The shape of a home equity product
Home equity products are loans secured by the borrower's home. Across the network, two come up far more often than the rest: the home equity line of credit, usually shortened to HELOC, and the home equity loan.
HELOC
A HELOC works as a revolving line of credit attached to the home. Through a defined draw period, a borrower may take funds up to a limit the lender sets, repaying the balance over time on the lender's terms. How the rate is structured, and how long the draw and repayment windows run, varies from one lender to another.
Home equity loan
A home equity loan delivers funds as a single lump sum, also secured by the home, repaid over a set term the lender defines. The specific terms and repayment schedules sit with each individual lender.
Both products rely on the home as collateral — meaning the home secures the loan. Lenders in the network keep a range of home equity products and terms, so it is worth reading each lender's terms closely before committing to one.
Why homeowners tend to consider them
Borrowers usually look at home equity products with a particular purpose in mind — improving the home, bringing debts together, or meeting a substantial expense. Some lenders restrict what the funds may be used for, so reading each lender's terms is time well spent.
- Repairs, renovations, and improvements to the home
- Bringing higher-interest balances into a single payment
- Meeting a large or one-off expense
How the comparison comes together
USA Fin Planning is a lender comparison tool rather than an application. Completing the online form connects a borrower with lenders in the network so that their offers can be read side by side. Submitting the form is not an application with any particular lender, and receiving offers is not a promise of a credit decision from anyone in the network.
Tell us about your home
Share a few particulars through the secure online form.
Connect with network lenders
What you provide is matched with lenders who carry home equity products.
Read the offers together
Place the HELOC and home equity loan offers you receive beside one another before deciding.
Questions worth asking
How does a HELOC differ from a home equity loan?
A HELOC is a revolving line of credit secured by the home, letting a borrower draw funds across a set period. A home equity loan instead provides funds as one lump sum, also secured by the home. Both lean on the home as security, and the precise terms come from each individual lender.
How much equity might I need?
That varies, because each lender in the network applies its own standards to home equity products. Working through the comparison tool is how a borrower can see what lenders in the network may put forward given the details shared.
What can the funds be put toward?
Borrowers commonly consider home equity products for purposes such as improving the home, bringing higher-interest balances together, or covering a large expense. Bear in mind that some lenders set limits on how the funds may be used.
How is a HELOC's rate structured?
That depends on the lender. USA Fin Planning makes no claim that a single rate structure applies across every lender in the network, so it is best to read through each individual lender's terms.
Is completing the form the same as requesting a HELOC from a lender?
No. The online form is a lender comparison tool. Completing it is not an application with any specific lender, and it carries no promise of a credit decision.