Fair points overall, but I'd add a couple cautions:
- Debt consolidation through home equity sounds great on paper, but I've seen friends do this and end up worse off. They cleared their cards, felt relieved, then slowly maxed them out again. Discipline is easier said than done...
- Emergency repairs make sense, sure, but ideally you'd have an emergency fund first. Borrowing against your home should be a last resort—not the default solution.
Just my two cents from seeing it go sideways more than once.
I refinanced last year to consolidate debt, and honestly, it worked out well—but only because I was super strict about cutting up my cards afterward. Without that discipline, I can totally see how easy it is to slip back into old habits... seen it happen too.
