<p>We have a line of credit at 5.5 % taken for S’s tuition. Checked with accountant today and have decided not to withdraw other funds to pay it at this time due to taxes.
I know there are better %'s out there and thought I would ask here before I spend hours researching. Thanks!</p>
<p>You should be able to pull up local rates on bankrate dot com. Many “deals” vary by region, and the rate also varies if you want a “no closing cost” line vs one with closing costs. Before you automatically choose the former, ask the loan officer to specifically detail the costs and rate associated with the latter. Sometime people blindly choose the no closing cost option, only to find out they could have gotten a much lower rate by paying as little as $1000 in closing costs.</p>
<p>I set up a line at Prime - .25% years ago (so right now we’re at 3%) but I have seen offers at 2.74%.</p>
<p>FYI – lines are priced based on cumulative loan-to-value (your first mortgage plus your new line divided by your home’s value) and credit score. So if you’re between 70% and 75% cumulative loan-to-value, you might get a better rate if you stick to 70% total liens.</p>
<p>PM me if you want more info. I work at a mortgage company but if you’re in Oregon (as your screen name suggests), all I can offer is info and advice (we’re not licensed there).</p>
<p>If you don’t mind an installment loan where they disburse you all the proceeds up front, Pentagon Federal Credit Union has an online special for 1.99% for five years. It is an installment loan (HEL), not the same as a HELOC. They pay all the closing costs, minus appraisal should one be required. Anyone can join Penfed by making a small donation to your choice of a couple of different nonprofit organizations. </p>
<p>I just took one of these three months ago and used the proceeds to pay off the balance of my conventional mortgage, so now I only have the HEL. </p>
<p>(In case you are trying to figure out if I’m a student or parent or what, I am old enough to be a college student’s parent but I don’t have kids and never graduated from college. Thanks to my monthly house payment being lowered, I finally have the cash flow to go to school part time, woo hoo!)</p>
<p>I completely agree with Studential. I am a huge, huge fan of PenFed. They have the best deals around for owner occupied. The only negative is they have so much business, it can take awhile. Plus I hope you have plenty of equity in your house, when it gets reappraised, well, things are kind of scary and you may not want to dump your HELOC till you’re sure you have a new one approved. The HEL Studential mentioned is an unbelieveable deal. You can also get the same deal if you have a car that is paid off, if you don’t want to go the HEL route. You can get a 1.99% auto loan on a paid off vehicle. They sent us a check last year for $17K at 1.99%/pay it off in 4 years, and you can use it for whatever you want, but they get the title until you finish paying. If you don’t want a HEL (I sure would), there are 2 other deals. The 5/5 is great because you are locked in at 3.75% for 5 years:</p>
<p>5/5 line of credit (locked in for 5 yrs, then adjusts every 5 years,
"OWNER OCCUPIED HOME -
75% OR LESS LOAN TO VALUE
Borrow $25,000 - $400,000 </p>
<p>Up to 180 Months </p>
<p>Or just a HELOC
"Borrow $10,000 - $400,000 </p>
<p>Prime + 0%<br>
Variable 3.75% APR2
(Prime Rate is 3.25% as of
March 27, 2012) </p>
<p>There is a minimum rate floor of 3.75% APR and
a maximum rate of 18%APR<br>
3.750 / 3.542% APR2"</p>
<p>We had a very difficult time finding a good rate when we looked in April. Local banks were 7-8%. I was surprised because we have excellent credit (over 800 for each of us) and even after the line, would have considerable equity.</p>
<p>WOW thanks all–I will need to sit and think about your information as it is just above my head but totally appreciated. Tomorrow I will concentrate! We have at least 60–70%equity in our home, if not more and no other anything other than our morgage and this equity loan which is small but I hate the %. Credit score is excellent.
ordinaylives–even your bank was that high?</p>
<p>Yep, even at my own local bank. We wound up with State Farm.</p>