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Are you a homeowner with a secure job and fixed income? Then a home equity loan is your best solution during times when you need some extra cash to meet expenditures such as home improvement or loan consolidation. If you need credit within a short period of time, and if you are certain you will be able to pay off the debt within a certain period and know exactly how much your expenditure is going to cost, then home equity credit line is your ideal solution. In other words, when you are going to borrow for a shorter period to cover emergency expenses, drawing on the home equity credit line is the way to go.

You should always choose a home equity line of credit plan that fulfills your particular financial needs. Before finalizing on the deal, go through the credit agreement carefully. Examine each clause separately and in detail. Consider the annual percentage rate or the APR, which is the measure of the effective interest rate that has to be paid on a loan, taking into consideration other fees. The APR is a more accurate reflection of the true cost of the loan that the borrower has to bear as it tells you the total cost of borrowing. The APR makes it easier to compare lenders and loan options to understand the comparative benefit of different loan products.

Drawing on home equity line of credit proves to be particularly cost effective in a market characterized by rising interest rates. The home equity credit lines are characterized by variable rather than fixed interest rates. The variable rates are generally guided by government indexes such as U.S. Treasury bill rate etc. Follow the publicly available indexes to learn about the fluctuations in the interest rate for home equity credit. The interest rate that the lenders publish in their brochures reflects this value of the index at a given point of time plus a margin of a few percentages. Now there are many such indexes; so make sure of the past records of that particular index used by your chosen lender.

Some lenders however will allow you to switch from a variable interest rate to a fixed rate in the middle of the plan. Some plans also enable you to transform all or a part of your home equity line of credit to a fixed-term installment loan.

If you are planning to consolidate your debts on the strength of home equity credit, it is surely going to be more cost-effective than other consumer debt, not only due to its lower interest rate, but also for its tax-saving features. But in order to make the most of the best possible tax deduction advantages, you have to first itemize the taxes payable.