The Difference Between Home Equity Loans and Home Equity Line of Credit

Using your home equity is a very savvy way totypes of lending is that home equity loans are a one
borrow large sums of money at a very low cost.time loan for large sum of money. A home equity line
While there are different types of loan products thatof credit is an open account similar to a credit card
lenders offer, the two most common and popular arewhere you can borrow money at various installments.
the home equity loan and home equity credit line.Another important difference between both products
Before jumping into these two types of loan products,is that the loan usually always has a fixed loan rate.
it is important to understand the nature of these twoThe rate of the loan always stays the same for the
types of lending. Two terms that are extremelylife of the loan. In a home equity line of credit, the
important are equity and collateral. Equity is a term thatinterest rate is variable and can increase or decrease
is used to describe the difference between the currentthroughout your repayment.
appraised value of your home and the amount of theMost people use these two products very differently.
money that you owe (mortgage). For instance, if yourFor instance, for people looking to purchase one large
home is currently valued at $300,000 and you ownitem using their home's equity, a loan is preferred. For
$100,000, your equity is equal to $200,000.instance, loans are used for adding an addition to your
Collateral is another term that you should be aware of,home or paying for college tuition. A line of credit is
whether in home equity loans or a home equity line ofusually used for smaller sums of money that are
credit, it is important to note that you are putting upwithdrawn over a period of time. For instance, many
your home as collateral. Collateral is a way to securehomeowners might use a line of credit to manage
your loan. If you are unable to repay your loan, thedebt or to renovate their home piece by piece over
bank uses your home as collateral and can sell it tothe course of a couple of years instead of all at one
recoup its losses.time.
The main difference between these two different