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Home Equity Loans

What is home equity?

Sep 19, 2023

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Written by

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Reviewed by

Key takeaways:

  • Home equity is the difference between what your home is worth and what you owe on it.

  • A home equity loan lets you borrow against your equity when you need cash. 

  • Home equity loans tend to have higher limits and lower costs than personal loans.

Owning a home is a big accomplishment and could mean that you have access to certain financial tools. If you’ve been paying down your mortgage or your home’s value has gone up (or both), your home equity could be an opportunity standing by for you. Borrowing against your home equity is a way to turn a portion of your home’s value into money you can spend, and it’s a perk reserved for homeowners.

Equity might sound complicated, but it’s just the difference between what your home is worth and what you owe on your mortgage.

So if you feel house-rich but cash-poor and you are exploring ways to cover a large expense, learn how to make the most of your home equity. We’ll break it down right here.

How does home equity work?

When you're talking about equity in a home, you're talking, in a way, about how much of the property you have paid for. Home equity builds over time as the gap between the home’s value and the mortgage balance widens. 

The first way to build equity is by making a down payment. A down payment is the money you pay up front to buy a home. The more you put down, the less you need to borrow to complete the purchase. If you make a down payment, you start building equity from day one of being a homeowner. 

Once you own the home, equity can continue to build thanks to two things:

  • Decreasing mortgage debt

  • Increasing home value

In other words, as you pay your mortgage down, your equity grows. And when your home’s value goes up, your equity grows. Take a look at this example:


How home equity can build

 

Market value when you bought

$500,000

Down payment

$20,000

Your equity on day one

$20,000

Market value today

$640,000

Mortgage balance today

$390,000

Your equity today

$250,000

What is negative equity?

It’s possible to have negative equity. Negative equity means your mortgage debt is greater than your home's value. You might also hear people describe it as being "upside down" or "underwater" on their mortgage. A lot of homeowners experienced this during the 2008-09 financial crisis, when home values plummeted. It’s less common today, but it can happen.

Calculating your home equity

Curious about how much equity you have in your home? Here’s how to calculate it. 

The formula looks like this: 

current home value - remaining mortgage balance = home equity

Let’s say you owe $335,000 on your home, and it’s estimated to be worth $650,000. Follow the formula above:

$650,000 - $335,000 = $315,000 in equity 

Plug in your numbers, and you can quickly figure out how much equity you have. 

Homeowners, get help with your high-interest debt

Use the equity in your home to consolidate debt, lower your monthly payments, and reduce your stress.

Benefits of home equity

Here are some of the benefits of having home equity.

Build wealth

You might want to figure out your home equity if you plan to sell the home down the line. Knowing what your home is worth can give you an idea of what you might walk away with if you sell. 

Lower your monthly payments

If you're paying for PMI (private mortgage insurance), having home equity could help you lower your mortgage payments. That’s because you can drop this insurance once you have enough equity.

PMI protects your lender if you stop making mortgage payments for any reason. Lenders can require PMI when your down payment is less than 20% of the purchase price. You pay an upfront PMI premium, plus monthly premiums that are added to your regular mortgage payment.

Once you reach 20% equity—based on your home's value when you bought it—you can ask the lender to drop the PMI requirement. That can lower your monthly payments. This doesn't apply to all mortgages, only conventional loans (not government-backed mortgages like FHA loans). Your mortgage servicer (the company you send your payments to) can tell you what kind of loan you have, whether you have PMI that can be canceled, and what the process is for dropping it.

Borrow

If you have equity in your home, you might be able to borrow against it. There are a few ways to do that—and some key reasons you might want to.

How can you use your home equity?

There are many ways to use a home equity loan. It’s a tool that can help you pay for expenses or fund big (and smaller) financial goals. 

You might also turn to your equity if you need to borrow to cover a financial emergency. It's always good to have emergency cash on hand so you don't need to borrow. But if your emergency fund is a little low, it's helpful to know that your equity is there in case you need it. 

Bottom line, how you use your home equity is up to you. And if you don't need cash, you can leave it untouched, and watch it grow as you pay down the mortgage. 

Three ways to access your home equity

We've covered some ways you can use your home equity. But how do you actually “tap into your equity” or “pull equity out”? 

