HELOC have you been approved in the past 1-2 months?

[Tam Tram]

Has anyone been successful in getting a HELOC in the past 1-2 months? Just curious, I am hearing banks are tightening up... wasn't sure if I should go and get a HELOC on my primary home and be successful. DTI is 23.5% currently before any additional loans. Looking for a $80K+ HELOC for a property estimated at $350K.

[Alex Breshears]

Hi Tam! I just closed on a HELOC for my primary last week. They are definitely still out there. I would also suggest you look at the lock out period. Many banks in the process of tightening up are only allowing you to draw funds for 2 years, and then anything out stays out, so you lose the line of credit aspect. If this is important to you, really ask about the terms of the loan and how long you have to use it as a line of credit. The HELOC amount will depend on the amount of the loan you already have on the property and the upper limit as a percentage of the value of your home. For example, if the lender will do 90% of the home's value, they will allow a combined loan total (including a first mortgage if present) up to 90% of the $350k, so $315k. Depending on what your balance is for any other liens on the property, that will dictate how much you can take out. So far 90% is about the highest I've seen as standard practice for HELOC's on a primary residence, there may be some outliers in there somewhere that would go higher, but I think banks are baking in a bit of a downturn right now and like you have experienced, tightening up their loan portfolio to weather a storm.