Reply #18: yes indeedy weedy [View All]

[amazona]

This is a favorite way for banks to get your property. As another person with very low income, I am offered home equity loans just about every day in my mailbox.

My choice is to keep the equity in my home for true emergencies such as a health crisis since I do not expect to ever have a higher income. Therefore I will not take out a loan against my home for anything less than major. If you have more of a future financially, your home may be a good source of cash. However, keep in mind, once you have borrowed the entire equity of your home, you don't have that source of emergency cash any longer, so it is very important to have some sort of cash savings if another crisis arises.

I don't mean to sound negative but too often emergencies come in cycles. If they came one by one, we could handle them, it's when they come in little groups that it can cause us to lose our homes or declare bankruptcy if we aren't very, very cautious.

Don't necessarily borrow all of your equity, just what you need to get through your current crisis.

On Edit -- OK, I read the rest of the thread, and it seems that you have been through a legitimate crisis and that you will be able to rebuild. If I were in your situation, I would likely take the HELOC from the local bank but I have maintained a good relationship despite my low income with my bank. It somewhat depends on your credit history but I think you will get a loan, it just might not necessarily be at the lowest possible interest rate. Don't be ashamed to speak to a local bank officer if the better deal is offered locally rather than online. They see people in bigger messes every day. If no one ever needed a loan, that nicely dressed loan officer wouldn't have a job! You are the customer, you are a source of business to them, so don't feel inferior or afraid to shop around.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72