Enter your home's value, existing mortgage balance, and the loan you want to see your maximum available equity, monthly payment, and total interest.
A $50,000 loan at 8% over 10 years amortizes to a monthly payment of $606.64 and total interest of $22,796.56 — the same standard loan-payment formula used across every amortizing loan on this site, just applied here against a home's available equity rather than its purchase price. The Loan Calculator runs that identical formula for any principal, rate, and term if a full amortization schedule is useful beyond the summary shown here.
A HELOC's payment can rise — sometimes substantially — if benchmark rates climb during the draw or repayment period, since its rate floats. A home equity loan locks in today's rate for the entire term instead, trading flexibility for certainty: the $606.64 monthly payment above cannot change over the 10 years, regardless of what happens to interest rates afterward. That certainty is worth more when rates are already low and more likely to rise than fall, and worth less in the opposite environment — which is exactly why the two products coexist rather than one simply replacing the other.
The 80% CLTV ceiling used here is a lending-policy number that moves with the lender, the borrower's credit profile, and market conditions — unlike the amortization math underneath the payment figure, which is fixed and identical everywhere. Someone still deciding how large a home to buy in the first place, before any equity exists to borrow against, should start with the Mortgage Calculator instead.
Lenders typically cap the combined loan-to-value (CLTV) of your first mortgage plus a new home equity loan at around 80-85% of your home's value, though this varies by lender and your credit profile. Your maximum available equity is your home's value times that CLTV limit, minus whatever you still owe on your existing mortgage — this calculator computes that ceiling automatically and flags it if your desired loan amount goes over it.
A home equity loan gives you a lump sum upfront at a fixed rate, repaid on a set amortization schedule, exactly as modeled above. A HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) instead gives you a revolving credit line you draw from as needed, usually at a variable rate, with interest-only payments during an initial draw period before switching to full repayment. See the HELOC Calculator, a companion tool, to model that structure and compare the two side by side for your situation.
Only if the loan funds are used to buy, build, or substantially improve the home securing the loan, under current US tax law — it isn't a blanket deduction for any use of the money, such as debt consolidation, education costs, or a large purchase unrelated to the home. Consult a tax professional about your specific situation before assuming any deduction applies to your loan.
A home equity loan is secured by your home, meaning it uses the property as collateral just like your primary mortgage. If you default, the lender can foreclose, putting your home at risk — a materially different and more serious risk profile than unsecured debt like most credit cards or personal loans. Borrow only what you're confident you can repay under the terms shown above.
Worked example: a $400,000 home with a $250,000 existing mortgage balance and an 80% max CLTV gives a maximum available equity of $70,000 ($400,000 × 80% − $250,000). Requesting a $50,000 loan — under that $70,000 ceiling, so no warning appears — at 8% over 10 years gives a monthly payment of about $606.64, with total interest over the life of the loan of roughly $22,796.56.
Considering a revolving line instead of a lump sum? See the HELOC Calculator. Want the amortization schedule on your primary mortgage? Try the Mortgage Calculator. Veterans can often draw equity through a VA cash-out refinance instead of a second lien; compare it on the VA mortgage calculator.