HELOC process advice

[Colin Courtney]

I'm currently in the process of fixing up my primary residence in preparation for an appraisal to use for obtaining a HELOC. I was wondering if anyone else has gone through the process of obtaining a HELOC through a lender, and what tips/advice you would share for the process? I'm also wondering which lenders provide good rates and turn-around times for setting up the HELOC (and should I go local or go with a nationwide lender).

[Julie Dike]

We opened a HELOC recently, and they didn't do a real appraisal. I suppose it could be different if you've done major improvements, but in our case they just sent a guy with a camera to make sure the place was still standing.

We used PenFed, because we couldn't beat their rate anywhere else. However, we weren't looking for the largest possible line of credit. In general, a higher LTV comes with a higher interest rate. Figure out your LTV before you start comparison shopping, or you'll be looking at apples and oranges.