:> :For people who don't already have $100,000 limits on their existing :> credit :> :cards, are there any home equity lines of credit that are tied to :> MasterCard :> :or Visa instead of to checks? :> :This would allow you to credit card protections on home remodel expenses :> and :> :maybe collect massive airline miles, rebates or other perks. :> : :> I just secured a HELOC and they issued me a VISA credit card with ATM :> privileges, checks and the ability to call my branch manager (the loan :> officer) and have funds transferred from my other accounts to cover :> HELOC expensing. I haven't used it yet and may never, but the terms were :> so good I couldn't pass it up - no upfront costs, no cancellation costs. :> I will only for it if I use it, the adjustable APR rate current. There's :> a $100 minimum on any usage of the HELOC or else there's an additional :> 2% interest. I'm told that this is to discourage usage of the account :> (and especially the credit card, I figure) for other than home repair :> expensing. :>
:> Whatever advantages you'd get in rebates and airline miles would be more :> than offset by the interest, obviously. However, I suppose it's true :> that you'd get some credit card protections. : :If you pay it off a the end of the month, you get the rebates or airline :miles without paying interest.
I don't think that would work with a HELOC. You pay interest when you use it, period. On a "regular" credit card, yeah, you pay no interest if you pay immediately. On a HELOC credit card, I'm sure you pay interest from the day you charge until the day you pay.