We all know that lenders have been freezing HELOC loans to hedge against foreclosures in the down market. But, many banks have another reason: current HELOC rates are lower than they planned for. Smart Money reports: “…Many lenders are not making much money off HELOCs. The cut-throat competition during the mortgage boom had lenders slashing [...] [...more]
Good news for HELOC borrowers – thanks to an emergency federal rate cut, your home equity bill may be getting smaller. Today, the government slashed the federal funds rate by half a percentage point. The New York Times reports: “The Fed said in a statement that, because of weakening economic activity, it had cut the [...] [...more]
Many financial analysts speculated that the government would slash the Federal Funds Rate earlier today. But, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues voted unanimously to keep rates the same (2.0%). A federal rate cut would have resulted in lower interest rates on most home equity lines of credit. Almost all U.S.-based HELOC rates [...] [...more]
Most HELOC loans have an adjustable interest rate tied to the prime rate. Your total interest = the current prime rate + your margin (the markup the lender assigned you in the loan paperwork). Keeping track of the prime rate can help you decide when to withdraw money and estimate how much your monthly interest [...] [...more]
