Home equity
Your equity is real money — here's what it costs to use it
Three ways to turn equity into cash: a line of credit, a fixed-rate second mortgage, or a cash-out refinance. They differ in payment, in total cost, and in what happens to the loan you already have — so this estimator prices all three on your numbers at once.
Home equity calculator
What can you reach, and what would it cost?
Enter the value, what you still owe, and the cash you're after. Rates are built from today's prime rate and the same market averages the other calculators use, so they follow the market without you touching them. Every option is priced on the same amount, so the comparison is like for like — payment first, then the interest over ten years.
Your numbers
Your home today
Your current loan
Your file and property
Credit score
Occupancy
Property type
Units
Today’s pricing
WSJ Prime
Published index, updates on its own
Home equity line (HELOC) draw period
Cash-out refinance term
Fixed second (HELOAN) term
Your answer
Cash you can reach
$248,000
$310,000 of equity — 50% of the value — sits between your balance and the ceiling lenders work to.
Home equity line (HELOC)
Prime plus a margin, interest-only through the draw, then 20 years to pay it back
$413/mo
Interest-only payment while you draw
- Cash out
- $60,000
- Interest over the horizon 10 yrs
- $49,500
- After the draw ends
- $511/mo
How the rate is built
- WSJ Prime
- 7.00%
- Margin · 720–759 · 70% or less combined
- +0.50%
- 10-year draw term
- +0.25%
- Draw under $100,000
- +0.50%
Fixed second (HELOAN)
Prime plus your tier's margin, fixed for the life of the loan
$507/mo
Principal and interest, 20-year payoff
- Cash out
- $60,000
- Interest over the horizon 10 yrs
- $42,309
- Closing costs
- $900
How the rate is built
- WSJ Prime
- 7.00%
- Margin · 740–759 · 65% or less combined
- +1.125%
- $50,000–$99,999 loan
- 0.00%
- Ceiling · 90% combined LTV
Lowest cost of the three
Cash-out refinance · Conventional cash-out
30-year fixed — replaces your first mortgage and reprices the whole balance
$621/mo
Extra on top of your current first-mortgage payment
- Cash out
- $60,000
- New loan amount
- $377,400
- Extra interest vs keeping your loan 10 yrs
- $104,929
- Closing costs
- $7,400
How the rate is built
- 30-year fixed average
- 7.24%
- Credit score / LTV · 740–759 · 30.01–60% · 0.375 pt
- +0.141%
- 80% max LTV · 620 score
- Home value
- $620,000
- First mortgage balance
- $310,000
- Equity
- $310,000
- Combined loan-to-value after
- 59.7%
- Line of credit ceiling (up to 90% HCLTV)
- $247,938
- Cash-out ceiling at this score
- $60,000
- WSJ Prime today
- 7.00%
In plain English
On a $620,000 home with $310,000 owed, $310,000 — 50% of the value — is yours. Lenders will usually let you reach $248,000 of it through a second lien, and somewhat less through a cash-out refinance.
A line of credit is quoted as WSJ Prime — 7.00% today — plus a margin of 0.50% for a 720–759 score at 70% or less combined. That works out to 8.250%, and because prime moves when the Fed moves, so does the payment.
The fixed second is 8.125% on a 20-year term — WSJ Prime plus the margin for a 740–759 score at 65% or less combined — and it never changes after closing.
The cash-out would open at 7.381% as a conventional loan — that term's market average plus the cash-out premium and the adjustment for your credit score — so it reprices the whole $310,000 balance rather than just the cash you take out.
Over 10 years the fixed second (heloan) costs about $42,309 in interest on the same $60,000 — the lowest of the three on these numbers.
A line is cheapest to carry while you're paying interest only, but that payment isn't reducing the debt, and it steps up when the draw ends. A fixed second costs more each month and never changes. Which one you want depends on whether you need room to draw on, or a known payment you can plan around.
This tool is for informational purposes only.
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Leave your details and I'll look at these exact numbers myself. No sales pitch, no obligation — and if the honest answer is "not yet", that's what you'll hear.
What I'll see
$620,000 home · $310,000 owed · $60,000 cash needed · prime 7.00% · credit 740 · primary · line 8.250% / fixed second 8.125% / cash-out 7.381% · cheapest: Fixed second (HELOAN) at $507/mo
Line pricing uses WSJ Prime from the Federal Reserve’s H.15 release. The cash-out rate builds on Freddie Mac’s weekly averages and the jumbo index. Every option is capped at 3.50% above the FFIEC’s Average Prime Offer Rate, so anything past the ceiling shows as not offered.
How equity lending works
The rules behind the three options
What decides how much you can borrow, and how each option is priced.
Each option has its own ceiling
Everything is measured by combined loan-to-value — every loan against the home divided by its value. A line or a fixed second can reach 90% depending on the scenario. A line caps at $500,000, or $750,000 with a 720+ score, and a fixed second runs $45,000 to $500,000. Every loan together, your first mortgage included, stops at $4,000,000.
A second lien leaves your first alone
A line of credit or a fixed-rate second sits behind your existing mortgage. Your first loan keeps its rate and its payoff date, which is what makes these options cheap when the first mortgage is well below today's rates.
A cash-out reprices everything
A cash-out refinance replaces the first mortgage, so the entire balance moves to today's rate and the clock starts over at 30 years. That can be the better trade when the new rate is lower than what you pay now.
The draw is interest-only
A line is WSJ Prime plus a margin set by your score and combined loan-to-value, and the draw is interest-only: the payment is small but pays nothing down. When the draw ends, the balance re-amortizes over 20 years at whatever the rate is then — a step up worth planning for.
Rental property works too
Investment property DSCR lines and fixed seconds are available on the same terms — underwritten on the property's rent instead of your tax returns, in every state except Missouri and Massachusetts.
Costs are not the same
A cash-out carries closing costs on the whole new loan, typically 2% or more. Second liens cost less to originate, and many lines of credit carry no closing costs but an annual fee instead.
How each option is priced
Jumbo mortgage amounts can increase by exception, based upon the borrower's scenario and the strength of the client's assets and credit. A line of credit is priced at WSJ Prime plus a margin set by your credit score and combined loan-to-value, and a fixed second is priced the same way — a margin for its term, score and combined loan-to-value, over that same prime rate. Cash-out is priced off that term's Freddie Mac average plus the loan-level adjustments for your credit score and loan-to-value — 3/8 of a point of rate for every point, and no offer once the points go over three. Conventional cash-out stays inside the conforming limit; above it the same loan is jumbo. A second home prices on the second-home program, $200,000 to $2,500,000. A line is capped at $500,000 ($750,000 at a 720+ score), and every loan together stops at $4,000,000.
Where we lend
- Primary, second homes & investment
- Georgia and Florida
- Investment property DSCR loans
- Every state except Missouri and Massachusetts
Tell us the state and the property type and the checker on the home page answers instantly, before you spend any time on anything.
Estimates only, not a quote or an offer to lend. Combined loan-to-value ceilings, pricing and available structures change with the market and with your file, and eligibility is confirmed with a full application. Borrowing against your home puts it at risk if the loan isn’t repaid.
Thinking about using your equity?
Send the scenario and we'll confirm the combined loan-to-value ceiling for your property, which structure actually prices better, and what the payments look like.