Find Your Home Value
Home Appraisal Tips & Advice
Home Renters Beware: The Foreclosure Crisis Affects You as WellAugust 11, 2008
Home foreclosures have created an overlooked victim: what happens when the home you rent goes into foreclosure? The vicious circle of declining home values and rising foreclosures.
July 11, 2008
Home values drop when foreclosures rise creating a vicious circle. Is there help in sight or a way to take advantage of a declining market? Home Selling Success: What You Need to Know
July 11, 2008
Yes, the home selling market has slowed in the past year; however, houses are still being purchased on a daily basis. What is the secret to successful home selling? Refinancing and Your Home Value Estimate
By Karen LawsonHome Worth Columnist
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You're thinking about refinancing and want to know how much your home is worth. To get an idea, you can use an online home value calculator. These free calculator tools can help you estimate home equity and home worth, but are typically designed for convenience. If you proceed with refinancing, your mortgage lender will generally require a formal appraisal of your property.
Using Home Equity as a Financial Tool
Although many homeowners refinance their mortgage loans to eliminate adjustable interest rates and/or to lower their interest rates, it's also possible to use refinancing as a way to pay off high interest rate consumer debt as well as for other purposes. A home value calculator can help you get an idea of how much home equity you have. Basically, home equity is the difference between the current value of your home and the amount you owe on any mortgage loans against your home. Home equity can fluctuate according to real estate market trends and other factors. If you're planning to pay off debts with cash-out refinancing, it's a good idea to put off promising repayment to creditors until your lender commits to refinancing your mortgage for a specific amount. If you've lived in your home long enough to have accumulated a large amount of equity, however, this may not be necessary.
Home Worth Key to Achieving Financial Goals
Home equity, which is related to home worth, can provide funding to start or build a business or for home improvements and other projects that can help you build wealth and convert your financial plans to reality. Home equity and home worth can be considered assets on their own, because they contribute to your overall financial security by providing a potential source of cash. Using home value estimate tools can be the initial step to providing you with the information you need to decide when and if to use cash-out refinancing to access funds from your home equity.
About the Author
Karen Lawson is a freelance writer with extensive experience in mortgage banking. She holds BA and MA degrees in English from the University of Nevada, Reno.