| I think you need to assume the worst scenario in this economic mess.
if your house is paid for do not use it to fund the education. you will need a place to live. if you loose your job, the heloc still has to be paid. you can get a deferment with a plus loan. the heloc is a recourse loan which means if you default you are still liable unless you declare bankruptcy. the plus is not forgiven in bk unless dire dire circumstances exist.
in my neck of the woods almost 30% of the real estate listings are foreclosures and this is middle class stable solid America. I don't have any idea how many homes are in pre foreclosure or simply not being foreclosed because nothing, nothing is selling and the financing co. doesnt want to flood the market. i have heard of two real estate deals being withdrawn by the mortgage company right at closing. The home three houses away sits empty and hasn't sold in a year. no one bothers to even go thru it anymore. it's now listed with its second realtor and its price has dropped by almost 100k. I am not in Michigan nor Ohio nor CA nor AZ or FLorida. Our RE prices never had the appreciation that the coasts had. There are so many listings in our suburbs it will take years to sell the inventory. And if you are presently working and over age 50 you had better have a plan in case you lose your job because few hire over age 50 or pay what you currently earn.
If you are not planning for the worst you need to start thinking about it. |