HELOC lenders?

September 8, 2022 12:00 PM

I've never gotten a HELOC before but I have quite a bit of equity in my home and I'd like to take some out for home improvements and also to just have some cash on hand in this uncertain economy. There seem to be a number of lenders out there and just wondering if anyone has had positive personal experiences with any? And what is considered a good rate these days? I'm in California, if it matters.
posted by madonna of the unloved to Work & Money (4 answers total)

The HELOC I got through BECU follows the prime rate, which will likely not go down for some time.

There were two ways to borrow against the HELOC, one loan with a variable rate and the other with a fixed rate. These had different costs and features.

The advantage of the variable-rate loan is that I could borrow against equity at any time, but with the downside of it being more expensive. And as interest rates would go up, my payment would go up accordingly. Before Covid/inflation, this was rare — rates were historically low pre-2020.

The fixed-rate loans were even cheaper, and I could turn the variable-rate loan into a fixed-rate loan, but I could only have up to three of them at a time. If I had three fixed-rate loans going, I'd have to pay off one before I could do another such loan.

The variable-rate loans can be useful for small projects you can pay off quickly. The fixed-rate loans are useful for borrowing larger amounts of cash at one time, more cheaply over the long term.

Another advantage is that I had the advance as long as I liked, effectively, and I didn't need to borrow against it. At first, I simply applied for some amount, and it was then available through my credit union to transfer from, at any time.

I don't know what is available in California in terms of credit unions, but you might shop there if you have one near you.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:30 PM on September 8, 2022

I did HELOCs through Figure and have zero complaints. Everything was done online, including notary, and funding was prompt and painless. Rates were very competitive at the time.
posted by hijinx at 12:38 PM on September 8, 2022

I have had several mortgages (not HELOCs) from PenFed and always found them very easy to deal with and no hidden fees etc. They have HELOCs. In general, check credit unions.
posted by Mid at 4:34 PM on September 8, 2022

We just went with Homestreet because our mortgage is with them and we have had good experiences with the people. We compared rates and they were pretty comparable across lenders.
posted by matildaben at 10:11 PM on September 8, 2022