How do I access the equity in my own home?

Take a look into a HELOC (Home Equity Line Of Credit) You do not have to go through a certain bank to do this. The bank will do another appraisal on your property and then approve you for the amount. Usually they will not do 100% so I doubt you will get that whole 11k but that probably depends on the program. Usually they are .75% above prime and some of them have closing costs but other don't... Hope this helps!

While the HELOC is the most common way to access your equity, especially if your credit is good; you may have to wait until March 2011 so your purchase is a year old. However, there is another option. You can write your own 2nd mortgage against the property and use it as a downpayment for other property instead of cash. You can make up the amount and the rate, so it gives you some great flexibility.It your case, you could even use $15,000 and 3%. Sometimes a seller just wants collateral instead of cah and this is how you could do it. But be careful as it still is an enforceable debt on your home.

Thank you for your responses. I'll check it out. I already have a second mortgage for the down payment on the house when I bought it. So I guess I probably don't really have that much equity right now anyway.

Thanks
Missy