We have been in this house for quit sometime now and when we first got it, it wasn't a massive mortgage. We accelerated the payment quite faster than the minimum and I know that we are in good standing with this one. There are a bunch of times when we want to get a loan from the equity of this house but we really held it back. We wanted to get the mortgage done as soon as possible and then think of getting another one and renting this one out. Home Equity Loans is one thing we consider though. Hubby(not me!lol) is not getting young and we wanted to go out and have a good wholesome vacation to Europe before it's too late for him to do it. It crossed our minds more than a dozen times to check the equity of this house and see if we can do it.