low interest home equity loan
MONEY | Cutting college loan costs
Rates on federally sponsored college loans are scheduled to increase Saturday, and consolidating existing loans will become less advantageous then. -Many borrowers can get discounts such as a quarter-point reduction in the interest rate for paying by automatic debit and another one-point reduction in the rate after they make 36 on-time payments. On a $30,000 consolidation loan, that would save an additional $6,000 over 20 years.
-Some families might find it cheaper to borrow money by taking out a second mortgage or home-equity credit line, or to lower the payment by extending an existing loan.
-To learn more about federal student loans, see the Department of Education's Web site at .gov. For details on consolidation loans, see Sallie Mae's Web site at www.smartloan.com.
More low interest home equity loan info
Use Your Home Equity Wisely
Web sites like www.LowerMyBills.com make it easy to find and compare various loan options. Here are some tips on how to use your home equity wisely.
* Pay off outstanding debt - "Credit card interest rates can be 10 or more percentage points higher than home equity loans or line of credit, so if you are dealing with mounting debt, it can make sense to pay off those credit cards using a lower-interest home equity loan," says Coffin. Just make sure to cut up the credit cards first.