Home Equity: How to Use It Let’s look at the different ways you can use your home’s equity. Refinance: In essence, this is a way of paying off your current mortgage and getting cash out based on how much equity (the difference between the market value of your home and what you owe on it) you have in your home. This is a great way to lower or lock in your mortgage interest rate. This is the way to get large sums of money – $30,000 or more – because you have 15 to 30 years to pay it off. On refinances, you may have to pay closing costs; discount points (used to increase the lender's yield or profit on the loan and equal to one percent of the loan amount); appraisal fees; ap…

Home Equity: How to Use It Let’s look at the different ways you can use your home’s equity. Refinance: In essence, this is a way of paying off your current mortgage and getting cash out based on how much equity (the difference between the market value of your home and what you owe on it) you have in your home. This is a great way to lower or lock in your mortgage interest rate. This is the way to get large sums of money – $30,000 or more – because you have 15 to 30 years to pay it off. On refinances, you may have to pay closing costs; discount points (used to increase the lender's yield or profit on the loan and equal to one percent of the loan amount); appraisal fees; ap…

Credit Cleaning Companies: Illegal!Beware the latest internet pitch: “Remove poor credit from your credit report immediately and permanently!” Claims of guaranteed credit repair are out and out false and may place clients in jeopardy of committing a felony.The Tactics: A common “strategy” is to have clients to apply for a new Social Security Number, Employer Identification Number, or Taxpayer ID Number — all illegal. Another method: inundating credit bureaus with letters disputing all negative information on a credit report, in hopes they will default on the 30-day limit allowed to respond to such requests.Ethical Ways to Do It Yourself: What credit cleaners don’t tell you is tha…

Credit Cleaning Companies: Illegal!Beware the latest internet pitch: “Remove poor credit from your credit report immediately and permanently!” Claims of guaranteed credit repair are out and out false and may place clients in jeopardy of committing a felony.The Tactics: A common “strategy” is to have clients to apply for a new Social Security Number, Employer Identification Number, or Taxpayer ID Number — all illegal. Another method: inundating credit bureaus with letters disputing all negative information on a credit report, in hopes they will default on the 30-day limit allowed to respond to such requests.Ethical Ways to Do It Yourself: What credit cleaners don’t tell you is tha…

Home Equity: How to Use It Let’s look at the different ways you can use your home’s equity. Refinance: In essence, this is a way of paying off your current mortgage and getting cash out based on how much equity (the difference between the market value of your home and what you owe on it) you have in your home. This is a great way to lower or lock in your mortgage interest rate. This is the way to get large sums of money – $30,000 or more – because you have 15 to 30 years to pay it off. On refinances, you may have to pay closing costs; discount points (used to increase the lender's yield or profit on the loan and equal to one percent of the loan amount); appraisal fees; ap…