Recently, the New York Times released an updated calculator for whether or not it makes more sense for consumers to rent or own their homes. This calculator takes a lot of different financial aspects of homeownership (and renting, for that matter) into consideration. Using its simple interface, you can estimate the value of home ownership based on a conventional loan or FHA loan, as well as factors like closing costs, debt-to-income ratio, down payment amount, the home’s value, loan amount, and course mortgage rates.
Mortgage interest is one of the most important factors in calculating the cost of a house since a lower interest rate means you can likely afford a different monthly payment than a higher interest rate. While the New York Times calculator is helpful, it doesn’t take into consideration one advantage of building equity beyond saving money on potential opportunity costs as a renter: the potential of taking out a
home equity loan.
If you’ve got an existing mortgage and are hoping to
tackle debt consolidation, student loans, or home improvement renovations, then a company called CashOut Equity might be worth exploring. Keep reading for more about how they work and whether they’re right for you.
What is CashOut Equity?
CashOut Equity offers something called a cash-out refinance, which is different than a
HELOC (home equity line of credit). Instead of taking out a second mortgage in addition to your current one, you take out a new, larger loan. Since the new mortgage you receive is higher than your initial loan, you’re paid a lump sum at closing, which is the difference between your new loan and the mortgage balance on your first mortgage.
CashOut Equity is owned by LeadPoint, Inc. LeadPoint, Inc. describes itself on its website: “LeadPoint, Inc. reimagines how consumers, lead Buyers, and lead Sellers fit in a constantly changing world. This obsession with improving value and user experience for every player in the lead chain lies at the heart of all our products. From the world’s first online lead exchange — MarketPlace — to our game-changing financial community —
MoneyTips.com — LeadPoint is revolutionizing online lead generation.”
How does CashOut Equity work?
If you want to explore estimates with CashOut Equity, you’ll want to start by navigating to
CashEquity.com. From there, you’ll be immediately greeted by a simple web form that you can fill out to see what sorts of rates and cash you can qualify for.
The two main questions you’ll need to answer when filling out the form are the current value of your home and your current mortgage balance. Once you’ve filled in that information, click the blue “Calculate” button. From there, it’s time to share how you plan on using the money you get from your cash-out refinancing. Whether you’re trying to boost your credit score by paying down high-interest debt or are looking for education loans or home improvement money, you can select all of the ways you plan on tapping your current mortgage equity here.
Once you’ve filled out that information, you’ll see the amount that you may be able to access from your home. You’ll see that CashOut Equity does base its estimates on an 85% loan to value, which means that your actual available equity may be lower or higher depending on a variety of factors that vary amongst borrowers.
Once you’ve chosen how much you want to access as part of your cash-out refi, you’ll be asked a variety of personal details, such as your zip code, what kind of property you own, and other details like your first name, last name, and address.
How much does CashOut Equity cost?
CashOut Equity doesn’t cost a specific amount of money since it’s a free tool that connects you with various lenders who can help you find the best cash-out refinance lenders. As such, loan terms will vary amongst mortgage lenders; however, one thing to note is that using CashOut Equity does cost you your data to use the platform.
This isn’t super surprising, seeing as almost any form that collects your data then needs to use that data to create matches with potential lenders. Still, it’s worth bringing up in case you’re particularly private about how your data is used. To mitigate some of those concerns, all lenders in CashOut Equity’s network are part of the SecureRights Network.
CashOut Equity features
Broad network of lenders
When homeowners use CashOut Equity to find a cash-out refinance, they’re automatically matched with lenders from a huge network of potential mortgage companies and banks. Many well-known companies, such as Northern Lakes Mortgage, Mutual of Omaha Mortgage, Quicken Loans, Rocket Loans, and Nationwide Mortgage Bankers, could handle underwriting.
One of the biggest perks of using CashOut Equity is that you only fill out one form and get matched up with a variety of options all at once. Especially if you’re trying to compare refinance rates across a variety of companies, knowing that your eligibility won’t be in question with any lender you’re paired with is a major boon.
