Refinaincing vs. home equity loan

So, now that we've had the baby and my wife is taking off the next 3 months, stuff is starting to go wrong with the house.

Earlier in the summer the air conditioning died. So, we took on some debt to fix that. Wanted to have savings while she was out of work so we didn't dip into that. Now, after the torrential rains, the roof has started to leak. It's 16 years old so it's time to replace.

I don't have the money to do this without more debt. We have roughly $20,000 in equity in the house. We've only been paying on it for 4 years (in October).

I'm not retarded as far as this stuff is concerned, but i'm probably close.

So should we look at refinancing for another 30 year fixed seeing as that we don't have a big chunk taken out of the current 30?

Or should we go home equity loan?

Suggestions?

 

Why would you re-fi? To cash out?

 

i guess i was wondering it if were possible to add the home improvements to the new mortgage.


like i said, i'm pretty close to retarded. if i'm not already there.

i don't want to kill the equity in the house. although, when the wife goes back to work, i plan on killing some debt majorly.

 

What's your current rate / term?

Only refi if you lower your rate.

Prolly much better off heloc.

 

What does the $20G equity bring the LTV to? If it's anywhere close to 100% it may be difficult to even get the HELOC in this credit environment.

 

WYDD, I would fix the roof. You can replace later when you are in a better situation. I wouldn't take on more debt when your wife is out of work (I know this shocks some of you that I said not to take on more debt).

Also, I agree with VA49er that I don't know if you would be able to find a HELOC with only 20K equity in this credit environment anyways.

 

This is the best plan. I didn't know fixing the roof was an option.

 

Decided to retile/new fixtures, etc 3 bathrooms. Entire quote, including tile and new toilets/tubs,, etc came in around $3500. NO, I don't have time to do all the stuff myself because 1) I have two little ones and 2) I'd probably screw it up anyway. I think it's a pretty good quote.

 

I'm pretty much an idiot when it comes to fixing things but even I could figure out how to repair a roof when a shingle got blown up during a storm while I was getting out of debt. Heck, I'm about to have to go back up there as some of the pieces around a few pipes coming up through the roof have broken off so some rain can get through there. So, it does sound dumb to just say fix it but so many times, we get caught up in the 'OMG, a leak means the roof must be replaced' that we miss the obvious of just fix it until it can be replaced at a later date when you are in a better position.

VA, that quote sounds reasonable to me. Get a second quote and move forward. I'm the same way. With two little ones (< 3 years old) and pretty much being an idiot to that stuff, I will quickly pay someone else to do that kind of stuff for me.

 

That was just one of three quotes I received. It was about a grand less than the other two. I just made sure the guy was insured and moved on. Went and picked out the tile today at lunch. May knock out a wall to increase the size of the master bath room but will have to sacrifice some of closet to do that. Not sure the wife will buy into that.