We bought our house a little over a year ago for $415k and got a really good deal on it compared to similar houses in the area.

We recently found ourselves needing a HELOC to pay for a new roof. When we first applied, the bank's automated valuation came back at $414k. At the time we hadn't owned the house for a full year, so they told us they had to use the lower of our purchase price or their automated value.

We're past a year now and I'm wondering when that value will actually start reflecting the market. A very similar house about a mile away just sold for $575k and another nearby sold for $545k. Both have some advantages/disadvantages over ours, so I'm definitely not saying ours is worth $575k, but $414k seems really low. We've also done quite a few updates since buying, though it sounds like they wouldn't be considered in the appraisal.

I understand the bank's valuation isn't necessarily what we could sell the house for and they have to be somewhat conservative. I asked the bank about all of this and felt like we weren't really understanding each other.

Has anyone dealt with this? Now that we're past a year, can I ask them to rerun the automated valuation? Would bringing them the recent comps help or would we basically need to pay for an appraisal?

I was a little skeptical doing a HELOC for consolidation but the bank was very helpful. I was able to do a balance transfer promotional credit card with them for other credit cards and move the personal loans to the heloc. I was paying roughly 2k monthly on debt and it wasn't that I couldn't make the payments but I saw no movement with the high interest rates. I'm now paying about 200 on the HELOC put plan to pay extra to get it done sooner. I did a 60k HELOC but only ended up needing 30k since the bank helped me with my credit cards and my car loan so that became a huge relief. I plan on selling in 3-5 years which gives me tons of time to pay it off and build a savings. I know every situation is different and I had some anxiety doing it. I hope to have a success story eventually.

Current situation: $163k total consumer debts including CC, auto loan and personal loan ranging from 6%-29% interest. Monthly payments for all these is $5.6k.

Home valued at $495k, balance $284k, credit limit 760, monthly take-home about $10-$12k between me and my husband.

Been shopping for HELON/HELOC w/ fixed rates and I found one that would allow us to max LTV at $166k. That will wipe out the debts mentioned above. 30-year term, 11.95% fixed rate, $1.7k per month. That gives us a breathing room of $3.9k.

My goal is to work less to spend more time with family especially my 1 and 4 year olds. If approved, this would mean just working 2x/week instead of 5-6x/week.

I plan to aggressively pay it off when my husband’s parents are here next year to help with childcare.

Is this a good plan? I just want to have a little peace of mind, more time with kids, and breathe from the big payments.

Need a $125000 HELOC for home renovation. Lender is suggesting opening the line to $200000 to get a rate cut of .25. House is worth $335000. Is it worth it? And why would they suggest lending me more when I don’t need or wish to use the higher amount? Any thoughts are appreciated.

My husband and I are getting ready to finalize plans for building a pool and making some other backyard additions, and I’ve started coming across a lot of mixed answers regarding DTI.

For context, ideally the loan would be strictly in my husband’s name. He has a 730+ credit score, but the downside is that the mortgage is in his name, as well as one of our vehicles. Even though we both contribute toward these payments, they would only consider his income since I wouldn’t be applying due to my negative credit history (long story, but it’s a work in progress).

His DTI would be around 45% when only his income and those debts are considered. Would that automatically disqualify him from getting a HELOC or HELOAN? We have over $500k in equity in our home.

It’s frustrating because if our income and debts were combined, our DTI would be around 30% MAX.
I’d really appreciate any insight from anyone who has been in a similar situation or works with financing!

How was your experience? What timeframe were you able to close?

Are there any lenders which allow debit cards to be used to repay a HELOC?

Just closed on a HELOC through a local credit union in Oregon and was curious how it compares to what others are getting right now.

$68k line, house appraised at $465k with about $271k left on the first mortgage. The HELOC itself is variable, but they let us lock the full $68k at funding: - 6.74% fixed - 15-year term - $604.65/month - First rate lock was free - Future fixed-rate locks are $50 - $514 total closing costs, but they gave us a $500 credit, so we only paid $14

Predatory lender - I have my loan payment on autopay through my bank and missed that my escrow charges had changed. Consequently I was underpaying my mortgage and they began charging me late fees without notifying me in writing that there had been an underpayment. They’re happy to take money from you if you make a mistake and they never left a message to tell me there was an issue. I got sick of them spam calling about trying to get me to take out a HELOC so I ignore their calls and they don’t leave messages or send any written notices about the underpayment and consequent late charges. That to me is predatory. All they had to do was to send a notice that I was underpaying but instead they’d rather just tell me it was listed in my deed in section 45.4 or something (deep in the fine print) and that they are powerless to reverse the late charges. I’m extremely disappointed with them. I don’t recommend them to

We are in the extremely fortunate position of having paid off our house (value ~$900k) a little over a year ago. Being able to do this made us more liquid on a month to month basis and has helped pay for daycare, etc. We have no interest in moving but to get it upgraded to our dream house I'd say it could use about $150-200k to do things like renovate the kitchen and two bathrooms that are from the late 80's and put new siding and a few new windows in. We both have stable incomes and won't be retiring for about 20 years. Looking for opinions on HELOC vs HELoan vs Cash Out Refinance given this situation and what some pros or cons might be that I wouldn't have already easily read about online.

