If you have poor credit and want to get a home equity loan, here's what you need to have before more lenders will risk lending to you: a credit score above 500-540 (depending on the lender), a full-time well-paying job, and the ability to repay what's essential a second mortgage.

Benefits of home equity loans and home equity lines of credit are numerous, but the primary ones include the fact that you can pay them out over an extended time; the fact that there are often no closing costs; and, with lines of credit, you often have to pay only the interest payments.

Before taking the risk of applying for a home equity loan, it's worth checking to see if it's worth the effort by ordering a copy of your credit report. This will not only give you an idea of whether you're a good risk, but you'll also be able to clean up any incorrect or out-of-date entries on your report.