed 17 years of the markets returning almost 14% with that money .
Yup, you are both right. My company was doing much better back then so the $115K down payment wasn't that bad, but now I would kill to have it liquid in my bank account.
Instead, I am now worried about running out of money completely.
That's why a HEL would be great, and I was hoping I could find a reputable bank to give me one.
it can be tough with the new rules .... in order to get a loan you need to prove you don't need one .. it used to be only the equity counted but they now subject equity loans to the same criteria as mortgages
Yeah that’s a good way to put it. What cruel irony but it’s true, they only want to lend you money if you don’t need it at all because then you’re basically low to no risk for them. I felt the same way as you OP, I would have killed for just putting down 20% and having my other 80% back in cash. Instead I had sleepless nights worrying about running out of money, which isn’t fun at all.
Work does not "come in". It is almost impossible to find an electrician for smaller residential jobs anywhere. Knock on doors - every large contractor/builder in your area even ADT/cable contractors are hiring across the board.
Look for the on line lenders. I think Lending tree is one https://www.lendingtree.com/. Search the reputation. I think I would stick with those that are large and established.
Work does not "come in". It is almost impossible to find an electrician for smaller residential jobs anywhere. Knock on doors - every large contractor/builder in your area even ADT/cable contractors are hiring across the board.
That^^. There is an incredible shortage of skilled workers and contractors. I can't imagine calling an electrician and having him even answer the phone. ( I'm lucky my BF knows how to do most of that sort of work. )
Last edited by ChessieMom; 06-16-2019 at 06:51 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
