A home equity line of credit, also known as a HELOC, is a line of credit secured by your home that provides you a revolving credit line. With a HELOC, you’re borrowing against the available equity in your home and the house is used as collateral for the line of credit. As you repay your outstanding balance, the amount of available credit is replenished – much like a credit card. This means you can borrow against it again if you need to, and you can borrow as little or as much as you need throughout your draw period, typically a 10 year time frame, up to the credit limit established at the signing of your loan. At the end of the draw period, the repayment period begins, this usually lasts about 20 years.

What can you use a HELOC for?

A HELOC is a great financial tool that can be used for almost anything including monthly bills, unexpected expenses, home improvements, debt consolidation, and tuition payments. A home equity line of credit often has a lower interest rate than some other common types of loans because it is a secured loan backed by the value of your home. Because of this, it is generally used as an affordable way to finance large expenses, like renovations to improve your home’s value or to consolidate higher-interest rate debt on other loans, such as credit cards.

Qualifying for a HELOC

An assessment of these key factors and documents will determine your financial strength, if you qualify for a HELOC, and how much you can borrow.

Financials

Bank and investment account statements, salary and employment verification, and monthly rent or mortgage payment. Additionally, other monthly financial obligations, like credit card payments, auto loans, personal loans, student loans, and other debt, are all factored into the decision-making process.

Credit Score

Typically, a score of 620 or higher is preferred when applying for a home equity line of credit. Prior to applying, you should know your score. You can request one free credit report from each major credit bureau once per year at annualcreditreport.com. After requesting a report, you should review the report and dispute any discrepancies to improve your score prior to applying.

Equity

Your house will be appraised to determine how much equity is available to utilize. In most instances, you can borrow up to 80% of the value of the home minus any mortgage liens against the home.

What Should You Know About a Jovia HELOC?

While Jovia does not offer a stand-alone fixed-rate home equity loan, a HELOC provides members with the flexibility to fix their interest rate and monthly payment on all, or a portion of the outstanding balance.

At Jovia, members benefit from predictable monthly payments that lock some, or all of your variable-rate HELOC to a fixed-rate loan, for no additional cost. This provides protection from rising interest rates. We know that each member has individual needs so we offer as many as three (3) fixed-rate loan option balances at one time, the ability to draw a minimum of $20,000 for each fixed-rate loan and flexible repayment terms of 5-year, 10-year, and 20-year.

Ready to Apply for a HELOC?

You worked hard for your home, now it’s time to let your home work hard for you. Jovia’s loan specialists work with members, like you, across Long Island to identify your individual needs and provide home equity options to support those goals. Jovia makes the HELOC process easy and keeps the fees lower, so you can concentrate on your immediate cash needs today and your financial future tomorrow.

Contact a HELOC specialist today.

Jovia Financial NMLS ID number is 543667.

Information on current registered Mortgage Loan Originators at Jovia Financial and their unique identifier numbers (NMLS ID#) can be found here.