@SoCalGardener wrote:Luckily, my house can never be at risk of losing it. I have 100% equity (I own it outright) and it's worth $1.8M. I continually get unsolicited offers for home equity loans and HELOCs where they show my estimated home value, my mortgage amount ($0), and the amount I could borrow ($1M+). I shred them. (I remember posting a while back because one of them put that information on the OUTSIDE of the envelope, which really irked me. They've since stopped doing that. Must've gotten a lot of complaints.) Anyway, I will never do anything that puts this house at risk.
The three cards that total about $28,000 are all on 0% terms right now. But they'll all end at some point. The only one I can think of offhand is my BofA Customized Cash, which will end in February of next year. I really lucked out when I was doing this whole remodeling thing! I just happened to get offers at the right time that really helped, like the 0% on purchases for a year from BofA, and the 3% CB for home improvement also from BofA. The other two cards are Citi Double Cash and Discover; they had similar offers,, so right now I'm not paying any interest--but will eventually.
I've been watching BT offers like a hawk, hoping against hope to see a zero/zero offer (0% APR *and* $0 fee), but that hasn't happened--yet. All of mine are 0%, but none has a $0 fee--they all vary from 3-5%. Still, though, with 0% interest for long enough, that may be a good choice. I'm at a point where I'd like to leave my money untouched as much as possible. When I started renovating, I had no idea how many things I would end up changing--and it cost a lot of money. Paying a small BT fee might make sense, and not be painful, compared to depleting my savings even more.
Not trying to scare you, but just because your house is paid off does not make it untouchable to creditors. Just be aware of that fact. All I am saying is that a Heloc is great for remolding or any house improvements if you have the equity. We took out a 100K Heloc because we wanted to finish our unfinished basement as quickly as possible and it also dug too deep into our savings trying to pay for it as we go. At 2.99% for the first year and prime after that, it beats any credit card. This allows us to take advantage of the cashback our cards offer and pay little interest. Plus, we will aggressively pay it down once we are done, which will be soon, so we might not even get into the second year. Now, we will probably end up at around 30 to 35K, so not the whole 100K. But in a year or two, I might want to build a shop, for the grown-up toys and I can dip into it again if need be. Depending on the prime rate I guess, lol. Of course, only get a HELOC with a trusted financial institution not any of those junk mail offers.
@Crowhelm wrote:
@SoCalGardener wrote:Luckily, my house can never be at risk of losing it. I have 100% equity (I own it outright) and it's worth $1.8M. I continually get unsolicited offers for home equity loans and HELOCs where they show my estimated home value, my mortgage amount ($0), and the amount I could borrow ($1M+). I shred them. (I remember posting a while back because one of them put that information on the OUTSIDE of the envelope, which really irked me. They've since stopped doing that. Must've gotten a lot of complaints.) Anyway, I will never do anything that puts this house at risk.
The three cards that total about $28,000 are all on 0% terms right now. But they'll all end at some point. The only one I can think of offhand is my BofA Customized Cash, which will end in February of next year. I really lucked out when I was doing this whole remodeling thing! I just happened to get offers at the right time that really helped, like the 0% on purchases for a year from BofA, and the 3% CB for home improvement also from BofA. The other two cards are Citi Double Cash and Discover; they had similar offers,, so right now I'm not paying any interest--but will eventually.
I've been watching BT offers like a hawk, hoping against hope to see a zero/zero offer (0% APR *and* $0 fee), but that hasn't happened--yet. All of mine are 0%, but none has a $0 fee--they all vary from 3-5%. Still, though, with 0% interest for long enough, that may be a good choice. I'm at a point where I'd like to leave my money untouched as much as possible. When I started renovating, I had no idea how many things I would end up changing--and it cost a lot of money. Paying a small BT fee might make sense, and not be painful, compared to depleting my savings even more.
Not trying to scare you, but just because your house is paid off does not make it untouchable to creditors. Just be aware of that fact. All I am saying is that a Heloc is great for remolding or any house improvements if you have the equity. We took out a 100K Heloc because we wanted to finish our unfinished basement as quickly as possible and it also dug too deep into our savings trying to pay for it as we go. At 2.99% for the first year and prime after that, it beats any credit card. This allows us to take advantage of the cashback our cards offer and pay little interest. Plus, we will aggressively pay it down once we are done, which will be soon, so we might not even get into the second year. Now, we will probably end up at around 30 to 35K, so not the whole 100K. But in a year or two, I might want to build a shop, for the grown-up toys and I can dip into it again if need be. Depending on the prime rate I guess, lol. Of course, only get a HELOC with a trusted financial institution not any of those junk mail offers.
Good point that a home can always be attached to by certain creditors. Also, I don't know where in SoCal Ms. SCG lives but property taxes are a minimum of 1% around here (older areas) and up to 2% including special assessments and Mello-Roos in newer areas. Prop taxes are usually based on the amount at or near the current owner's purchase price, not today's assessed value, but property taxes can be easily over $10k per year here. You default on property taxes and the assessor's office is swift to foreclose. So, yes, even a paid-off home is subject to foreclosure. Not that Ms. SCG would let it come to that! Just pointing out. 
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Let me try to address some things here.
One, I knew when I wrote it that I wasn't being clear enough--I mean that my house, being owned outright, can never be in jeopardy as long as I don't do anything that could create that scenario, like taking out a home equity loan and defaulting on it. Since I don't plan on EVER doing anything that puts a lien on the house, I consider my house safe from ever being at risk of losing it.
If you're familiar with Proposition 13--the landmark proposition that made headlines everywhere--you'll know that I'm paying property taxes at a very much reduced rate. That's because my grandmother had the foresight to put the house in a revocable living trust, passing it down to my mom when she died; my mom inherited it with its tax rate staying where it was, i.e., at 1985(?) valuation; when Mom died in 2013 and I inherited it, ditto. She had put it in a living trust and I'm safe because of that. I have a revocable living trust which names my daughter as my sole beneficiary, and she'll inherit the house and, with it, the 1985 tax rate I'm paying. My neighbors, who were not so lucky, are EASILY paying 10 times or more what I pay every year for property tax. In all honesty, if not for the prop 13 protection, I'd have to sell the house because I simply don't have enough income to cover today's valuation plus all other living expenses. To say I feel blessed is a gross understatement.
@OmarGB9 wrote:I think we're getting a bit off topic with the HELOC/home valuation/property taxes talk.
I agree and thought of that too. But the harm? None.
@ptatohed wrote:
@OmarGB9 wrote:I think we're getting a bit off topic with the HELOC/home valuation/property taxes talk.
I agree and thought of that too.
Please keep the thread on topic as has been reiterated upthread
If you want to discuss HELOCs, their leverage, pros/cons, there's a subforum for that.
OP, if you are still evaluating which Chase CC to obtain (based on some of the initial feedback and posts) then let's stick to that topic. Otherwise, this thread will be moved elsewhere.
Thanks.