Should I Refinance Or Take Out A Second Mortgage?

When you are looking at getting some extra money for whatever purpose you want you have two options, you can consider: Taking out a second mortgage Refinancing your existing mortgage

You shouldn't look into taking out a second mortgage instead of refinancing, and this is why:

1. Second mortgages have a higher interest rate, this can be three times higher than your original mortgage. If you refinance instead then you can keep your current low rate, which will save you a lot of money in interest charges. So don't take out a second mortgage, instead just refinance your existing one!

2. Home equity lines of credit aren't really that great either, they are sold to you by people that ring you up on the phone. The idea and main selling feature is that you can use it like a credit card which is attached to your house. The people selling these can be very persuasive and will try to encourage you to use this line of credit time and time again.

3. Refinancing your existing loan is much better to keep some equity in your home. Not many loan companies will refinance your home back up to 100% of the value without making you take out a second mortgage. You certainly don't want to sell all of your house back to the bank, if you do that you have no safety margin should anything go wrong.

4. Sales people like to sell you second mortgages because they get a lot of commission from doing so. Don't believe everything they say, it's likely that they will say anything to get the most commission possible!

5. Equity in your home is very valuable, sure it's tied up and you can't spend it. But it's an investment, by releasing all of the equity in your home it can be very dangerous. Should you need any money in an emergency, you have nothing to fall back on. Plus if the house prices in your area fall you could be left struggling with negative equity, which is where you owe more than the house is actually worth.

6. The best piece of advice is this, if you don't genuinely need something then don't take out a second mortgage. If you can do without it then don't consider a second mortgage, these should only be used for emergencies. Refinancing on the other hand can be used to release money for anything you might need it for.

I can't stress this enough, the only reason you should use a second mortgage is if you're in an emergency situation that cannot be resolved by other means. Do not use it for anything that isn't essential.

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