Upgrade Your Summer: Use Your Equity to Buy a Vacation Home

Picture this: sunlight shimmering off of rolling waves, blanketed by blissful heat, sipping a mango lemonade as condensation drips onto the sand, utterly contented and flourishing in your beachfront paradise. Is this just a faraway fantasy or could this be your future vacation home? Worry not, homeowners, your equity might hold the key to this glittery future.

What to Consider Before Using Your Equity

Buying a second/vacation home is a pretty big investment! A gorgeous lakehouse or a modest cabin in the woods is delightful thought, but let’s go over the nitty-gritty details first. Does it make the most sense to use your equity (the difference between what your home is worth and what you still owe on the mortgage)? You’ll have to consider whether the benefits outweigh the risks.

• Is this vacation home one you’ll use often?
• Can you repurpose it for a rental property when you’re not using it and create a stream of passive income?
• How much equity do you need to buy a vacation home?
• How much equity are you willing to use?
• Will your credit score qualify for a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) or cash-out refinance?
• Can you afford to juggle two mortgage payments?

This equity strategy could be a good fit for homeowners who:

• Have significant equity in their primary residence or an existing rental property
• Are interested in building long-term wealth through rental income
• Want to make a larger down payment to qualify for a lower interest rate or avoid mortgage insurance
• Prefer to keep their current home rather than sell
• Are comfortable leveraging equity as part of an investment strategy
• Want to explore options before tapping savings or retirement funds

Equity Financing Options for Buying a Vacation Home

HELOC

A revolving line of credit that you can borrow repeatedly up to your loan limit, a HELOC allows you to withdraw cash as you need it. It offers more flexibility for borrowers who aren’t sure how much they’ll need.

Admittedly, HELOCs come with variable interest rates, meaning that repayment amounts will likely fluctuate over the term of the loan. There are pros and cons to each option, so you’ll need to weigh what works best tailored to your specific needs.

Cash-Out Refinance

With a cash-out refinance, you replace your current loan with a larger one. The difference is then paid to you in one lump sum, which can be used to pay for your vacation home. Because you’re refinancing your home, the process will be more involved than a HELOC.

However, there are some benefits over using a HELOC: rates are fixed and won’t fluctuate when the market shifts.

All In One Loan®

Our revolutionary mortgage product, the All In One Loan, provides 24/7 access to equity through an integrated sweep-checking account. Essentially, your mortgage financing is combined with your personal banking. It’s a unique 30-year HELOC that provides unique flexibility that other loans can’t, which, in this case, can be used to buy your future vacation home.

Decided Against Using Equity?

If you read through the other options and realized you’d rather not use your equity, here’s a loan program that’s specifically tailored for non-primary properties.

Private Label Security (PLS)

By taking advantage of our PLS program, you’ll access specialized financing oriented towards investment-driven and second-home buyers. In some cases, PLS offers significantly better pricing on loans for vacation homes.

• 90% LTV
• Maximum Loan Amounts: $2,402,625
• Fixed-Rate Only
• Second Homes: 1-Unit SFR, PUD, & Condo
• Investment: 1-Unit SFR, PUD, Condo, & 2-4 Units

Your Permanent Summer Getaway Awaits

As you continue to ponder your vacation home options, we hope that this has proved beneficial. As a homeowner, you’ve worked hard to get to where you are, and you deserve to take advantage of the equity you’ve built up over time. As we approach summer time, the tantalizing vision of taking time off to relax is only going to grow more appealing. Whether that’s lounging on a sandy beach or taking a boat out on the lake, we hope it can all take place in the vicinity of your future vacation home.

Source: Experian, U.S. News