Utilizing Your Home, Reasons to Apply NOW

The NOW program that Pen Air FCU offers is a great opportunity for any family that is looking to change the path of their financial future for the better.

In our 2021 NOW program, all three teams that participated in the program had an opportunity to improve their current mortgage situation. Most families in today’s world are dealing with a mortgage process in some type of way whether it be buying, selling, refinancing, utilizing home equity, etc.

I had the privilege of being one of this year’s NOW Financial Counselors, and very quickly discovered a good opportunity for my NOW family to take advantage of!

Just for a little bit of background information, the Rider family had a significant amount of damage to their home from Hurricane Sally, and unfortunately their insurance did not cover all the repairs. They were forced to use a large amount of funds from their Home Equity Line of Credit, and still had additional repairs that needed to be done on top of that.

A Home Equity Line of Credit is essentially a revolving line (just like a credit card), but the credit limit that you are given is secured by the equity that you have gained in your home through paying down your mortgage over time, property/home values, and a few other factors. This is a great resource to have for emergencies, which is exactly what the Rider family used their HELOC for.

However, once the balance starts to rise, the interest can become a little gruesome, and it is easy to get stuck in the habit of paying just to enough to cover the interest charged each month. I could see that this was the point that the Rider family had gotten to, and since the debt was already wrapped up in the equity of their home, I thought it would be best for them to consider consolidating that debt so that they could work towards gaining all of that equity back that they once had.

Between the HELOC and their mortgage, they were paying roughly $1200 a month in payments, and were going to be paying over $65,000 in interest of the life of those two loans.

As a team, we were able to refinance their mortgage, wrap in their HELOC debt, take 7 years off the life of their mortgage, AND save them over $35,000 in interest! We were also able to take out additional funds so that they could finishing repairing their home from the damage that they got from Hurricane Sally. And we were able to do this with relatively no changes to their monthly budget! They converted from a 30-year mortgage to a 15-year mortgage, lowered their rate, and saved so much money in the process! This was just one of the major steps that the Rider family was able to take in the right direction towards their financial freedom.

Even though the Rider family accomplished this during their time in the NOW program, we do offer these same services and opportunities to any Pen Air member at no cost! We have several Certified Credit Union Financial Counselors in departments across the entire credit union, and any of the counselors can provide financial guidance for any type of situation that a member may be facing. If you are interested in seeking financial counseling for any type of financial situation, click the link below or contact Pen Air directly via phone, online, or at their local branch, and we will get them partnered with a Certified Financial Counselor. This FREE program provides one-on-one contact with a counselor so that we can meet your specific needs and achieve your financial goals.

Additionally, our 2022 NOW Program is also getting ready to kick-off in just a few weeks! If improving your financial situation has been on your mind, and you also want to make an impact on your local community, then this is the perfect program for you. Applications open on March 24th and will close on April 22nd! After applications close, we will begin our initial selection process, and if selected, you will begin the 2022 NOW Program in July. All Pen Air members are welcome to apply and can do so at penair.org/NOW.