Related Articles Home Loans: To Substantiate Financial Possibilities On Your Land Availability of Home loans is in full bloom. They are uncomplicated, tenable, easily available, very flexible and tailor-made for homeowners. They are offered by almost every loan lending or financial institution. Home loans are like omnipresent and yet encountering the requisite home loan is like a Gordian knot. Sometimes innumerable alternatives have the obvious effect of leaving you irresolute of which home loan to settle for. Home Equity Loans Categories Fixed Rate Mortgages: These loans have a fixed rate of interest over the entire term for which the loan has been disbursed. The term for these mortgages is typically between 10 to 30 years. The monthly interest payment on these loans is fixed and hence there exists a certainty about the repayment of the debt over the entire term of the debt. Another advantage of fixed rate mortgages is that the initial down payment required is very low, generally around 5% of the loan amount to be disbursed. Home Equity Loan Considerations In other words, the benefit of the loan must outlast the loan period. Taking a loan for financing that elusive vacation is a strict no-no. Moreover, home equity loans must also never be taken for day-to-day expenditures. This option should be saved for emergency needs only. What Are Home Equity Loans? A home equity loan is simply borrowing on the difference of the value of your home and the outstanding mortgage on the house. Lets say, you have bought a home worth $50,000 some time back, after making a down payment of $5,000. The value of your home has now appreciated to $60,000. The difference between the present value of your home ($60,000) and the outstanding payment ($45,000) is $15,000. This is the amount of the home equity loan that you can apply for. Types Of Home Equity Loans There are two broad types of home equity loans: Term loans: Home equity loans of a fixed nature are also called second mortgages. For example, if you have bought a home for $10,000, and made a down payment of $1,000, and taken a mortgage for the rest and have managed to repay another $2,000, then you can apply for a home equity loan of $3,000. Term loans have a normally shorter tenor than first mortgages. Tax deductions can be claimed on interest repayments. It is a normal loan wherein you repay the loan in fixed installments over a period of time.