HELOC advice for a beginner

[Stephen Spradley]

Hello BP, 

I'm wondering if somebody could answer some questions I have about HELOCs, as I've never had one before. My situation is fairly simple, I only own my primary, and bought it a little over a year ago. Because of the way the market has been this past year, I believe I have around 30-50K of equity in it. That assumption is based purely off of Zillow's estimate so who really knows, but in any case,

- Would it be wise to go ahead and obtain a HELOC on the property even if I don't plan on using it for awhile? I don't have crazy high interest debt I would pay off with it or anything like that, but it seems wise to go ahead and secure the line of credit while homes are appraising so high. I do have some renovations I would like to do later on and if I can secure a low interest HELOC right now before the market starts to pump the brakes a little bit then I don't see why not?

- Are you able to increase the line of credit if the value of your home increases? Say I get one now and the market doesn't slow down.

I'm sure more questions will come to mind as people respond, but for now I appreciate you guys taking the time to give me some advice.