Lending Tree Line of credit ?

[Nathan Zhivalyuk]

Has anyone ever heard of or used "Lending Tree" for any type of financing? More specifically a home equity line of credit?

I am currently looking to get started in doing some flip projects. I was planning on using a line of credit on my home that I own (with about 160k equity). I have good credit but not such great income. I applied through my bank (TD bank) one time on my own without a co-signer and got denied because they said my income wasn't enough. I applied a second time with a family member co-signer (with good income) but got denied because they said his credit was high enough. So now I would like to ask the forum two questions:

1) Do you think a home equity line of credit is a good source of financing for buying and renovating homes?

2) Where would you recommend to go to apply for a home equity line of credit? (Bank-which bank? Credit union? etc.)

Thanks!

[Barrett Dunigan]

I used Lending Tree once, years ago. Simply a broker offering different companies the ability to lend to you that you might not know of otherwise. You will still need to meet all the criteria (income, credit score, equity, etc.) Depending on the LTV you are looking for will dictate the cost (rate) of the HELOC. The only issue I had was that I was quoted a rate that the lender changed less than a week prior to closing. Be sure that you are aware of this and that you don't need the funds immediately. This way you can go somewhere else if need be.

There have been a number of posts on BP related to using a HELOC as financing that you should look through. Bottom line, as with any investment the numbers need to work and you need to be prepared if something goes wrong to repay the loan and not put your home in jeopardy.

Since my initial use of Lending Tree, which I paid off quickly, I now have a HELOC through the same bank that I have my mortgage. You may want to look into smaller, local banks that you can develop a relationship with, particularly for any future lending needs. It will still mean meeting their criteria, but sometimes easier to have an ongoing discussion, rather than being a number on an application.