How much will a $60,000 home equity loan cost monthly if opened this September?

Ahead of a potential interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve later this month, borrowers in need of extra financing now may find it helpful to start looking for affordable options. Borrowing products with fixed interest rates, specifically, can be advantageous as they'll be immune to what could turn out to be an extended interest rate hike campaign from the central bank. Fortunately, for homeowners, there is one viable option to seriously consider in this environment – borrowing from their home equity with a home equity loan.

Home equity loans have fixed interest rates hovering just over 8% right now, making them one of the cheaper ways to borrow money currently (personal loans and credit cards both come with average rates in the double digits). And, if homeowners lock in one of today's rates now, they won't need to worry about market conditions that could easily cause rates to rise in the weeks and months to come, as would be the case with alternatives like home equity lines of credit (HELOCs).

So, if you need to borrow a five-figure amount such as $60,000 this September, a home equity loan could p...