http://www.onthemortgagefront.com/home-equity/home-equity-loan/home-equity-loan-rate/ The home equity loan rate you are quoted will not necessarily match the home equity loan rate you should be quoted. en-us Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EDT Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EDT Weblog Editor 2.0 Do your homework! No one wants to do extra work when looking at equity loans and searching for the greatest possible home equity loan rate - but if you want the best rates you gotta work. And how! Not only do you have to know what you should see in a home equity loan rate, but you also have to ride your lenders like thoroughbreds just to get them down to the home equity loan rate you deserve. Determining your own home equity loan rate Before signing that agreement, before applying, before you even think about taking out a home equity loan, determine the home equity loan rate you should be quoted. How can you do this? Simple: Look at the prime rates advertised by lenders and reserved for people with good credit and fat incomes. Add a few percentage points if you have bad credit, low income, or both. Ask around and see what other people have gotten in a home equity loan rate. Then you will have a number. It'll be general, it'll be a educated guess at best, but its something to work with and the right place to start your search for the lowest possible home equity loan rate. The next step is to apply and get as many quotes as you possibly can. Racking up the credit checks Every applicant for home financing is given a two week window to apply for home loans and have credit checks run without taking points off your credit. Take advantage of this window - get as many quotes for a home equity loan rate as possible. Rack up those credit checks, see what lenders can offer you in the way of a home equity loan rate and see how close it is to the rate you saw yourself paying off your own estimations. If you are quoted a lower home equity loan rate than you initially though, the good for you! You should still try to bargain the number down a bit, but take the gift horse thats given to you. However, if your quoted home equity loan rate is significantly higher than what you estimated, you might want to consider some hard nosed bargaining tactics - if you lose the opportunity all you've lost is an overly expensive loan. Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EDT