Best lenders for HELOC

[shanaling]

Anyone have recs for best lenders for HELOC? No-fee lenders? Anyone use HELOC to replace primary residence who can speak about their experience? Thanks

[uniwelder]

I don't have any recommendation for lenders, but its important to be aware a HELOC is in the same category on your credit score as a credit card, not loans.  If you take out a big heloc, your credit utilization % will skyrocket.  In my case, the score dropped 50 points.  Once you convert your heloc for repayment, the score should immediately normalize, but I understand some lenders might not allow you to convert for repayment until after first year or two.

[AMandM]

If you want a second-hand rec, our mortgage guy recommended Navy FCU for HELOCs, though this was 5 years ago.

[katsiki]

Had a great experience with Hanscom FCU years ago.

https://www.hfcu.org/loans-and-credit-cards/home-equity.html

Did not replace primary mortgage (if that is what you mean).

I am not sure the info about credit score is accurate.  I have only seen heloc's reported like a mortgage but my experience is somewhat limited.

[uniwelder]

I am not sure the info about credit score is accurate.  I have only seen heloc's reported like a mortgage but my experience is somewhat limited.

Was yours actually a line of credit or a home equity loan?  In my case, the heloc shows up in the revolving credit category.  I'm not a banker, so can only speak of my experience, but after seeing what happened to my score, I investigated a little to figure out why.  Here's a link that explains more---  https://www.credit.com/blog/how-helocs-impact-your-credit-score-63787/

If you happen to get a large heloc and not use much of it, it could boost your score, but utilizing the whole thing can do a bit of harm.  A 200k heloc (maxed out) to replace your mortgage, with another 100k available from credit cards would put you at 66% credit utilization and cause a big credit score drop.  Supposedly, you want utilization to be less than 30%.

[katsiki]

I am not sure the info about credit score is accurate.  I have only seen heloc's reported like a mortgage but my experience is somewhat limited.

Was yours actually a line of credit or a home equity loan?  In my case, the heloc shows up in the revolving credit category.  I'm not a banker, so can only speak of my experience, but after seeing what happened to my score, I investigated a little to figure out why.  Here's a link that explains more---  https://www.credit.com/blog/how-helocs-impact-your-credit-score-63787/

If you happen to get a large heloc and not use much of it, it could boost your score, but utilizing the whole thing can do a bit of harm.  A 200k heloc (maxed out) to replace your mortgage, with another 100k available from credit cards would put you at 66% credit utilization and cause a big credit score drop.  Supposedly, you want utilization to be less than 30%.

You're probably correct.  Good info for folks to check into either way.

My experience was a HELOC but we immediately fixed it.  That may have changed the reporting and skewed my experience.