Unlock Your Home’s Hidden Potential with a HELOC

Home Blog Unlock Your Home’s Hidden Potential with a HELOC

Posted On: June 16, 2021 by Peoples Bank of Kankakee County in: Budget Mortgages Personal Finances Saving

How many hours do you think you’ve spent staring at the walls inside your home this last year? How many hours did you spend online or on Pinterest trying to find ways to spruce up your home or find new ways to entertain your family? A Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) is the perfect way to turn those daydreams into a reality! Check out some of the ways you can unlock your home’s hidden potential with a HELOC.

Increase the Value of Your Home

With all the time you’ve spent inside since the beginning of COVID-19, we don’t doubt that you’ve brainstormed ways to improve your home. But, you’ll want to be strategic about those updates. Get your home appraised, do your research and then invest in home updates that will increase the value of your home. HELOCs are a great way to pay for these updates and selling your home at an increased value will help you pay off debt faster and earn extra for a new home down payment!

Create New Summer Traditions with Your Family

COVID-19 has changed the way families do summer. Since people have been stuck inside, road tripping across the United States has become very popular. Families rented large vehicles and RVs to spend a week or more traveling to different national parks, camping grounds and great hiking spots. We say, why not lean into this trend? A HELOC can help you purchase a camper or RV to start a road trip tradition that lasts far beyond this summer. Turn a lemon of a year into lemonade by taking this opportunity to create memories that will last a lifetime!

Consolidate Your Debt

A very practical and often lifechanging way to unlock the value of your home is to consolidate your debt with a HELOC. You essentially use a HELOC to pay off your other loans, leaving you with just one loan to worry about! This is not only helpful by streamlining your payments, but you can often save money in the long run. Since you’re using your home as collateral, and home loans typically have a lower interest rate, you’ll save money over time instead of paying that added interest from the other loans.

Plan Your Dream Wedding

Many couples postponed their weddings due to COVID-19. A HELOC is a great way to make up for it and go all out on your dream wedding. All HELOC interest rates are fixed, and you have 30 years to pay off your loan. As long as you make payments on time and don’t use your entire line of credit, this can also be a great way to boost your credit score and help you start your life together!

Pay for College Expenses

Before you take out a student loan for your child, compare the interest rate of a student loan to a HELOC. As we mentioned above, HELOCs often have lower interest rates, so it may be the right option for you. This doesn’t mean that you have to take on all of the responsibility for your child, either! Many parents opt to take out a loan in their name and let their child pay them back, so they don’t start adulthood with a cloud of debt hanging over their head.

If you want to know more about what a HELOC is or how you qualify, check out this blog: Home Equity Line of Credit: What You Should Know. Or if you already know that a HELOC is the best option for you, just give us a call at (815) 936-7600 or fill out an online form to contact our home lending team!

An overdraft occurs when you do not have enough money in your account to cover a transaction, but we pay it anyway. We can cover your overdrafts in two different ways:

We have standard overdraft practices that are available after your account has been open for 30 days and as long as you maintain your account in good standing.
We also offer an overdraft protection plan, Overdraft Protection Sweep, a link to a savings account. It may be less expensive than our standard overdraft practices. To learn more, ask us about this plan.

This notice explains our standard overdraft practices.

What are the standard overdraft practices that come with my account?

After your account has been open for 30 days and as long as you maintain your account in good standing, we do authorize and pay overdrafts for the following types of transactions:

Checks and other transactions made using your checking account number
Automatic bill payments

We do not authorize and pay overdrafts for the following types of transactions unless you ask us to (see below):

ATM transactions
Everyday debit card transactions

We pay overdrafts at our discretion, which means we do not guarantee that we will always authorize and pay any type of transaction.

If we do not authorize and pay an overdraft, your transaction will be declined.

What fees will I be charged if Peoples Bank of Kankakee County pays my overdraft?

Under our standard overdraft practices:

We will charge you a fee of up to $30 each time we pay an overdraft.
The maximum daily overdraft fee per presentment or item paid using the Overdraft Reserve Program is $150.00 per day.
No per item handling fee will be charged on de minimis overdrafts. De minimis overdraft for this policy means transactions that overdraw your account by $30 or less.
There is an overdraft fee of $5 per day that will be charged beginning the 4th consecutive business day your account is overdrawn.

Nonsufficient funds (NSF) fees - if an item drafted by you (such as a check) or a transaction you set up (such as a preauthorized transfer) is presented for payment in an amount that is more than the amount of money in your account and we decide not to pay the item or transaction, you agree that we can charge you an NSF fee for returning the payment. Be aware that such an item or payment may be presented multiple times by the merchant or other payee until it is paid, and that we do not monitor or control the number of times a transaction is presented for payment. You agree that we may charge you an NSF fee each time a payment is presented if the amount of money in your account is not sufficient to cover the payment, regardless of the number of times the payment is presented.

PAYMENT ORDER OF ITEMS - The law permits us to pay items drawn on your account in any order (for purposes of this section "items" means checks, orders and electronic transactions). To assist you in handling your account with us, we are providing you with the following information regarding how we process those items. When processing checks and orders drawn on your account our policy is to pay lower numbered checks and orders in numerical sequence, but electronic transactions are paid first in the order received. The order in which items are paid is important if there is not enough money in your account to pay all of the items that are presented. There is no policy that is favorable in every instance. If the smallest items are paid first, you may have fewer NSF or overdraft fees, but the largest, and perhaps more important items (such as rent or mortgage payments) might not be paid. However, if the largest items are paid first, your most important items might be paid but it may increase the overdraft or NSF fees if funds are not available to pay all of the items. We think our policy attains a reasonable balance between minimizing additional costs to you and paying your more important items. We encourage you to make careful records and practice good account management. This will help you to avoid creating items without sufficient funds and incurring the resulting fees.

What if I want Peoples Bank of Kankakee County to authorize and pay overdrafts on my ATM and everyday debit card transactions?

If you also want us to authorize and pay overdrafts on ATM and everyday debit card transactions after your account has been open for 30 days, you may opt in.

You have an ongoing right to change this consent at any time. If your overdraft privilege has been revoked for any reason, the opt-in or opt-out selection may not apply. Please contact your nearest office for more information.

Alternate ways to Opt In/Out or make changes:

By Phone. Our Customer Care Representatives can be reached at 815-936-7600.
By Mail. Peoples Bank of Kankakee County, 333 E. Court Street, Kankakee, IL 60901
In Person. Please visit your local office and ask a representative to help you decide which plan is best for you.