I have a 1979 house that I'm looking to do some upgrades and wanting to leverage my home equity for a loan to do such. I have almost $500K in equity and a very good credit score. I've never taken a home equity loan before.



Credit Score: 759

I spoke with one company (Rocket Mortgage) which is the same company I have the current loan with. They gave me an ~9% on a $100K loan. I have about 9 1/2 years of 15 years left on my 2.25% refinanced loan. If I wanted to pay the $100K loan off around the same time as my primary mortgage, the monthly payment would be $1,266.76 with over 50% ($52,010.93) in interest.



I have to have better options than that, correct?

Stay away from Rocket (really for any loan) but especially on a HELOC/HELOAN. Second liens do not get sold to Fannie/Freddie, so a non bank lender like Rocket is not the best choice for a second mortgage. To show that I am impartial and not just bashing Rocket, we are also a non bank lender and not the best opton for second liens on owner occupied properties as i tell my former borrowers who contact me asking for one.

Your best bet for a HELOC/HELOAN are your regional banks like Amegy, Frost, Bank of Texas etc. and the like and some Credit unions. They will typically have better rates and usually will offer teaser rates at least for a period of time. These banks/CU really use the HELOC as a loss leader to get you in their door, require you to open a cheking account, market you their other products which we simply do not have.

On the other hand, if you are looking to borrow against an investment property those same banks/CU will not do that loan, but we do a lot of those.

I'm 2 years retired but I called a former coworker at Amegy. They've got 2 options. One at 4.99% for the first 6 months and one at 5.49% for the first 6 months. That's all I know but they can fill you in.