The short answer is that you borrow against it. The way a home equity loan works is that it’s a second mortgage. Home equity loans are secured loans. That means you pledge something of value (collateral) as a guarantee that you’ll repay the loan. In this case, the collateral is the home. If you stop paying your loan back, you could lose your home. 

You have a few options: 

  • Home equity loan. A home equity loan lets you borrow against your equity and get a lump sum that you can use for just about anything. Home equity loans usually have fixed interest rates, and are paid back over a period that may range from 5 to 30 years. 

  • Home equity line of credit (HELOC). A HELOC also lets you borrow against your equity, but you get a revolving credit line instead of a lump sum. For the first few years, you can borrow, repay, and borrow more as often as you like, up to your credit limit. This is called the draw period. When the draw period ends, the repayment period begins, and it typically lasts 10 to 30 years. Most HELOCs have a variable interest rate. Achieve offers a fixed-rate HELOC.

  • Cash-out refinance. Refinancing a mortgage means getting a new home loan to pay off your old one. With a cash-out refi, you get a new, larger mortgage. The new loan pays off the old mortgage, and you get the difference in cash at closing. 

How do you decide which is better? You can start by comparing costs. If your original mortgage has a very low interest rate compared to what you could get now, you might not want to do a cash-out refinance mortgage. It doesn’t make sense to pay off a mortgage with a more expensive mortgage. A home equity loan or HELOC would be a better option. You can also consider how much flexibility you need. Since a home equity loan is a one-time lump sum, a HELOC may be more convenient. 

Talk to a mortgage advisor to get a better idea of how to make the most of your equity.

Author Information

Rebecca-Lake.jpg

Written by

Rebecca is a senior contributing writer and debt expert. She's a Certified Educator in Personal Finance and a banking expert for Forbes Advisor. In addition to writing for online publications, Rebecca owns a personal finance website dedicated to teaching women how to take control of their money.

James-Heflin.jpg

Reviewed by

James is a financial editor for Achieve. He has been an editor for The Ascent (The Motley Fool) and was the arts editor at The Valley Advocate newspaper in Western Massachusetts for many years. He holds an MFA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and an MA from Hollins University. His book Krakatoa Picnic came out in 2017.

Frequently asked questions

Home equity is the difference between your home's value and what you still owe on the mortgage. You might also think of it as how much of your home you own.

Taking equity out of your home has pros and cons, but it might be a good idea if you know you can manage the payments for a home equity loan or HELOC. Using home equity to pay for home renovations or repairs may also work in your favor if those improvements increase your home's value.

A home equity loan from Achieve could help you consolidate high-interest debt. If you're tired of throwing money away on credit card interest, for example, you could use your equity to combine those payments. If you get a lower interest rate you could pay the debts off faster.


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Home Equity loans are available through our affiliate Achieve Loans (NMLS ID #1810501), Equal Housing Lender. All loan and rate terms are subject to eligibility restrictions, application review, credit score, loan amount, loan term, lender approval, and credit usage and history. Home loans are a line of credit. Loans are not available to residents of all states and available loan terms/fees may vary by state where offered. Line amounts are between 15,000 and $150,000 and are assigned based on debt to income and loan to value. Example: average HELOC is $57,150 with an APR of 12.75% and estimated monthly payment of $951 for a 15-year loan. Minimum 640 credit score applies to debt consolidation requests, minimum 670 applies to cash out requests. Other conditions apply. Fixed rate APRs range from 8.75% - 15.00% and are assigned based on credit worthiness, combined loan to value, lien position and automatic payment enrollment (autopay enrollment is not a condition of loan approval). 10 and 15 year terms available. Both terms have a 5 year draw period. Payments are fully amortized during each period and determined on the outstanding principal balance each month. Closing fees range from $750 to $6,685, depending on line amount and state law requirements and generally include origination (2.5% of line amount minus fees) and underwriting ($725) fees if allowed by law. Property must be owner-occupied and combined loan to value may not exceed 80%, including the new loan request. Property insurance is required as a condition of the loan and flood insurance may be required if the subject property is located in a flood zone. You must pledge your home as collateral and could lose your home if you fail to repay. Contact Achieve Loans for further details.

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