Best HELOC company?

[23matched]

W2 incomes, mid 660ish scores. DTI a bit high so we are looking to consolidate and focus on paying off. NFCU does not factor in debt you intend to pay in their calculations. Discover keeps sending us letters to apply. We are also with PenFed and USAA. I did appy to open a DCU account, but after a week still no word from them. I heard DCU was a good place for HELOC. Current mortgage on home is $530K'ish and real marketing value is around $780k though Zillow and Refin claim it is $860k. Would like to pull $80k out. 

Look for options. Thanks. 

[DSTforlife]

I don't think Discover has a HELOC.  Unless they've changed in the last 1-2 months, it is a home loan and does not revolve.

There are so many places that are offering HELOC's.  We inquired with Alliant CU, Georgia United CU, PenFed, BofA.  We ended up with GUCU due to the 3.875 variable rate.  The attraction of PenFed and BofA is they have a hybrid HELOC product where you can lock in a fix rate for a portion of the loan.  We originally applied with PenFed (our mortgage is with them also), but their hybrid appraisal came back lower than expected.  The Loan Officer did tell us that their hybrid appraisals are fairly conservative, and he was no longer seeing desktop appraisals for HELOCs.

The lenders we inquired with had a 43% DTI which included the HELOC payment.  Even if it is interest only for the draw period, they will still use between 1%-2% of the loan amount for qualification purposes.  However, if you are taking out the loan to pay off debt, they will not include those payments in the DTI calculation.  The credit scores started at 640.  The maximum LTV was score dependent.  With GUCU, there's a minimum credit score of 700 for interest only HELOC, but 640 for full term pricipal + interest HELOC.

I recommend finding a few lenders that appeal to you.  Then call them and ask specific questions that's most important for your situation.  From my experience, everyone we called were very informative and willing to answer questions.

Good luck!

[Citylights18]

I've got Signature FCU. I believe they are licenced in all 50 states.

They don't have a Hybrid product but they do have 100% LTV. The do a desktop apprasial but allow you to counter offer.

The max for their product is 200k. It might be a good bet in the OP situation compared to an 80% LTV HELOC. At 780k and 80% LTV that is only 624k for a max HELOC amount of 94k. Go with Sig and they value you at 750k you could have access to 200k which even if you didn't use immediately could be there for future debt consolidation.

[dlosangeles]

Do you have a Heloc with signature or home equity loan?

[cashorcharge]

The only extra tid-bit I can add is in relation to NFCU, they are to the best of my knowledge.....the ONLY bank to offer a 20 year draw down period on their HELOC and then another 20 year payment period...essentially giving you 40 years to pay it off versus 30 as most lenders.  Sure you may not need the extra draw down period....most HELOC's come with a 10 year draw down.  Once you take a cash disbursement, you begin paying a 1% minimum payment for your balance...and that 1% calculated payment is for the full 20 year draw down period.  When that ends, the payment shifts to a higher amount and then you need to make that for another 20 years.