Lenders are part of the SecureRights Network
Whenever your personal data is collected online, it’s important to think through the potential risks associated with sharing that data. Thankfully, CashOut Equity is taking a step in the right direction by ensuring that all of its lenders are part of the SecureRights Network.
What does that mean, exactly? According to their website, they are “a third-party verification service dedicated to protecting consumers from fraud and privacy violations.” This means that the companies you’ll be connected with have joined this network and will adhere to consumer privacy protection guidelines.
Who is CashOut Equity best for?
If you need a lump sum of cash for a wide range of reasons, CashOut Equity’s network of cash-out refinance lenders may be useful. This is especially true if you don’t have a lot of time on your hands and could use some help comparing your options using technology.
Who shouldn’t use CashOut Equity?
When you need a cash-out refinance but interest rates are higher than your initial interest rate, it may not be advantageous to take out a new mortgage for a higher loan amount since you’ll wind up cutting into your available funds due to higher interest rates. Beyond that, if you’re concerned about sharing your financial data with a broad network of companies and would prefer to be more selective about which lenders have access to that info, you may want to pursue other funding opportunities.
Pros and cons
Straight and to the point. CashOut Equity’s website is super simple, with the web address putting you right on the form you need to fill out in order to learn how much cash you may be eligible for depending on your loan balance and loan-to-value ratio.
Lots of lenders. There are easily about a hundred lenders that CashOut Equity connects you with when you use their platform online. This saves you tons of time since filling out each lender’s form manually would take a lot of time and energy, particularly when a lot of the information you’re putting into your form is repetitive.
Could give you access to more funds. Generally speaking, a cash out refinance is going to give you access to much more money than a traditional personal loan or credit card would give you access to. This can be aprticualrly helpful if you’re trying to pay down a large amount of debt or are looking to pay for a major home expense.
Personal data is shared. Although the lenders that CashOut Equity shares your information with are part of the SecureRights Network, if you want to have more control over where your information is shared online, you may not want to use an aggregate tool such as CashOut Equity.
Interest rates may reduce the value of your loan. If your original loan has a lower interest rate than your new loan, you may not have access to as much cash if your new interest rate is higher.
Risk of foreclosure. Any time you’re using your home as collateral for a loan, there’s always a risk of foreclosure. As such, if you’re trying to consolidate debt but haven’t cleaned up your underlying financial habits that have gotten you in debt in the first place, you may want to budget before you put your home up to get more funding. Of course, if you’re tapping an investment property and not your primary residence, this may be less of a concern.
FAQs
Does CashOut Equity sell your data?
CashOut Equity doesn’t sell your data per se, but they will share it with a large network of lenders as part of their match-making process.
Is CashOut Equity available in all 50 states?
While you can access CashOut Equity’s website in any of the United States of America, some lenders may not be available where you live. According to CashOut Equity’s website, “This offer may not be available in all states and is subject to change without notice.”
What do you need to qualify for a CashOut Equity loan?
In order to be eligible for a loan with CashOut Equity, you must reside in the United States of America, be at least 18 years old, and own the property you are looking to utilize for your loan.
The bottom line
Depending on what sort of use you’re after, a cashout refinance on your existing mortgage may be a type of loan worth considering. While HELOCs come with draw periods and variable rates, a cashout refinance comes as a lump sum, generally with a fixed rate, which may be more beneficial depending on your financial situation.
CashOut Equity’s major benefit is its ease of use and how quickly it can connect you with a wide network of lenders. Since repayment terms and eligibility may vary from lender to lender, having a resource like CashOut Equity to streamline the form-filling aspect of the process can be a major boon if you have limited time and are looking for a cashout refinance. Although they don’t have a mobile app, their website is simple to navigate and can be completed in about ten minutes.
Ultimately, whether or not a CashOut Equity loan is useful for you comes down to whether you’re going to be able to get a lower rate than what you currently have on your mortgage. This is because a higher interest rate can quickly eat into the equity that you’d need to leverage.