patrick.net

It is not local government saved the real estate.

It is the economy and jobs.
Oil price bubble created lots jobs in TX.

>>So in Texas I couldn't use home equity to pay off my student loans?

Of course you can. Use all the equity you want, up to 80%.

Just my opinion: people SHOULDN'T be able to spend HELOCs on anything but home improvements. There was a lot of abuse during the bubble: people buying Porsches and TVs, etc. with phantom equity, then they walked away with the toys and defaulted on the mortgage. Seems like a reasonable expectation that your HELOC be for improving or repairing the asset it is using as collateral. But, I think the reality is that is NOT the case. You can spend it on anything you want, including a trip to Cancun. Who can blame you for consolidating other debts on a better (?) rate and terms?

The 80% is new to me, and is probably a result of the aforementioned abuses. By the way, aren't the terms on student loans generally really good? Like very little interest? Don't know, for me college was pay as you go ...