How soon is it a good time to open a home equity line of credit? Should I shop for best interest rates?
April 6, 2010 by
Filed under home equity rates
Just bought a home 6 months ago. First time buyer also. Is it too soon to look into remodeling the home or should I wait for a year or more? Any responses will be greatly appreciated.
Too New to Know
In this market I would just stick with the mortgage you have and not take on any additional debt. Home values are actually dropping in many areas so taking on additional debt for remodeling projects is not the best idea at this time. If you want to tackle some small projects, try to do so with cash out of pocket as opposed to additional debt.
My suggestion is to take your equity out and put it in a fund that will give you some sort of a return back. All you are doing by keeping the equity in your home, is keeping your money in a savings account that earns you 0% interest. If and when you take out a line of credit, I wouldn’t necessarily put it back in the house unless you are planning on re-selling soon.
Real answer is if you financed with less than 20% down you most likely have no equity, even if you had 20% you might not dependent upon your location have no equity as home prices have dropped dramatically, and are expected to drop even more during the next year, most likely almost 25%. So no would not be looking for a home equity loan at this moment. Would start reading the financial pages on CNN, FOX, Yahoo, etc.