Fast Home Equity Loan: How To Get One

There are several things that you can do to expedite the process of getting a home equity loan. First of all, you will need to find out about your home. You may need to have an appraisal to see if you can even get a home equity loan. Do some shopping online to see what the rates are and what the housing market is like. If you know what you want before to sit down with the lender, things go smoother and faster.

What is your Home Worth?
One of the first things that has to happen when getting a home equity loan is an appraisal. Getting an appraisal before you even begin to shop around for a loan is a good way to speed things up. It may behoove you to schedule an appraisal and inspection of your home on your own, as usually you can get it done within a week. It is then very easy to asses how much you can borrow. You simply need to take the appraised amount and subtract the current amount owed on the home. A maximum of 80% of that result is what should be borrowed although some companies will allow you to borrow 100% or even 125% of your homes equity.

Prepare your Documentation
There is a lot of paperwork involved with a home equity loan and by gathering it up you can expedite the process. You will need documents that support your personal information, your home and property information, employment documents, wages, taxes, etc. Things that work well are a birth certificate, driver’s license, social security card, utility bills with your name address and phone number on them, pay stubs, the previous years W-2’s, bank statements, credit card statements, deeds of property, summer and winter property tax statements, appraisal and inspection paperwork, etc. You may also want to make copies of all the necessary documentation to give to the loan officer to speed things up, but take the originals to show them.

Finding a Fast Home Equity Loan Online
In some cases you may be able to apply for a fast home equity loan online. Services like Quicken Loans can really allow you to access your homes equity relatively fast. By filling out the paperwork online, you will already be entering the most pertinent information into the computer. You will then usually have to mail in a printed out summary of the application as well as necessary documentation that the bank will need to verify, but you could be approved in as little as 30 days.

Pre-Qualifying and Pre-Approval
You might receive offers like this in the mail, and they can be a good way to get a fast home equity loan, but you need to be very careful not to get duped into something that could lead to your home being foreclosed upon. Sometimes these offers make grandiose claims and it is important to read the fine print.

Calling the lender and going through the necessary information to get the ball rolling is also a good way to get a fast home equity loan. Once you are in their system you are usually assigned a loan officer, agent or broker who will evaluate your application immediately. It is important to respond quickly to requests for paperwork, documentation and other information needed to make a determination. The quicker you are on your end, the faster your home equity loan is likely to be approved.