Tuesday, 8 September 2009

Debt Consolidation

By Jantje Rostels

Basically what happens when you consolidate your debts with a refinancing loan on your home, you get a lower interest rate on a loan big enough to repay the existing balance on your home and your other forms of existing debt.

A debt consolidation loan enables the homeowner to use the existing equity in their home as collateral to secure a low interest loan which is large enough to repay the existing balance on the home as well as a number of other debts such as credit card debt, car loans, student loans or any other debts the homeowner may have.

This article will attempt to make this issue less complex by providing a function definition for debt consolidation and providing answer to two key questions homeowners should ask themselves before re-financing. These questions include whether the homeowner will pay more in the long run by consolidating their debt and will the homeowners financial situation improve if they re-finance.

What is debt consolidation? The term debt consolidation can be somewhat confusing because the term itself is somewhat deceptive. When a homeowner re-finances his home for the purpose of debt consolidation, he is not actually consolidating the debt in the true sense of the word.

All the existing debts are refinanced and this means they will be repaid by the consolidated loan. That means your new consolidated loan will be one loan of a higher amount rather than a lot of them of lower amounts.

Although the total amount of debt remains constant the individual debts are repaid by the new loan.

The mortgage company that consolidated the loan has actually put all these former debts into one, this can include debts on credit cards, on cars, or on school loans. When consolidated, the consolidated mortgage loan is the only thing you have to worry about. This means you'll end up with a lot less administration.

This new loan will be subject to the applicable loan terms including interest rates and repayment period.

About the Author:

No comments: