A home equity loan is a loan based on the difference between what your current home value is and what you currently owe on your house. There are also mortgage companies that will loan a little over the equity you have in your home. They can usually do this safely because most homes appreciate in value over time.
If you have credit card debt at a high interest rate, or even at an average rate, you may want to consider getting a home equity loan to consolidate your credit card debt for a few reasons.
1. Having the credit card, but not being maxed out, or having the credit card paid off will boost your credit score. The amounts you owe make up about 30% of your credit score, that could be a huge difference if those accounts are paid off.
2. You can have a lower payment because of the lower interest rate you can get with a home equity loan. If having a lower payment helps you be able to make the payment on time, that will boost your score tremendously.
3. Lowering your payment will lower your debt to income ratio, which will help you when you go to get any other kind of financing in the future.
4. A home equity loan is usually set for about 5 years before it is paid off. Sometimes, making the minimum payments on your credits will never pay them off.
As you can see, there are some great benefits to consolidating your debt with a home equity loan. Its definitely something worth considering if it will lower your rate and lower your payment.