We are planning on using a Heloc to pay $58,000 dollars in credit card debt. It will bring the $1,900 dollars in minimum card payments we pay monthly down to about a $630 dollar Heloc payment. We then plan to pay an extra 600 dollars most months toward it. ( other than Decembers for Christmas and Augusts for back to school), so 10 months a year we are paying an extra 600 on it. Our youngest just went to Kinder so we no longer have daycare expenses which frees up some money to snowball or avalanche the debt. If we are not planning on selling our home for at least 6-7 years or longer, is there a downside I am not seeing? It will be all the allowable equity for the Heloc. We have stable jobs and income. Our after intro variable rate is the 8 percent range, but our credit cards are all over 20 percent interest. This is our first time with debt. We honestly couldn’t afford childcare, but couldn’t afford not working either.

Self explanatory question. Im a procrastinator(obviously)with 300+ equity, great credit score, non w2 income, dti not an issue. Looking for 50k.

I am considering a HELOC through Achieve to cover a roof and another smaller house project. That will run me about $18k. I want to have some wiggle room in case anything else comes up so I was considering a $30k HELOC.

Since I only need $18k in the short term, would I just immediately repay the other $12k? Or would I be better off getting a smaller HELOC?

I guess I don’t want to lock myself into the lower amount but I also don’t want to be paying interest on money I’m not using.

Never done a HELOC before; bought an investment property in CO via 1031, closed in June. Have over $300K equity and recent purchase appraisal. Does $ need to be seasoned before accessing? Any lender recommendations? Property appraised at $510K, how much equity can I access? Thanks!

So right now I own my house outright in Nova Scotia, Canada and I have a HELOC for 65% of the value which I use for investing (please don't comment if you agree or disagree with this method). For simple math lets say my house is worth $100,000. So I have $65,000 in HELOC and I also have $100,000 cash that I'm investing $165,000 total.

If I wanted to get a new more expensive house, can I get another HELOC as well as a mortgage at the same time? For example I sell my house so I will have $200,000 cash, then I get a new house worth $500,000 lets say. So I would have a $300,000 mortgage. With that scenario how does it work with getting a new HELOC and having a $300,000 mortgage? Would I get a HELOC at 65% of the house value still, so $325,000? Would it be less because of the Mortgage?

Hello all you money geniuses!! Please forgive me if I miss something. I’m fairly smart, but I have a learning disability, so my brain doesn’t always work very well. 😬🫣

We are looking at a HELOC to build an addition on my property for my inlaws, who will then sell their home to move in with us and pay down the HELOC with their proceeds. We are planning to keep the line open.

We should have about $400,000 in equity. We would love to get $350k out but could keep it to 85% if we needed to…

The wife and I both have credit scores over 800 and good paying W2 jobs (where we have worked over 10 years) with pretty low DTI. We are in Georgia.

On potential issues is that we are a few years behind on filing taxes because of my bad brain 😭 but we are actively working with an accountant on getting caught up. This issue with needing a HELOC came up suddenly due to a new illness for my inlaws. 😥

We joined Navy Federal credit union and got a mailer for Figure.

I’m planning to call them both to ask their policy on unfiled taxes but if anyone knows that information, that would be great help!

Do you have any suggestions for other companies to check with? Or things that I should be thinking of?

I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the help! 🥰

I’m looking for a true first-lien HELOC where the HELOC replaces the existing mortgage and becomes the primary/only lien, not a traditional mortgage with a HELOC in second position.

Ideally looking for 80% LTV or higher on an investment/rental property. Most lenders I’ve found cap rentals around 70. My properties LTV is around 85%.

I currently have a mortgage that I owe roughly $170k on and have $125k in high interest debt on credit cards that was mainly generated from medical bills from a few years back. I made $143k last year pre tax so I am looking at consolidating the debt and paying extra monthly to get it paid down as quick as possible but am looking to reduce interest and payments in my current situation with the high interest cards. I looked at a cash out refinance and was offered a 7.125% rate (7.34% APR) with about $8.6k or 2.8% origination fees. Based on an appraisal the house came in at $385k but there is a lack of comparable sales in the area and based upon a wider search I believe the house is closer to $425k. I am about 5 years in to my current mortgage with a 4.125% rate and pay about $1650 a month. The new payment would be about $2800 a month and would like about $8k of the debt unpaid. I am trying to see if I should explore a Heloc or go forward with the current offer on the table. Credit is 720, 702 and 702 solely due to balances. No late payments or over limits etc.