As a military family, careful financial planning is essential. Finding the right info on your VA home loan tools is crucial. Whether for home improvements, debt consolidation, or education, your home’s equity can be a smart resource. This post explores the top 5 home equity loan lenders for military families, highlighting their key features. We’ll cover interest rates, loan terms, and benefits to help you secure a beneficial equity loan.
Which VA Home Loan Company Is Least Restrictive?
Table of Contents:
- Understanding Home Equity Loans
- Factors to Consider When Choosing a Lender
- Top 5 Home Equity Loan Lenders for Military Families
- Additional Tips for Military Families
- Conclusion
Understanding Home Equity Loans
Before exploring lenders, it’s important to understand home equity. Home equity is the difference between your home’s market value and your mortgage balance. It’s the portion you truly own. A home equity loan provides a lump sum of this equity.
This loan type is repaid over a fixed period with consistent monthly payments. Home equity loan lenders can help you access your equity and find competitive options with varying repayment terms.
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Lender
Choosing among the top home equity loan lenders hinges on your priorities. Consider these key factors before making a decision, including the minimum fico credit score required to qualify and considering any variable rate options alongside fixed-rate loans. Here’s what to consider when considering loan lenders:
- Interest Rates: Seek competitive, fixed interest rates for predictable monthly payments. Current trends show higher rates for 30-year, $100,000 home equity loans. Remember that the annual percentage rate (APR) will significantly influence your loan costs.
- Loan Terms: Loan terms typically range from 5-30 years. Choose a loan term aligning with your repayment capabilities and long-term financial goals.
- Fees and Closing Costs: Carefully examine each lender’s fees and closing costs, and understand their impact. Some offer perks like rate discounts for using autopay or having a savings account, checking account, or other account types with them.
- Lender Reputation and Customer Service: Research each lender’s reputation for customer service. Online convenience is crucial, especially if a physical branch isn’t nearby. Many mortgage lenders also provide home equity loans. Consider checking with your current mortgage provider about home equity loan options or a cash-out refinance.
- Loan-to-Value Ratio (LTV): Your LTV is your loan amount compared to your property’s value. Many lenders have an 85% LTV cap. However, some allow combined LTV ratios up to 90%, offering flexibility depending on your specific situation and potentially lower your monthly payment.
Top 5 VA Home Equity Loan Lenders for Military Families
Here are five lenders offering advantages for military families and some competitive equity loan rates: These personal finance tools offer valuable solutions when planning important financial steps, such as deciding between multiple loan types and making a choice of personal loan or an equity loan to fund a debt consolidation plan.
| Lender | Benefits | Drawbacks |
|---|---|---|
| Navy Federal Credit Union | Often offers favorable loan terms for military personnel, potentially accepting higher debt-to-income ratios and LTV’s as high as 100%. You can join a federal credit union with many varying eligibility requirements. | Eligibility is limited to military members, veterans, and their families. Publicly available rate details are often scarce, meaning a call to a loan officer will be necessary to get loan rates for credit cards and CD rates (certificate of deposit interest rates) in order to learn about the refinance rates that would apply in a home equity lending situation. |
| Discover | Competitive interest rates and loan amounts from $35,000 to $300,000. Also offers mortgage refinancing, requiring only 10% home equity. No origination fees, appraisal fees, or prepayment penalties. | Limited product offerings (no HELOCs) and operates online without physical branches. Loan amount range is somewhat restricted. While there are few personal loan offers, Discover focuses on its equity lending solutions for both primary residence and secondary residences, and its strong credit card portfolio. |
| TD Bank | Flexible loan amounts from $10,000 to $500,000. Accepts credit scores as low as 660 and offers both fixed and adjustable loan rates, even on investment and vacation properties. They offer personal loans, home equity loans, auto loans and student loan refinance loans. | Limited geographic availability and some fees may be unclear. Understanding your potential loan rates and closing costs is important early in the process. Be sure to understand their rate discount policy as well. |
| Rocket Mortgage | Streamlined online application and high customer satisfaction. Borrow up to 90% of your home’s equity with loans from $45,000 to $500,000. Borrowers may have an easy time applying with them as they do have high customer satisfaction and provide loans on many property types, and in cases may be able to lend up to a higher loan-to-value ratio, depending on individual circumstances. With a loan this size, many people find themselves in a balance transfer situation where they end up being able to lower their interest rates and have more manageable repayment terms. | Lacks physical branches and offers fewer loan term choices than some competitors. Ensure you meet their eligibility requirements for applying, such as a minimum fico credit score or other related requirements that sometimes come into play when applying for a money market loan product or home equity product. |
| Flagstar Bank | Offers a 0.25% rate discount for autopay and has no closing costs for loans up to $1,000,000. Homeowners can often make use of a home equity loan as homeowners insurance can be very expensive and these can help offset other financial goals, too. This money is often also used for big life events such as life insurance premiums, as these events may occur outside the loan terms and having to refinance a second time isn’t usually a worthwhile endeavir. Auto insurance is another popular option for these loan products. | Requires a higher minimum equity of 20%. While their home equity lines may have different requirements than home equity loans, this product in particular makes it more difficult to borrow above the typical maximum loan-to-value ratio or beyond other eligibility requirements, although other personal finance options may be open to you as a customer such as credit cards, equity lines of credit, personal loans, and savings accounts. |
Additional Tips for Military Families
VA loans offer distinct advantages. Explore the best VA loan lenders to see if they fit your needs.
Understanding Navy career paths can inform your financial planning. Check out these Top 5 Navy Jobs. Your annual income plays a significant factor when assessing loan affordability and getting pre-approved for your new home.
Tapping into home equity is a big decision. Use this list of top lenders as a starting point for your research. Make an informed choice based on your unique needs. Each lender may require certain eligibility requirements, such as minimum FICO credit score criteria, and have differing interest rates, loan terms, loan amounts, and closing costs.
Conclusion
Choosing from the top home equity loan lenders requires careful consideration. Evaluate interest rates, loan terms, fees, and lender reputation. Align these with your circumstances and financial goals.
Make a sound decision that works best for your family’s needs. Consider whether a lump sum loan from a traditional equity loan or an equity line of credit with a fixed-rate lock option is right for you given the potential draw period and any interest rate fluctuation possible. Keep in mind some equity loans may offer lower annual percentage rates with a shorter year draw. Depending on the length of the year draw, a longer-term home equity loan, rather than one of the few personal loan products available or short-term variable rate credit card option, may offer the greater financial flexibility to make home improvements and fund other financial goals.
Disclaimer: Bankrate strives to provide diverse offers, but may not cover every available financial product.