Home equity is the amount of money you have already paid against the value of your home.
Nearly 40 percent of all homeowners don't know if the interest on home equity loans is tax deductible.
One third of home owners earning $50,000 or more believe the interest on equity loans isn't tax deductible or they just don't know if it is tax deductible.
If you ever walk into a book store in the area where there is financial or budgeting books there are rows and rows of books on investing and maybe one or two that have anything to do with borrowing against your equity to improve your financial situation.
Bank One says the cost for obtaining $10,000 for one year is $1,800 for a credit card, $1,000 for the sale of stock, $900 to tap a (401)k plan or take out a personal loan and only $576 for a home equity loan. The costs are based on a set of conventional assumptions about the interest rate and costs typical for each type of loan.
