Skip to Main Content

Lower: 2024 Home Equity Review

Bankrate logo

The Bankrate promise

At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict , this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation for .

At a glance

NMLS: 1124061

Bankrate Score
Info Icon
4.0
Rating: 4.0 stars out of 5
  • Star Icon
  • Star Icon
  • Star Icon
  • Star Icon
  • Star Icon
  • Star Empty Icon
  • Star Empty Icon
  • Star Empty Icon
  • Star Empty Icon
  • Star Empty Icon

Bankrate Score

Customer Rating
Info Icon
4.6
Rating: 4.58 stars out of 5

72 ratings

Money Bag Icon

Loan amount

$15,000-$350,000

Credit Good Icon

Min. credit score required

700

Rates Icon

Repayment terms

10-year draw period and up to 20-year repayment period for HELOC

Funds available in

17 days

Benefits

  • Lower provides both HELOCs and home equity loans, which might be appealing to a wider range of borrowers. Some lenders only offer one of these options.
  • With a HELOC from Lower, you could tap up to 95 percent of your home’s value, significantly more than what many other lenders allow.

Drawbacks

  • Many lenders, especially banks, offer discounts for setting up autopay. Lower offers autopay, but not with a discount.
  • If you tap your home equity through Lower, you’ll have to take out at least $15,000. This might be more than you’d like or need to borrow.

Home equity loan products offered

Lower offers a variable-rate home equity line of credit (HELOC) ranging in amounts from $15,000 to $350,000, with the maximum amount varying based on your location and loan-to-value (LTV) ratio. Lower allows up to a 95 percent LTV, which is more than most home equity lenders. (How much you can tap, however, depends on your credit and other factors.)

The HELOC has a 10-year draw period and a repayment period anywhere from five years to 20 years.

Types of fees charged

Lower charges a 1 percent origination fee, plus a $495 application fee. There are no annual fees.

How to qualify for a HELOC with Lower

To be eligible for either a HELOC or home equity loan from Lower, you’ll need a credit score of at least 700. The lender offers prequalifications, which means you can see if you’re eligible for a loan without a hard credit check.

How to apply with Lower

You can apply for a HELOC via Lower’s website. The application will take five minutes to complete. Call 833-519-9579 to apply. The customer service team is available Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET and Fridays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET. 

How Bankrate scored Lower

Affordability 8/10
Availability 9/10
Borrower experience 7.1/10

Lower customer ratings and reviews

logo

4.6

Rating: 4.58 stars out of 5

72 ratings

Info Icon

This lender has 25 recent reviews.

Knowledge
Rating: 4.7 stars out of 5
Level of service
Rating: 4.7 stars out of 5
Professionalism
Rating: 4.6 stars out of 5
Responsiveness
Rating: 4.7 stars out of 5
5 stars
4 stars
3 stars
2 stars
1 star
78%
11%
6%
3%
3%

94% of customers would recommend this lender.

of 25 reviews

The consumer reviews posted on Bankrate.com ("Bankrate") are individual, subjective opinions of reviewers, and not of Bankrate. Bankrate does not endorse any of the opinions expressed by reviewers or any responses to reviews.

Bankrate cannot guarantee or verify the accuracy of the opinions shared by individual reviewers, and reserves the right to reject or remove any review, at any time, for any reason at Bankrate’s sole discretion, including but not limited to those that Bankrate deems inappropriate, fraudulent, invalid, irrelevant, or otherwise outside the parameters of the Bankrate Review Guidelines, the Privacy Policy, or the Terms of Use.

In addition to collecting reviews on-site, Bankrate collaborated with third-party Slice MR to survey 450 users nationwide in July 2024. Bankrate and Slice MR collected, averaged and presented responses to nine questions. Users received an incentive for their feedback. Responses are based on individual experiences, and therefore cannot be verified for accuracy. User ratings are unedited and have not been reviewed or approved by lenders, nor do these ratings reflect Bankrate’s own reviews of these lenders.

To help serve you with relevant information, the consumer reviews shown below are limited to only those that this advertiser has received during the past 12 months.

Search Icon
Caret Down Icon