It depends.
If the home improvement will fix a condition of your home that stresses you out or improve your home's value, and is small, that's probably ok. 22k for a kitchen or bathroom remodel is reasonable if you have the money to pay it back quickly, or if you are doing the remodel one piece at a time rather than rolling into a big mortgage and pay it off in 30 years.
If your mortgage is cheap right now (i.e. 2.5% on a 15 year fixed like mine) and do not want to lose it to refinance, HELCO is good. If you are going to refinance and reduce your payment and interest anyways, just refinance.
Another question: if you can afford to pay for a HELCO on top of a mortgage, why aren't you paying more toward the principle on the mortgage to reduce your overall debt, and pay it off quicker?
If the home improvement will fix a condition of your home that stresses you out or improve your home's value, and is small, that's probably ok. 22k for a kitchen or bathroom remodel is reasonable if you have the money to pay it back quickly, or if you are doing the remodel one piece at a time rather than rolling into a big mortgage and pay it off in 30 years.
If your mortgage is cheap right now (i.e. 2.5% on a 15 year fixed like mine) and do not want to lose it to refinance, HELCO is good. If you are going to refinance and reduce your payment and interest anyways, just refinance.
Another question: if you can afford to pay for a HELCO on top of a mortgage, why aren't you paying more toward the principle on the mortgage to reduce your overall debt, and pay it off quicker?
