Suze Orman

You can do whatever you want in that regards.

Now, listen closely because there are certain things you need to know about it, all right?

Number one, there is no fee on any level.

Listen, they pay for appraisals unless you're doing a really big home equity line of credit.

But in most cases, Alliant will pay for the appraisals.

everything, no charge the first year.

From then on, after the first year, there is a $50 a year fee, not a big deal, just to be able to have access to emergency money that's locked up in your home.

Got that?

If you close it within the first three years, there will be a $200 closure fee.

So you are not to take this out if you think all of a sudden you're going to close it right away or whatever.

You have to know that this is your emergency line of equity that has now been locked in for you in your home.

You don't have to use it.

And I really think that if you own a home right now and your home is valued at a lot and you have good equity in it, right?

So you have to have a good equity, you know, loan to value ratio there of at least 70, 80%.

You have to do that, by the way.

You can't take all your equity out.

But why not set up

a home equity line of credit just in case.

Now, those people back in 2006 and 2007, if they had taken that advice at that point in time, they may have been able to save their home, keep their home, because eventually everything did come back.

So this is something that I want you all to do seriously if you own a home.