Tapping your home equity can be a convenient, low-cost way to borrow large sums at favorable interest rates to pay for home repairs or debt consolidation. However, the right type of loan depends on your needs and what you plan to use the money for.
Depending on your financial history, lenders generally want to see an LTV of 80% or less, which means your home equity is 20% or more. In most cases, you can borrow up to 80% of your home's value in total. So you may need more than 20% equity to take advantage of a home equity loan.
On a $200,000, 30-year mortgage with a 4% fixed interest rate, your monthly payment would come out to $954.83 — not including taxes or insurance.
Loan payment example: on a $100,000 loan for 180 months at 3.69% interest rate, monthly payments would be $724.25.
Technically, you can get a home equity loan as soon as you purchase a home. However, home equity builds slowly, which means it can take a while before you have enough equity to qualify for a loan. It can take five to seven years to begin paying down the principal on your mortgage and start building equity.
When you get a home equity loan, your lender will pay out a single lump sum. Once you've received your loan, you start repaying it right away at a fixed interest rate. That means you'll pay a set amount every month for the term of the loan, whether it's five years or 15 years.
In the first year, nearly three-quarters of your monthly $1000 mortgage payment (plus taxes and insurance) will go toward interest payments on the loan. With that loan, after five years you'll have paid the balance down to about $182,000 - or $18,000 in equity.
When you purchase a home, many lenders will require you to make a down payment of 20 percent of the loan amount. This gives you 20 percent equity right away. When you don't start with a down payment of 20 percent, your balance will eventually accumulate 20 percent equity from payments made.
Plus, it usually takes four to five years for your home to increase in value enough to make it worth selling. There are some things you can do, however, to build home equity a little faster: Avoid an interest-only loan.
If you home hasnt appreciated in value that means you must have paid down the loan to get to more than 20% of the value. That will take a long time like 10 years if you have a 30 year mortgage. However some areas rapidly appreciate in value. And you might hit 20% in one or two years.
Home equity loans, home equity lines of credit (HELOCs), and cash-out refinancing are the main ways to unlock home equity. Tapping your equity allows you to access needed funds without having to sell your home or take out a higher-interest personal loan.
Home improvement
Perhaps the most frequent use of home equity is to use it to improve the home itself. This can be a very good thing, akin to using dividends from stock holdings (or interest) to re-invest and build the value of an asset.
It's possible to use a home equity loan to pay off your mortgage, but you'll want to make sure it's the right move for you. ... You can borrow enough to pay off your first mortgage. The home equity loan interest rate is lower than the rate on your first mortgage.
Can I remortgage if I own my house outright? People who have no mortgage on their home, (known as an unencumbered property) are in a strong position to remortgage. With no outstanding mortgage, you own 100% of the equity in your house. ... You will need to meet the criteria for the new mortgage.
If you pay $200 extra a month towards principal, you can cut your loan term by more than 8 years and reduce the interest paid by more than $44,000. Another way to pay down your loan in less time is to make half-monthly payments every 2 weeks, instead of 1 full monthly payment.
When attempting to determine how much mortgage you can afford, a general guideline is to multiply your income by at least 2.5 or 3 to get an idea of the maximum housing price you can afford. If you earn approximately $100,000, the maximum price you would be able to afford would be roughly $300,000.
A $200k mortgage with a 4.5% interest rate over 30 years and a $10k down-payment will require an annual income of $54,729 to qualify for the loan. You can calculate for even more variations in these parameters with our Mortgage Required Income Calculator.
If you were to use the 28% rule, you could afford a monthly mortgage payment of $700 a month on a yearly income of $30,000. Another guideline to follow is your home should cost no more than 2.5 to 3 times your yearly salary, which means if you make $30,000 a year, your maximum budget should be $90,000.
What income is required for a 200k mortgage? To be approved for a $200,000 mortgage with a minimum down payment of 3.5 percent, you will need an approximate income of $62,000 annually. (This is an estimated example.)
To determine the amount of equity you need when selling your home, you need to know your reasons for selling. If you're looking to relocate, then you will need about 10% equity. If you're looking to upsize to a bigger home, you will need at least 15% minimum equity. The more equity you have, the better.
U.S. homeowners gained average $57,000 in equity in one year.