- quote -

Problem is (probably) that the 0% is at most for a year ... and you
calculate you'll need 6 years. But here's an idea. Sit down with the
lender and you might come up with an agreement something like ... 0%
for the 1st year, and how about 1.99% (for openers) for the next 5
years ... it's been done just this month as a matter of fact by a
buddy. There guys really want your business these days it seems.

- quote -

Especially with the practice of "universal default", i.e. a single
blemish on
any other type of credit criteria- late payment, insurance claim, job
loss,
might cause convesion of entire balance to high interest. Happens
often
from complaints I've read.

In article <WoadnYQ1RNQNvazbnZ2dnUVZ_uejnZ2d[at]comcast.com> ,
joetaxpayer <joetaxpayer[at]nospam.com> wrote:

- quote -

I have a number of high limit cards left over from the high flying
1990's. I recently saw an offer for 1.99% until the loan was paid
off, and that card had a $50K credit limit. So, it can be done.

The only problem is what happens if something goes wrong, you miss
a payment, and suddenly your house is back on the 19.99% regular
interest rate? All it takes is one late payment, and it doesn't
even have to be your fault.

-john-

--
================================================== ====================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john[at]johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ====================

"Brian O" <briano1812[at]lispwest.com> wrote:

- quote -

Sounds risky. It doesn't take much for that 0% to jump to near 20%. I
think if you factor in the risk of the credit cards, you would find that
the 7.49% fixed, minus your tax deduction is cheaper.

Brian O wrote on [Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:56:00 -0500]:
- quote -

0% offers are only for 6-15 months, depending on the offer.

On Apr 26, 4:56 pm, "Brian O" <briano1...[at]lispwest.com> wrote:
- quote -

People do this all the time with consumer debt. They transfer their
balances from one card to another, taking advantage of introductory
rates as they go. In theory, this is a great plan. Unforuntately,
there's no way to predict where credit card interest rates will go in
the next 8 years. If all those 0% offers dry up, your interest rate
could go through the roof. The current average credit card interest
rate is somewhere between 10-15%, depending on the type of card. On
the plus side, if credit card rates do shoot up, there's always a
backup plan (take out another HELOC to pay them off).

Here are some other potential pros and cons:

- HELOC interest is (probably) tax deductible. Credit card interest
is not.
- The HELOC is secured by your home. Credit cards are unsecured. If
you transfer the balance and are unable to make the payments, you
won't lose your home.
- Transfering the balance to credit cards will increase your ratio of
used to available revolving credit, which may lower your credit score.
- When the introductory rates expire, you'll have to re-transfer your
balance to new cards. If you screw up the timing, you might end up
paying a lot of interest.
- It's a lot of work to do what you're proposing. You have to know
when all the introductory rates expire. And when they expire, you
have to hunt down new cards.
- Most credit card companies will not allow you to transfer a balance
from one of their cards to another. So you'll have to make sure you
have offers from many different companies.
- Balance transfer fees may eat away at your savings. Hopefully,
you'll be able to find offers with no fee.

You may want to read this:

http://www.mymoneyblog.com/how-to-ma...nce-transfers/

This guy wrote a series of blog posts about cashing in on 0% balance
transfers. He addresses a lot of the issues you'll come up against.

--Bill

Andrew Koenig wrote:

- quote -

These are the biggies. The 0% deal is usually good for 2 years at best.
OP needs closer to 8.

The one time I did this was on a card that gave a $2,000 line. I made
about $100 on that (over one year). In the end, it was hardly worth the
monthly min payment and effort to track it. I think the chance of
financing all this debt is slim, but the chance of running it out beyond
4 years is close to none.
JOE

"Brian O" <briano1812[at]lispwest.com> wrote in message
news:f0r1am027jc[at]enews4.newsguy.com...

- quote -

Seems like a good idea--if it's possible.

Before you decide to do it, though, I suggest you read the fine print. Here
are the potential snags I've thought of; perhaps there are others I haven't
thought of.

1) Is it possible to apply the 0% rate toward paying off your home equity
loan? Or is it only usable to pay off credit-card purchases made on a
different card? Note that credit cards generally distinguish between
purchases and cash advances; is it possible that paying off something other
than a credit card would count as a cash advance, which might be subject to
a different (higher) interest rate?

2) If you can use the 0% card to pay off your home-equity loan, how long do
you have to pay off the credit card?

3) Do you intend to use the credit card for anything else? If so, you may
discover that you will have to pay interest at the "normal" rate on those
other uses until you have paid off the 0% debt.

4) Can you get $30K worth of credit on a 0% card at all?

As I said, I'm sure there are other problems I haven't thought of; these
questions are just a starting point.

Hi,
I'm always getting these 0% credit card solicitations in the mail, many
with no balance transfer fees. I've also tried to refinance my home equity
loan, now at 7.49% fixed, but no one wants to do it without charging a lot
of fees. I owe about 30K on the home equity loan right now. My question is
what you think of putting the balance of the home equity loan on one or more
of these 0% credit cards? I could apply the same payment, which about half
is now going to interest, and have all of it go toward principal. From what
I've calculated, I could pay it off in about 6 yrs rather than 14, and save
about 8k in doing so. I have a good credit rating, and if I need to
transfer one or more of the card balances, I'm getting very low interest
card offers as well, e.g.. 1.99%. I know the interest on the hel is simple
interest, but would it make that much difference in this case? Thanks in
advance.
B