Paying off credit card balances and consolidating debt are some of the most common ways homeowners use their home equity, but there are plenty of alternative ways to get equity out of your home.
The longer you make payments on your mortgage, the more your equity grows - giving you more power to use that value to your advantage.
Here are some other great ways you can benefit from building equity:
Cash out refinancing lets you use equity by getting a new mortgage. Essentially, you replace your current mortgage loan with a higher amount, and receive the difference in cash. The cash is tax-free and can be used for anything you need.
A home equity line of credit or HELOC is a second mortgage with a credit amount you can draw from when needed. HELOCs are similar to credit cards in that you only pay for what you actually use until the designated draw period ends.
A home equity loan is another second mortgage option, complete with a separate monthly payment. These loans often have higher interest rates than your initial mortgage, but use your home's equity as collateral.
While similarly named, home equity loans and HELOCs function differently. With an equity loan, you get a lump sum of money at the beginning and make payments back over the life of the loan. A HELOC, by contrast, lets you draw whatever amount you need during a fixed period.
The key difference is with a loan, you'll have a regular monthly payment with a locked-in interest rate. With a HELOC, your payments and interest rates can vary.
When is it better to use a HELOC versus a loan? The important difference is flexibility. A HELOC allows you to pay for variable expenses and emergencies, and can be a great benefit for long-term costs like ongoing remodeling or renovation projects.
Consider all details of your financial situation when deciding how to use your home equity. Based on your goals and limitations, you can find the best possible way to benefit from your investment.
I'm John Mahan, Sales Associate with William Raveis Real Estate, Harwich Port Office.
Throughout his childhood, John Mahan spent summers on Cape Cod at his parents’ home in Dennis Port. His intro to the Cape was, as he puts it, when his parents “carried me down the stairs at Sea Street Beach when I was a week old.” With a lifelong connection to Cape Cod, it seemed only natural for John and his wife, Mary, to move to Harwich – where they still reside – with their two young children in 1996.
Prior to moving to Cape Cod, John lived in the Worcester-Auburn area where he worked for Mass Electric for 10 years and was a member of the International Brotherhood of Utility Workers. When John and his family moved to the Cape, he worked at NSTAR for six years.
John began his career in real estate in 2002 when he joined Team Waystack Realty in Harwich Port. He has been a consistent top producing realtor in the Harwich area for the past 20 years. John’s approachable demeanor, combined with an integral understanding of the Cape Cod residential real estate market, have allowed him to build trusting, long-term relationships with his clients – both sellers and buyers.
