WHAT'S A CONSUMERS BIGGEST ASSET? ALMOST ACROSS THE BOARD...THEIR HOMES!

1. Even with soaring stock market prices pushing up the value of retirement plans, 401Ks, etc., the most accessible and largest asset for consumers is the equity in their homes.


2. Thanks to the changes in the Texas constitution a couple of years ago,  Texans are now able to borrow against the equity in their homes for a variety of reasons...but under what circumstances does it make the most sense?
   


3. Dover's Steps To Determining Where To Turn For Big Cash: a-How long have you been in your current home?

1. How large a down payment did you go in with?


2. How many year mortgage did you sign-up for when you bought your home?


3. Call your mortgage company/servicer to find out what your current payoff is


4. Determine your current "ACCESSIBLE" equity available in your home...easily and quickly:
   
   

   (Childhood home of Greg, Marcia, Peter, Jan, Bobby and Cindy...as well as Alice the Housekeeper)

   Step One: Get a ballpark valuation of your home [Dover's quick tip? Try using www.homeradar.com to get a feel for what other homes in your area have sold for.] Step Two: Subtract the payoff amount ("d" above) from the current approximate sales price of your home. Step Three: This number represents the approximate "equity" you have in your home if you sold it today.

Step Four: Multiply this number by .8 (80%). This new number represents the "ballpark" amount that you could borrow on the equity in your home. This money can used for any number of things, the smartest of which would be debt consolidation/paying off high-interest rate/non tax deductible credit card debts.

6. Should you borrow from your home equity to pay off your credit card debts?

4. Dover's Smart Steps To Building Equity/Paying Off Your Home In Record Time

1. Assume your monthly house payment is $1000/month


2. Most mortgage payments require a monthly payment...12 payments per year


3. Instead of making one full payment for $1000 per month, budget a $500 payment every 2


4. Since there are 52 weeks in a year, budgeting a half-payment [of $500] every 2 weeks will yield 13 FULL weeks payments per year. Do the math: 52 weeks/2 week payment schedule = 13 full payments in a 12 month period.


5. By making just ONE extra full payment per year [and thanks to the wonders of compounding/interest schedules], a 30-year mortgage will be paid off in about 17 years/4 months! A 15-year mortgage pays off in about 11.5 years.


6. Either way...even if you sell your home and move before you pay it off early, you're building more equity in your home faster...meaning that you'll have more cash out of the house when you do [eventually] sell it.

Get smarter about the home you're living in and home to leverage it to pay of your debts! Or if you're throwing money away on rent every month, here's your chance to become a home owner and start BUILDING EQUITY for yourself...and not your landlord!