Your home is not just a place to live, and it is also not just an investment. Your home can moreover be a handy source of ready cash to cover emergencies, repairs, or upgrades, obtained either through a mortgage refinancing or via a home equity loan.
Refinancing pays off your old mortgage in exchange for a new mortgage, ideally at a lower interest rate. A home equity loan gives you cash in exchange for the equity you have built up in your property as a separate loan.
A home equity loan can be a second mortgage or home equity line of credit.