Article: For Every Loan, a Proper Use; There's More Than One Way to Tap Home Equity

David Stevens has seen it countless times: Homeowners who want to finance a major renovation, pay down their credit card debt or take a once-in-a-lifetime vacation come into their mortgage lender's office and announce that they would like to apply for a home-equity loan.

The problem is, what these homeowners actually want may be an entirely different product.

Stevens sees it as part of his job to find out whether homeowners really want that home-equity loan, which acts as a fixed-term second mortgage, or are actually seeking a home-equity line of credit, a product that operates like a credit card.

"We have to be very careful to find out exactly what these customers are asking for and how ...

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