How Can You Capitalize on Your Home's Equity?

Many homeowners have built up a lot of equity in their homes, thanks in part to rising home values in Austin. Today, we'll discuss the first of many ways you can take advantage of the equity in your home.

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Over the past couple of years, a lot of our clients have built up a lot of equity in their homes thanks to rising home values. So what can you do to take advantage of this equity in your home?One way is to open a home equity line of credit. It's simply a line of credit that sits at the bank until you're ready to use it. For example, say you have a $300,000 house that you own outright with no mortgage. You can get a home equity line of credit for up to $240,000 that you can do whatever you want with.Say you want to remodel your kitchen and you need $50,000. You can take that money out of your credit line and pay it back when you can. Of course, you have to pay interest, but overall, it's a pretty easy process.This is also potentially beneficial for investors. You can buy a house for $150,000 with your credit, rehab the house, sell it, and use the proceeds to pay the loan back. The credit is quite flexible.Getting a home equity line of credit is pretty similar to getting a normal mortgage in terms of what the bank will ask for. They'll want to see tax returns, credit, and any kind of financial stuff. The good thing is that they typically won't charge any closing costs like an appraisal.This is just one way to take advantage of the equity in your home. We'll discuss more ways in future videos. In the meantime, if you have any questions or you're thinking about buying or selling a home in Austin, give me a call or send me an email soon. I'd be happy to help.