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Why Every Homeowner Needs a HELOC

A HELOC Delivers Peace of Mind for Homeowners

Why-Every-Homeower-Needs-a-HELOC

If there’s one thing of which homeowners can be sure, it’s that owning a home comes with unexpected expenses – and that those expenses often come up at the most inopportune times. A roof leaks, a water heater blows or the furnace fails on the coldest day of the year … or just in advance of when the in-laws are expected to arrive.

The good news for homeowners is that establishing a home equity line of credit (HELOC) means these challenging events don’t have to be made more stressful by uncertainty about how you’ll pay for them. When you secure a HELOC through North Shore Bank, you can rest assured that you have easy, immediate access to draw on the value of your home.

Consider these four benefits:

1) Freedom from worry and flexibility at your fingertips

You don’t have to fear the unexpected because you planned for it. A HELOC allows you to transfer funds into your North Shore Bank checking account with a few simple clicks of the mouse. You can breathe a sigh of relief knowing you have an immediate source of funds for unexpected financial needs or wants. Many of our clients tell us they consider their HELOC another form of insurance, and they happily report their financial stress level is lower because they know they have some freedom and flexibility when needed.

2) A tool for consolidating and decreasing expenses

If you’ve ever used a credit card to pay for a major expense in an emergency, you know how frustrating it is to be paying interest, often years into the future. In addition, if you carry balances on your credit cards from month to month, instead of paying $100 here and $200 there you can consolidate debt into a HELOC. In most situations you pay less overall interest and improve your monthly cash flow. Finally, for many of our customers who use their line for home improvements, a HELOC is a deductible item on your tax return. Check with your tax advisor to review your specific situation.

3) Improve your home and add value

Drawing on your home’s equity, a HELOC can be used for unexpected home repairs and more. While the line of credit is a great emergency resource for the unplanned new furnace or roof maintenance, other home updates may help increase the value of your property. Imagine your upgraded living space – refresh the look of your bathroom, install new kitchen countertops, replace the carpet with hardwood floor, or add on to give your family more room.

4) Live the life you want

Live your best life by financing other large purchases; take that long-awaited vacation or finally get that new car; or help your child pay for their wedding. A HELOC is a great way to help make your dreams a reality.

Life brings all kinds of worries balanced out by wonderful opportunities. You have enough to do without the added stress of trying to figure out how to juggle additional expenses and payments. Get in touch today so we explore how a North Shore Bank HELOC can benefit you and your family.

FAQs

To start using Zelle® at North Shore Bank, you must be enrolled in Online Bill Pay. If you are not already enrolled in Online Bill Pay, you can enroll by logging in to the Mobile App or Online Banking (web-based). Locate the Online Bill Pay tab and follow the instructions to complete the Online Bill Pay enrollment steps. 

Already enrolled in Online Bill Pay? Follow these steps to start using Zelle®:
  1. Log in to the Mobile AppFootnote 1 or Online Banking (web-based)
  2. Select "Send Money with Zelle®"
  3. Accept Terms and Conditions
  4. Select your U.S. mobile number or email address and deposit account

1 Mobile network carrier fees may apply.
Zelle® and the Zelle® related marks are wholly owned by Early Warning Services, LLC and are used herein under license.

Bill Discovery will automatically connect you with your eligible bills by searching the biller database and if you consent, your credit bureau data. Once the bills are located, you can add them to your list of bills in one click. Bill Discovery greatly reduces the time it takes to set up Bill Pay and reduces the chance of manual input errors.

Bill Discovery will continually search for new bills and alert you if new bills have been found.

Bill Discovery is available in both Online Banking and the Mobile App.

The following are screenshots of how you can set up and use this feature.

You first must consent to have your bills be found through the biller database and your credit bureau data. If you wish to have your credit data used, it is a soft inquiry and your credit score will not be impacted.

 

Once you provide consent and click Find My Bills, you will be presented with a page of potential payees.

 

If biller(s) require additional verification upon selecting the biller, you will be provided with the additional verification fields.  If the biller does not require any verification then you can add those directly by clicking the Add button.

 

If you are not yet using Bill Discovery, you may see the following banner ad to begin using the feature.

 

After initial entry into Bill Discovery, new billers found among billers from the biller network or in your credit report will appear in the top, right area of your window.  When clicking “Get My Bills”, you will be walked through the process of adding your bills in the same manner as the initial setup.

 

Yes, you can easily schedule an appointment at any of our offices or with one of our Mortgage Loan Officers through our online scheduling tool.

My Card Manager shows the most recent 50 debit card transactions posted within the last 30 days. Additional history can be viewed within the Accounts menu.

Sometimes a merchant will pre-authorize the card for an amount that may be more than the spend limit you allow on the card. In this case, your card will be denied.