Home Equity Loan

[RaT]

I am hoping someone can help a finance challenged soul such as myself with some information. I basically need the "who" part.
My desire is to finance our garage/guest house with a home equity loan to eliminate the construction loan costs. We have a mobile home now that must be removed upon completion of the garage/guest house which will be our temporary home until we build the main residence. The equity loan would be secured by our land which is valued at about $550,000 given recent sales on comparable properties. That I know is the hitch. Do you know of any bank or loan agency that loans on such? I am located in Northern California. Thanks, Mark

[twstanley]

I would think you could get an equity loan from your current mortgage company, credit union, bank, etc.....

[RaT]

Well, you would think except that to date, I know of none that will issue one using land to secure the loan. I asked because in todays loan climate, it seems most anything goes. Even a bank officer mentioned I try and see if anyone would do it for that very reason.

[twstanley]

Do you already have a loan against the property?

I did a search on google for "loans on land" and came up with this link, it mentions they do business in California so maybe they can help:

http://www.e-constructionloans.com/

[RaT]

Thanks for the link. I do not have a loan against this property.

[Stoneheartfarm]

You are right that the larger lenders don't like to secure against raw land, but you should be able to do a construction loan, basing against what the property will be worth once the garage and guest house are constructed and the mobile home removed.

If not, you might want to find a small local bank and try to get a non-conforming loan that they will hold in their portfolio. It means a higher rate, but at least you could do something.

Steve

[mfaley]

I think Steve is right based on my experience. Not sure if you have a Feather River Bank in your area but you might try them.

I will PM you the contact info for a loan agent in our area that we have found to be very good and also creative.

You live in a beautiful area....

Mark