Not anymore but that certainly isn’t by choice.  It is hard to get cash out of your home due to the amount of equity that is required in a home.  For a regular Conventional loan you typically can’t go above 80% loan to value (have to have 20% equity) and with a home equity line of credit it is around 70% loan to value. 

Taking equity out of your home for remodeling, improvements, investments, and paying down debt can be okay depending on how it’s used with each.  Just as I recently posted, renovations aren’t adding value to homes as much as they used to.  You don’t want to invest the equity into something risky, always consult a financial planner.  And when it comes to paying down debt you need to make sure it’s really saving you as much money as you think since your new payment is most likely based on 30 years. 

I think banks should somehow restrict how the money is used.  I am not sure exactly how you do that but for instance if someone is paying off credit card debt they should require the borrower to sign something at closing that will be sent to the credit card company with the payment stating they are closing the credit card account.  We just don’t have self-control and if that credit card is still open there is a good chance that you will use it again. 

The bottom line is be careful what you use this money for from your home. 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/34592393 

The article below states that they are coming back as the market stabilize however they have been around since the bust.   The problem is that most of them are capped and you have to have 25% equity in the property AFTER you take out the home equity line, 75% loan to value.  Even when things do stabilize I would be surprised if any bank goes above 80% loan to value. 

The article gives you tips on using it the right way.  Don’t max your line out and make sure to use it for the right reasons such as a car loan, etc. since you will get an interest deduction.  If you don’t need it at all right now it is nice to have for emergency use especially since if you don’t draw on it you won’t pay any interest.  Remember, banks lend you money when you don’t need it and as we have learned when you do need it, good luck.    

http://money.cnn.com/2009/12/14/real_estate/home_equity.moneymag/index.htm?section=money_realestate&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_realestate+%28Real+Estate%29

Yes, we did not have enough cash to buy our place without borrowing from the bank.  It would have been nice but in todays world it is not a realistic possibility for most people.  We bought our condo for 239,500, we then took out a home equity line for $191,600.  This is the maximum amount that you are allowed to borrow for a HELOC.  The difference of $47,900 was our down payment.  After all of the legal fees, moving costs, and other various expenses we had $17,000 to spare to put directly on the HELOC.

Our current HELOC balance is $174,550.  Now because I work in the banking industry I get some pretty good rates.  Up until JAN 5 2010 my HELOC rate is just 1.75%!  After that it goes up to 2.75%.  The jump in rates is that same jump that the banks put through to consumers a couple of months ago.  That means that up until Christmas my interest only payment will be just $255/month.  After that it will be just $400/month.  We will of course be paying more than this, but if times get rough we can easily cut back on expenses if need be.

I currently only work 15-25 hours a week because I am in school, and my wife is on maternity leave until April.  This means that will we will not pay down our HELOC as fast as we want to, but as soon as we have increased income or any extra cash we will be depositing it directly onto the loan.

Home equity loans are always found to be tempting for many homeowners for a number of reasons, like the interest is tax deductible, rates are usually lower than the other types of loans, and most importantly easy to obtain. But there can be disadvantages, so it is important that you should know what they are to be able to determine the best home equity loan for you.

To choose for the best home equity loan that is right for your specific situation will depend on two things: what do you need to use the money for how do you want to receive the money? Whatever your purpose in considering home equity loan, determining the different ways how you can make the best of your home equity into cash can greatly help you in choosing for the best home equity loan for you. And, these are:

o Refinancing. When you take a cash-out refinance, it means you are refinancing your existing loan to a larger amount than what you owe and taking the difference in cash. You will receive your money in lump sum and you might want to use the cash for home improvements or debt consolidation. If the mortgage interest rate on your existing home loan is higher than current rates, then it makes no sense to refinance this way.
o Home equity loan. If you have a great mortgage interest rate and don’t want to refinance your existing mortgage, a home equity loan might be the key. A home equity loan is a second loan that you can take out in addition to your first mortgage. It allows you to borrow cash from the equity of your home.
o Home equity line of credit. A home equity line of credit, or HELOC, is different from the two options described above. It works like a checking account or credit card except that it uses the equity in your home as the revolving line of credit. You will only pay when you use the money. However, unlike any other credit cards, the interest is usually tax deductible. A home equity line of credit can be a great choice if you need to access your money repeatedly.

It is said that no single best home equity loans for anybody, because it would put your home on the line. But, under certain circumstances that you will need to loan for a bigger amount to be used for important things and that you know you can make the payments on time, then you may consider home equity loan. But then again that does not end there. Among the three types of home equity loans, you still have to choose what is best for you. And to be able to do that, choose the one that best serve your purpose for borrowing the money in the first place.

For more information about home loans and home mortgages go to: http://home-loan-mortgage-refinance.info

The nature of the "cash-out is known refinance refinance" if a borrower) (homeowners to refinance their loans, so that the new loan from the current loan and the required cash-out will consist amount. The result of this refinancing is to reduce the amount of capital, but also a necessary amount of cash. There are two ways that a borrower may execute a cash-out refinance. In this article I will refinance the existing loan account to draw anew mortgage, but borrowers can also offer home equity line of credit (HELOC) behind their existing first mortgage.

The cash-out refinancing is the best way, you are an example. Suppose a homeowner has a house worth $ 300,000 and $ 200,000 they owe on the mortgage, the stock is on the home at $ 100,000 (33%) of the current property value. In this example, would be in a cash-out refinancing refinancing, the borrower not only the remaining U.S. $ 200,000, but also aadditional amount of about 50,000 U.S. dollars. The mortgage is now $ 250,000 and the amount of equity in the property was reduced to 50,000 U.S. dollars. The homeowner now has a $ 50,000 line of credit for what they want to use. So how can a cash-out refinance can help support us financially?

The cash released by the cash-out refinance may be made with a variety of applications. For example, the homeowner could use the money to pay other existing debt that has a higher interest rateas the home mortgage. This would save money on interest payments. This would be particularly useful in the consolidation of credit card debt, where interest rates are much higher. The money will be paid from the cash-out refinance that debt could save hundreds or even thousands of dollars over the life of the cards or other loans. The cash released can also be used to finance home improvements, such as changes in food, increase the valuethe property, often more than the money in. This may mean make a backup copy of building equity quickly and easily with the money from the cash obtained through refinancing.

There are many other ways in which the released funds could be used, for example, college loans, major appliances and so on. If the money from the cash-out refinancing for such purchases and expenditures, the amount of money can also be of potential interest if credit cards were used in order to be savedbe used.

The question that homeowners have to ask themselves whether it makes sense to exploit financially to their existing mortgage, which must refinance free cash daily. Homeowners keep in mind that there are fees associated with a second mortgage and even more if it on the refinancing of their existing first mortgage and taking cash-out plan. It is advisable to long-term financial goals, and what money can not generally released. Through the use of homeowners, they can save wiselyfrom additional debt and even that they deserve the money more equity for them.