Using the equity in your home can be a great way to consolidate your debts and get control of your finances. By shifting your debts from several high interest credit cards to one low interest loan, you can save a lot of money and lower the amount of money you are spending to pay off your debt each month. Having only one payment to worry about each month is also a great benefit of consolidating with a home equity loan. While consolidating can be a wonderful idea, there are three important things that you should know before you take out a home equity loan.

You could end up paying more in interest over the life of the loan.

While the interest rate on a home equity loan is much lower than the interest rate on a credit card, if you take a long time, such as 30 years, to pay off your home equity loan that little bit of interest can add up to quite a lot over all of those years. Be wise and take the extra money you save each month and use it to pay off your home equity loan in record time.

You could lose your house.

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