# What interest rate on your line of credit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 18, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-interest-rate-on-your-line-of-credit/561048 "2010-11-18T01:00:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FE3O4ENAIL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba9def/32.png) [@FE3O4ENAIL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FE3O4ENAIL)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-interest-rate-on-your-line-of-credit/561048/1 "2010-11-18T01:00:17Z")
Mine has a low limit of 4%. Is there a better deal on a line secured by a house? ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-interest-rate-on-your-line-of-credit/561048/2 "2010-11-18T01:28:58Z")
No clue… I’ve never paid a cent of interest on any of them. It’s probably high. ---
**Author:** ![FE3O4ENAIL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba9def/32.png) [@FE3O4ENAIL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FE3O4ENAIL)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-interest-rate-on-your-line-of-credit/561048/3 "2010-11-18T01:32:53Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > No clue… I’ve never paid a cent of interest on any of them. It’s probably high. Tell me more, an interest free line of credit, sounds good to me. Who offers it? ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-interest-rate-on-your-line-of-credit/561048/4 "2010-11-18T02:07:35Z")
Does it have to be a house? I got a used 2006 car financed at the apparently ridiculous rate of 24% (from Wachovia, or I guess Wells-Fargo now). However this was just before I filed chapter 7, and frankly, I was lucky to get approved at all. My car payment is only $300 a month for 5 years. I thought it was a helluva bargain tbh. But then I’m kinda used to being financially fucked. ---
**Author:** ![FE3O4ENAIL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba9def/32.png) [@FE3O4ENAIL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FE3O4ENAIL)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-interest-rate-on-your-line-of-credit/561048/5 "2010-11-18T02:30:21Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > Does it have to be a house? I got a used 2006 car financed at the apparently ridiculous rate of 24% (from Wachovia, or I guess Wells-Fargo now). However this was just before I filed chapter 7, and frankly, I was lucky to get approved at all. > > My car payment is only $300 a month for 5 years. I thought it was a helluva bargain tbh. But then I’m kinda used to being financially fucked. Ouch. Could you have found a lower cost vehicle? My rule is if i can’t pay it off in 3 years, I need to find a better deal. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-interest-rate-on-your-line-of-credit/561048/6 "2010-11-18T02:41:42Z")
> [@FE3O4ENAIL](#): > > Ouch. Could you have found a lower cost vehicle? My rule is if i can’t pay it off in 3 years, I need to find a better deal. Well I was unwilling to haggle and I only had 1000 available for a down payment, so my only option was Carmax (people on Craigslist don’t generally finance, heh). I could have gotten something substantially older and saved maybe 1k. I might have been able to wiggle a better deal by going to a used car lot, but I inherently distrust salespeople. As well as the cars that are typically available on used car lots. I’ve never had to do any maintenance on the car besides oil changes in the year and a half I’ve owned it. I consider it my best purchase to date 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-interest-rate-on-your-line-of-credit/561048/7 "2010-11-18T04:20:05Z")
> [@FE3O4ENAIL](#): > > Tell me more, an interest free line of credit, sounds good to me. > Who offers it? Heh, just about every credit issuer offers it. There’s just one catch: you always have to pay your bill in full and on time, every time. 😉 ETA: to be clear, I’m talking about my credit cards. If you are only interested in lines of credit secured against a house then I don’t have any. (the question in the OP just says line of credit, it doesn’t specify _home equity_) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-interest-rate-on-your-line-of-credit/561048/8 "2010-11-18T05:13:35Z")
Our line of credit is prime plus 3%, I think it is, and is not secured by our house (or anything). It seems ridiculous to me to secure a couple of thousand dollars worth of line of credit against a house worth $300,000 - that doesn’t seem like a fair trade to me. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-interest-rate-on-your-line-of-credit/561048/9 "2010-11-18T13:04:33Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > ETA: to be clear, I’m talking about my credit cards. If you are only interested in lines of credit secured against a house then I don’t have any. (the question in the OP just says line of credit, it doesn’t specify _home equity_) What about the bit where it says “Is there a better deal on a line secured by a house?” ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-interest-rate-on-your-line-of-credit/561048/10 "2010-11-18T14:08:22Z")
Choice Visa Was 14.5%…then 17% (automatic opt-in)…and last I heard from them, like 24% for cash advances (automatic-opt in, the day before the laws changed). So I moved over to our credit union. 7.25%…cash advances? 7.25% Unsecured loan? 7.25% Late fee? A single, non-recurring $35. Choice wanted to know why I was leaving and how they could keep me. I said they already told me, loud and clear, what they thought of me as a customer. And right after that, the Credit Union lowered my rates to 6.75% 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Righteous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Dr.Righteous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Righteous)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-interest-rate-on-your-line-of-credit/561048/11 "2010-11-18T15:13:44Z")
> [@FE3O4ENAIL](#): > > Mine has a low limit of 4%. Is there a better deal on a line secured by a house? My HELOC is prime -0.5%. Which means it’s currently 2.75%. TD Bank. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-interest-rate-on-your-line-of-credit/561048/12 "2010-11-18T18:35:15Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > What about the bit where it says “Is there a better deal on a line secured by a house?” That’s a different question. He also asked what the interest rate is on _your_ line of credit. ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-interest-rate-on-your-line-of-credit/561048/13 "2010-11-19T14:56:37Z")
Our HELOC is Prime - 1.01%, so it’s currently 2.24%. Nobody is offering a deal like that now. The best offers are all Prime + something, often with a floor of 4% (so if you got Prime + 0%, you would be paying 4% even though the Prime rate is 3.25% right now). If you’ve already got a HELOC with a floor of 4% I doubt that you’ll find anything better. You could roll it into your mortgage in a refinance to a lower rate if you can get a mortgage in the 3s.