Is it hard to get a heloc loan

When you have equity in your home, you can use it to get cash to pay for things like college or home improvements. You can also use the cash to consolidate high interest debts.

One way to get cash from your home equity is with a home equity line of credit (also called a "HELOC"). Home equity lines of credit work much like credit cards do. You can choose how much money to take out from a HELOC, up to a certain limit. You can choose when you take the money out during a set period of time when you can access available funds (this is called the "draw period").

You also make monthly payments on HELOCs. Often, you are only required to make interest payments during an initial period. After the draw period, you make monthly principal and interest payments until the HELOC is paid off. Other ways to borrow against your home equity include home equity loans and cash out refinances.

To qualify for a HELOC you need to meet the requirements set by the lender. Lenders typically look at your home equity, your loan-to-value ratio, your debt-to-income ratio, and your credit score before they decide whether you qualify for a home equity line of credit. These numbers can also affect the interest rate they might offer you on a HELOC. Let's look at these requirements in more detail.

Home equity and loan-to-value ratio requirements for HELOCs

The first requirement is having enough home equity to qualify for a HELOC. Your home equity is the current market value of your house minus what you owe on your mortgage and any other loans and liens against it. For example, if your house is currently worth $250,000 and you own $125,000 on the mortgage, then you have $125,000 in home equity.

Most lenders will not allow you to borrow the full amount of your home equity with a HELOC however. Instead they will set a limit to the amount of money you can borrow based on a loan-to-value ratio (or "LTV"). You get a loan-to-value ratio by dividing the amount of a mortgage and other loans against a house by the value of that house and making the result a percentage.

Using the example above, if your house is worth $250,000 and you owe $125,000 on the mortgage then your loan-to-value ratio is 50%. (That is $125,000 / $250,000 = 0.50 or 50%.) Some lenders who offer HELOCs have a maximum loan-to-value ratio of 80%. They might use this maximum to decide how much you may be able to borrow like this:

In this scenario you might be able to get a home equity line of credit of up to $50,000. That's because the amount of the HELOC plus the amount you owe on your mortgage can be no higher than $200,000. Generally speaking, it is easier to qualify for a HELOC when you have a large amount of home equity and a low loan-to-value ratio.

Debt-to-income ratio requirements for HELOCs

Another number many lenders consider before they decide you qualify for a HELOC is your debt-to-income ratio (or "DTI"). Your debt-to-income ratio is the total of all your monthly debt payments divided by your gross monthly income.

For example, say your total monthly debt payments for a mortgage plus a car loan equals $1,500 and your gross monthly income is $5,000. That means your mortgage debt-to-income ratio is 30%. ($1,500 / $5,000 = 0.30 or 30%.)

When lenders are deciding whether you qualify for a HELOC, they will take your current total monthly debt payments, add to them an estimate of what your payments for the new HELOC might be, and calculate a new higher debt-to-income ratio. Lenders usually have a maximum DTI to qualify for a HELOC. Your debt-to-income ratio has to stay under this maximum.

The maximum DTI is different for different lenders. Some lenders follow the guidelines of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which recommends that people keep their debt-to-income ratio under 43%. Other lenders might accept a higher DTI. Overall the lower your debt-to-income ratio, the easier it can be to qualify for a HELOC.

Credit score requirements for HELOCs

Your credit score is a three digit number that estimates how likely you are to pay back money you borrow. A higher credit score is better than a lower score. Lenders look at your credit score to help them decide whether you qualify for a HELOC and what interest rate they might offer you.

Like other HELOC requirements, the credit score you need can be different from lender to lender. The credit reporting agency Experian says borrowers typically need a credit score of 680 to qualify for a home equity line of credit. The Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) has found 620 is the minimum credit score lenders might accept. FICO also notes that borrowers with lower credit scores often have to pay higher interest rates to get a HELOC.

Freedom Mortgage offers cash out refinances on home equity

Freedom Mortgage offers cash out refinances for people who want to get cash from their home equity. To learn more read our article on the differences between HELOCs and cash out refinances.

If you would like to speak to one our friendly Loan Advisors about a cash out refinance Get Started online or call us at 877-220-5533.

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