A home equity line is like a giant credit card.

$0 Balance = $0 Bill. This is a terrific way to manage your cash flow. Home Equity Lines carry a much lower rate than the average credit card, and are tax deductible up to $100,000.

Home Equity Lines are also a key component of rapid payoff strategies. With an amortized mortgage, additional principal payments make your term decrease, so your mortgage is paid off faster. A concern many have is keeping adequate reserves, because with a conventional mortgage, you cannot re-borrow that money, so there's a need to keep several month's worth of reserves. With an ample Home Equity Line, you can keep somewhat more modest reserves, and apply additional principal toward your first mortgage to get your home paid off faster, while still maintaining cash flow flexibility.

Home Equity Lines are also a terrific way to finance home improvements or short-term investments such as "fix and flip" foreclosure investing.