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So here is my situation. I currently have a fixed 1st mortgage done recently (15 year @3.5%)....last August.
Approx remaining loan is about 200k, with a conservative house value of around $330k (average comp prices). We won't know the actual appraisal until that is done once again.
Looking for a new HELOC for some improvements and such. Looks like the lenders are hard-pressed to open HELOCs these days unless your numbers are top-tier. My FICO scores are all over the map, depending on the source, and I am carrying a large co-signed student loan (deferred) for my daughter's college, which is dragging down my score. Wife is co-signer with a better score.
Every lender is pushing for a refi of the first to take some cash out for the renovation work, but anything over 70% of free equity bumps up to a higher term rate for a new fixed loan. So essentially, the cash out portion would equate to about $21k, not the 50k I was hoping for (for future projects).
So here is my situation. I currently have a fixed 1st mortgage done recently (15 year @3.5%)....last August.
Approx remaining loan is about 200k, with a conservative house value of around $330k (average comp prices). We won't know the actual appraisal until that is done once again.
Looking for a new HELOC for some improvements and such. Looks like the lenders are hard-pressed to open HELOCs these days unless your numbers are top-tier. My FICO scores are all over the map, depending on the source, and I am carrying a large co-signed student loan (deferred) for my daughter's college, which is dragging down my score. Wife is co-signer with a better score.
Every lender is pushing for a refi of the first to take some cash out for the renovation work, but anything over 70% of free equity bumps up to a higher term rate for a new fixed loan. So essentially, the cash out portion would equate to about $21k, not the 50k I was hoping for (for future projects).
Any guidance here?
Finance 29k of the projects (many vendors do this) and take the heloc out for the other 21k?
i am thinking it is time to do a heloc. i would like 200k. looks like tdbank potentially has a 3.49% rate. should that be a problem with a 746 FICO score (according to my discover credit card account). is my only expense really going to be a $99 origination fee + interest? i could probably get a boost in FICO score if i pay down some of my CC debt but that was a 0% interest deal so i wanted to pay the minimum until the intro time was up. id rather just pay interest only at this point.
Might be a bit of a tangent...but this thread just reminded me of a thread I created a few years back regarding a HELOC.
I have a 400k HELOC and the good folks in this forum convinced me that buying an investment property with it would be a bad idea. Hehehehe silly me to even consider it...
Don't do it. Save till you can afford to pay for the (elective) work yourself. Anything goes wrong (and I suspect the large student loan plus the mortgage is not all the debt you're carrying) and you could find yourself in a tight really fast.
The nation is currently in a huge real estate bubble. Five years from now you could easily find that today's $300k house value has become $200k.
I'm 37 and historically had negative feelings about 2nd mortgages; however, I find myself strongly considering one now. We refinanced in April 2016 for a 30yr fixed at 3.50% on a $430K loan while our property appraised at $1.2M. I'm traditionally a saver/investor, but man does it take forever to save a significant amount. We've thrown $60K into foundation piering, $10K for skylight/roof replacement, $10K for a 4.8 kW solar array, and are now about $25K in on a landscape renovation. We have quite a bit in tax-deferred accounts, we have plenty 65% equity in our home, but we are running out of the savings I set aside for the home. I'm also planning to take the house down to studs to replace the cracked slab and modernize our 60 year old house properly. I'm strongly considering a cash-out refi; will probably need at least $180K to get the job done. I'm researching the most financially savvy way to do this.
These days, it seems like most of the banks/lenders are willing to REFI, but, reluctant to do a HELOC. I recently got one through an online bank (Third Federal), but, it took top FICO scores and significantly more equity than the HELOC amount. About 6 other banks were more than willing to do a REFI or 2nd/3rd mortgage, but, very few actually do HELOCs any more.
yeah, they dont like giving the HELOC's? i still have an issue that isnt resolved on my credit report so i clearly must wait until that is resolved. then there is the matter of my relatively high CC utilization (28%, nothing i am paying interest on). i dont really want to pay off the 0% intro card, i can apply soon after i make my monthly payment on my primary usage card.
alternative is that i can talk to chase and maybe open a personal account there. its the place where i have the most "influence" if that means anything but i dont actually have any personal accounts with them (other than auto purchase). chase did recently deny me a credit card but i think other types of loans may be different.
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