Saturday, 5. March 2011
Hello friends,
Does anyone know the current interest rate for the Student Federal Stafford Loan? I am looking to study for a master’s degree and would need to take out a loan. Currently I do have a home equity line of credit at an interest rate of about 8% and would be enough for the master’s degree for ,000.
Should I stick with my home equity line of credit or better to open a loan from Federal Stafford?
Thanks
Brian
Monday, 21. February 2011
I forgot to mention .5 interest I paid on a Home Equity Line of Credit. I just got the document from the bank. This loan was used for personal use. Do I have to ammend the return ?. I don’t care about the tax benefit
Friday, 18. February 2011
Just wondering if its better to refinance or take out a home equity line of credit as far as credit damage. Thanks!
Wednesday, 9. February 2011
Short sighted of me, I know. Today I got my credit report and score. I have two items negatively impacting my credit, but they are both the same thing. It was a purchase made at Circuit City that my ex-husband made on a credit card in my name. The Circuit City delinquency shows up, as does the collection agency that they placed it with.
The statements were going to my previous address where I lived with my ex, so I never had a clue about it until today. The original charge was 4, and now my credit report shows that the outstanding balance is 9. My ex husband has recently passed away, and now I own the home that he lived in. We had no liens on the property, and his bills. with the exception of that one, were all to date. From speaking to my attorney, it appears that as my name is on the deed, the estate will not have to be probated, as he had zero outstanding debt. My plan is to get a home equity line of credit on that home, for a very low interest rate. This will allow me to pay down the mortgage on my current home, and then be able to refinance it using the equity gained. I will also then be able to do the repairs needed to my ex’s home, to either sell it, or make it suitable for tenants. I purchased my home 4 years ago for 0,000. I’ve made many improvements (new electrical service, new windows, remodeled upstairs), and my real estate agent friend says the house will easily appraise for 0,000 at this point. Given this figure, I’d have about ,000 in equity. My ex’s house had a town assessment of 5,000 (with no liens). I have unfortunately not had a credit card for years. The good standing accounts in my rating are 2 that are paid/closed/never late, and one that is a checking account with an overdraft protection that is open/never late. My credit score is 651. Will paying the account that is negatively impacting my score help immediately? Should I answer one of the hundreds of credit card offers that come my way, and pay it off religiously? I guess I’m wondering what would be the fastest way to get my credit score high enough to qualify for a home equity loan on the second home. Sorry for being long-winded, but I think I got all the essentials in.
Thursday, 3. February 2011
I bought a lot and plan to get a house built in 5 years. I dont like the current loan, 6.25% fix rate for 3 years but interest only. Is it a good idea that I use "home equity line of credit" 4.75% at this moment to pay it off?
Sunday, 23. January 2011
We owe ,000 in credit cards and the 0% interest is about to end. We could get a home equity line of credit with a pretty low monthly payment or my husband can borrow from his stocks and the interest charged is paid back into his retirement account. The only problem with this is the payment is going to be higher at 9.25%. I know with the other loan we would be paying the interest to the bank but the payment is more affordable and I could pay extra when possible. I just don’t want to be strapped for money every month. Thanks for your help.
Thursday, 6. January 2011
I have a mortgage & home equity line of credit with the same lender. The rate on the equity loan is currently 2.5% (prime – 3/4). I was thinking of refinancing my mortgage and taking out a little cash to pay off some credit cards. My question is, if I refinance my mortgage do I have to pay off the balance on my home equity loan?
Tuesday, 4. January 2011
(Firstly I apologise for the length of this, but I wanted to explain the whole situation just so there’s no ambiguity).
Here in Brisbane, Australia we get 7-8 sun hours per day on average (source: http://www.livingin-australia.com/sunshine-hours-australia/ ); our household uses ~20kWh per day based on the average of all the power bills for 2009. Using this calculator ( http://www.bdbatteries.com/panelcalculator.php … too lazy to crunch the numbers myself) it tells me the ideal system is 3.2 kW. Our house has a large north-facing roof so that is good enough for solar panels. For practicality (and to keep the numbers conservative) I sourced the figures for a 3.5kW system which is within the price range of -40k, but after selling RECs (Renewable Energy Certificates) and taking advantage of federal and state subsidies and offsets it is priced at ~-20k; I’ll assume a worst case (say, k) to keep it conservative.
With a Home Equity Line of Credit Loan we currently have 0,000 in debt overall. At ~6.5% interest the monthly repayments are ~,190. If we were to throw the ,000 for the entire solar setup onto the loan, the loan would increase to 5,000 and interest would be ~,330 per month, a 0 increase. Since we are currently paying 6 per month (.20 per day) in power bills, it seems it is not worth it. However, 3.5kW x 7.5 avg sun hours gives 26.25kWh daily, or ~6.25kWh more than is needed. When taking into account the 44c/kWh feed-in tariff that is a lowest possible return of ~.50 per month (I say "lowest" because it is real-time net metering, so if we have nothing running during the day it will send a lot of power priced at 44c/kWh to the grid; when we buy it back when we are back from work at night it will cost only 16c/kWh, so overall we will gain more than .50 per month).
So then if we had to pay 0 extra per month on the loan but that eliminates 6 per month in power costs and includes .50 at the minimum in feed-in credits, is that is effectively a saving of .50? I know it isn’t really a saving per se since simply paying loan interest doesn’t reduce the loan’s size, but to me it seems to be a saving since the power cost of 6 per month will always be there so it may as well be moved from one account (elec) to another (HELOC loan) without making much difference financially; also the HELOC loan can be paid off and thus interest repayments become lower, while the cost of electricity is only set to rise (on top of inflation-adjustment each year, we are expecting sharp rise when the carbon trading scheme gets passed, and the generators were granted a 16% increase for January 2010 anyway!!!). Additionally when the 3 kids have moved out of home the power use will drop, leaving more electricity for the grid (so more money returns) in addition to less expenses overall (so the HELOC loan will be easier to pay off) – seems like a double win!
There are two major downsides that I can immediately see: variable interest rate rises and home valuation. However for the latter, I am not sure whether it is really a problem. For all I know, solar panels would most likely increase the value of one’s home (seems to be logical anyway), which in turn means more flexibility regarding the floor of the HELOC loan if it is needed.
I am somewhat naive regarding how HELOC works so that is my main concern in this plan. So is this too good to be true, or have I missed something (I generally don’t believe in "too good to be true" hence why I am asking).
Naive re HELOC; I am one of the 3 kids mentioned in the question (19yo) so this is just for me to propose to my parents as an idea.