Choosing the Right Loan and the Right Bank
Posted by Laura Nelson on March 14, 2010
By Bob Hutchinson, President, Wheaton Bank & Trust
More then ever people are needing to access their money to cover unexpected expenses. Every day, thousands of homeowners are getting notices that their lines of credit have been frozen and they can’t use them to borrow more money, while others are seeing their limits drastically lowered. Declining values and default rates in the past two years have caused lenders to tighten standards, while other larger banks have stopped making Home Equity Loans all together.
Borrowers still need money and finding the right bank to meet your needs seems harder than it sounds. Community banks have grown at a faster rate than their larger counterparts, due to the fact that smaller banks were not buying into risky securities.
Banks such as Wheaton Bank & Trust, a holding company of Wintrust Financial, are benefiting from the pullback of the larger banking institutions within the community. One of the many advantages that Wheaton Bank & Trust offers is the flexibility to review the application and meet with the borrower to gain a better understanding of their sometimes unique situations. In addition to looking at credit scores, cash flow and debt ratios, Wheaton Bank & Trust has the ability to look at other criteria that might not fit into clearly defined parameters which sometimes mean the difference between obtaining a loan or not having the security needed to cover those unexpected expenses.
If you are a homeowner and are in need of cash, it may be difficult to decide which loan best fits your needs. One must weigh the pros and cons of each product and understand the conditions before you sign.
A Fixed Home Equity Loan is a fixed rate second mortgage. Fixed-rate loans provide a single payment lump sum which is paid back over a defined period. The payment and interest rate remain the same over the life of the loan. The advantage of this type of loan is knowing how much you have to pay each month which makes for easier budgeting.
A Home Equity Credit Line is product where the borrower is pre-approved for a specific spending limit and can withdraw the money as needed. You pay only the interest on the amount that you borrow, if you don’t borrow anything, you don’t pay back any interest. The interest rates on these products are much lower than credit cards, and the interest paid can be deducted when you file your taxes.
For more information on these products stop by or call Wheaton Bank & Trust located at 211 S Wheaton Ave, (630) 690-1800, and talk with a banker to see if one of these products is right for you.
Tags:Money
