Anybody know about Home Equity Lines?

[upNdown]

I'm planning on financing a good deal of living expenses and tuition with a through my home equity.  I realize most people on these boards are students who don't own houses, but I'm wondering if anybody out there works for a mortgage broker or bank and knows how these things work.  It seems to make sense since the rates are significantly lower than private loans. 

So if I need an extra 20K or 30K per year for the next 3 years, what's the best way to do it?  I'm guessing an equity line, because then I can just request another 10 grand whenever I need it. 

Are there any equity loans that let you pay interest only, or defer payment altogether?  It doesn't make much sense for me to be borrowing money to make payments on the money I'm borrowing, right? 

[LostMyMonkeys]

Well, consider that rates for equity lines are Prime + a bit so they hover right around prime, depending on your credit.

If you have a decent amount of equity in your home, it may be worth it. Many lenders will only lend you 70, 80 or 100% of LTV ratio, so if your house hasn't appreciated much, you may not qualify.

There are interest only loans out there but with prime interest rate right now being 7.25% (fairly high), many people are not qualifying. The best way to do it is to research a few lenders (BofA has an equity calculator on their site where you enter your address and it tells you the value) which is handy to see what it would be vs what you owe. There are a lot of big bank lenders that have good information on HELOCs and Equity Loans (two different things). Your best bet is to check those out then call some, do everything short of giving your SSN (for the credit check) until you know you want your credit checked. If you do several in a few day period, it all gets looked at as one inquiry (shopping around is ok to a point)

Lots of private law loans are all prime + XX depending on your credit so an equity line may or may not be the best way to go.

[upNdown]

Thanks for the advice.  I have at least 150K in equity (I bought at a young age and real estate has skyrocketed ridiculously in the NorthEast over the past 8 years), so I should be able to get as much as I need. 

My local credit union is offering a 15 year equity line at 6.5 fixed.  Obviously this isn't an interest only loan.  I'm just wondering if it would be worth it to open a line like that and continue to take advances as I need them for my expenses and to make payments?  It seems stupid to do it that way, but since the rate is so much better than other options, does it actually make sense? 

(Obviously I'm going to pursue all federal loans first - this money is just to make up the difference. )