Home equity calculators: your equity, your payment, your fit

This page is a home equity calculator, a HELOC payment calculator and a home equity loan payment calculator in one place, in the order you actually need them. Work top to bottom. The first tool tells you how much equity you can borrow. The second helps you decide whether a HELOC (home equity line of credit), a home equity loan (HELOAN) or a cash-out refinance fits what you want the money for. The next two turn a loan amount into a monthly payment. The last two are for people the standard tools skip: business owners who qualify on bank deposits, and landlords who qualify on rent. Every result is an estimate and runs in your browser. If you want to read the longer explanations first, start with how to pull equity out of your home.

How much equity can I borrow?

Type in what you think your home is worth and what you still owe on your first mortgage. The tool subtracts one from the other to show total equity, then applies a combined loan-to-value (CLTV) cap to show how much of that equity a lender would actually let you borrow against. CLTV is your first mortgage plus the new second lien, divided by the home's value. The cap slider is there because programs differ. What this tool cannot tell you is what an appraiser will say your home is worth, and that single number moves everything else.

Which loan fits?

Answer a few plain questions. Do you need the money all at once or over time? Do you want a payment that never changes? What is the rate on your current first mortgage? The tool points you toward a HELOC, a home equity loan or a cash-out refinance and explains why. It is a sorting hat, not a recommendation. A low rate on your existing first mortgage is usually the reason a second lien wins, because a cash-out refinance replaces that first mortgage and the rate that came with it.

What will a HELOC cost per month?

A HELOC is a revolving line. You draw what you need during a draw period, then pay it back during a repayment period. The rate is variable, tied to the prime rate plus a margin, so the payment can change. This HELOC payment calculator asks for the balance you expect to carry, the rate you want to test and the length of each period. It shows the interest-only payment during the draw and the fully amortizing payment after. The rate is yours to choose for the example, and the result is only as good as that guess. How a HELOC works walks through the moving parts.

What will a home equity loan cost per month?

A home equity loan is a lump sum with a fixed rate and a fixed term, so this home equity loan payment calculator is the simplest tool on the page. Enter the amount, the rate you want to test and a term, and it returns a payment that stays the same every month until the loan is paid off. Compare it against the HELOC result above using the same balance and you can see what a fixed payment costs versus a variable one. How a home equity loan works covers the trade-offs.

Self-employed? What do your deposits qualify for?

If your tax returns understate what your business really brings in, this tool is for you. Enter the total deposits across 12 months of business bank statements. The tool takes 50% of that total as income to allow for business expenses, divides by 12 and shows the monthly figure a fixed-rate second mortgage would be qualified on. The deposits are the income verification. The 50% factor is our standard, and an underwriter may apply a different one for some business types, so read the result as a starting point. The bank statement home equity loan page explains the whole program.

Own a rental? Does the rent cover a second?

This one is for a 1 to 4 unit investment property you do not live in. Enter the gross monthly rent and the property's total monthly payment, called PITIA (principal, interest, taxes, insurance and association dues), including the new second mortgage you are testing. Rent divided by PITIA is the debt service coverage ratio (DSCR). A ratio above 1.0 means the rent covers the payment with room to spare. The tool shows your ratio but does not show the floor a program requires, because floors come from the guideline and change. This is a business-purpose loan, qualified on the property, with no personal income documentation. The DSCR second mortgage page has the full picture.

What these calculators can't tell you

Four things sit outside the math. First, the appraisal. You entered a value; an appraiser will deliver one, and if it comes in lower your borrowing room shrinks dollar for dollar. Second, credit. Your score and history set the rate you are offered and can decide which programs are open to you, and no tool on this page sees either. Third, program limits. Every program has its own CLTV cap, minimum loan size, maximum loan size and property rules, and those move. Fourth, closing costs. Some second liens carry little or no closing cost and some carry a few thousand dollars, which changes the real cost of a small loan more than the rate does. A calculator result is a conversation starter. The loan officer's job is to take it from there, and the pull equity guide explains what that conversation covers.