Is a line of home equity credit (HELOC) accessible to everyone? Yes, but only if…
If you need to finance less than 80% of the total value of your property, you could have a portion of your mortgage in the form of a line of credit. The portion of your mortgage that comprises the line of credit cannot be greater than 65% of the value of your property.
You have to be able to make payments equivalent to the qualifying rate for terms of less than 5 years. This rate is usually equivalent to the 5-year posted pate, which is usually 1.5%-2% higher than the rates offered by the banks. You will not have to pay this rate; it is simply the rate used to qualify you for a line of credit.
In addition to these qualifying criteria, it is important that you have a solid plan in place for the use of your line of credit. Serious discipline is strongly recommended for the management of a line of credit because a lot of people decide to pay only the interest, or even worse, use their line of credit for extravagant consumer purchases. Your mortgage is not an ATM, and a line of credit is for disciplined individuals who will profit from having flexible access to the liquidity in their home.