Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Home Equity Lines of Credit 101

Home Equity Credit Lines

If you need to borrow money, home equity lines may be one useful source of credit. Initially at least, they may provide you with large amounts of cash at relatively low interest rates and they may provide you with certain tax advantages unavailable with other kinds of loans. (Check with your tax advisor for details.)


At the same time, home equity lines of credit require you to use your home as collateral for the loan. This may put your home at risk if you are late or cannot make your monthly payments. Those loans with a large final (balloon) payment may lead you to borrow more money to pay off this debt, or they may put your home in jeopardy if you cannot qualify for refinancing. If you sell your home, most plans require you to pay off your credit line at that time. In addition, because home equity loans give you relatively easy access to cash, you might find you borrow money more freely.

Remember too, there are other ways to borrow money from a lending institution. For example, you may want to explore second mortgage installment loans. Although these plans also place an additional mortgage on your home, second mortgage money usually is loaned in a lump sum, rather than in a series of advances made available by writing checks on an account. Also, second mortgages usually have fixed interest rates and fixed payment amounts.

You also may want to explore borrowing from credit lines that do not use your home as collateral. These are available with your credit cards or with unsecured credit lines that let you write checks as you need the money. In addition, you may want to ask about loans for specific items, such as cars or tuition.

Refinancing 101

Looking to Refinance?

Taking a closer Look at Home Mortgage Refinancing

Refinancing your house can lower your monthly mortgage payment or enable you to use the equity that you've accrued in your home for things like financing home improvements, helping to pay for your children's education or consolidating debt and other bills. Refinancing can also allow you to shorten the term of your mortgage or change the type of loan you have (changing from a ARM to a fixed rate loan).

Fast home mortgage refinancing decisions
We've worked hard to streamline the home mortgage refinancing process for you. We require less information and process your application faster, so you can get a decision in minutes, not hours or days. You can get your questions answered by calling us at 610-409-6111 or by
emailing us.

Home mortgage refinance calculator
To help you determine if this is a good time to refinance your mortgage, you can use our
calculators to find out what your payment options may be for a specific loan amount.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Home Buying 101

Buying a New Home

Before buying a new home, you should know the steps involved and the tools we have made available to help you.

Four steps to a mortgage
Anyone interested in getting a home loan will need to go through the following steps:
1. Making a mortgage application

2. Underwriting and processing
3. Preparing for settlement and collecting funds for closing
4. ClosingHow long it takes to apply and get approved for a mortgage depends on factors such as application time and underwriting processes.

And, because we can give you a decision within minutes rather than hours or days, you can get to closing faster than with the traditional process. Of course, if you ever have questions, you can call us at 610-409-6111

Tools for obtaining a mortgage loan
Through our safe and secure website we offer:
• An easy application process
• A full approval (pre-approvals are also available)
• A significant reduction in the number of personal documents and data required
• Streamlined appraisal requirements
• An approval decision, at no cost, for all the products that you qualify for
• A custom interest rate based on your financial information
• A quick decision on your home loan application – within minutes, not hours or days

You can use our calculator to see how much mortgage you can afford. Then, when you’re ready to proceed with purchasing your new home, click here to apply!