Prosper: 2024 Home Equity Review

Benefits

• With Prosper’s online application, you’ll instantly get a personalized rate quote after answering a few basic questions — desired loan amount, current income and location — without it affecting your credit score.
• If you’re able to pay off your HELOC or home equity loan early, you won’t get stuck with a prepayment penalty fee.

Drawbacks

• HELOCs and home equity loans through Prosper are currently available in many, but not all, localities: in 30 states and Washington D.C., to be precise.
• Those seeking to borrow more than $250,000 may need to complete an in-home appraisal and obtain title insurance.

Home equity loan products offered

Prosper, a peer-to-peer lender, offers both variable-rate HELOCs and fixed-rate home equity loan options. All home equity products are underwritten and issued by Prosper’s lending partners.

HELOCs through Prosper are available to borrowers in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina Texas, Vermont, Washington, D.C., and Wisconsin.

The amount you may borrow varies by state, but you won’t be able to borrow any more than 95 percent of your home’s value. (In Texas, HELOC borrowing is limited to 80 percent.) When you close on the HELOC, you may be required to draw at least $50,000 or 50 percent of the credit line amount, whichever is greater. After that, you may need to wait 90 days before you make another draw. At that point, each draw must be at least $1,000 ($4,000 in Texas).

During the HELOC draw period, you’ll be required to make minimum monthly payments. Repayment periods range from 15 to 27 years, depending on the option chosen by the customer.

Home equity loans through Prosper are available in 30 states as well as the District of Columbia (as of this review). You may be able to borrow up to 95 percent of your home’s value, provided it’s your primary residence. For second homes or investment properties, that threshold shrinks to 85 percent and 70 percent, respectively. For either the HELOC or home equity loan, you can borrow up to $500,000 ($249,999 for a home equity loan) if you qualify.

Types of fees charged

There are no application fees on home equity products through Prosper, but the lender may assess an origination charge. During the application and closing process, you may be responsible for the cost of an additional appraisal on your home, if necessary, and other closing costs. There are no prepayment penalties on either HELOCs or home equity loans.

How to qualify for a HELOC through Prosper

Prosper requires a minimum 640 credit score for home equity loans and a minimum 660 score for HELOCs. Since Prosper doesn’t pull a hard credit inquiry when you fill out the initial application, you can apply and see your rate instantly without it negatively affecting your credit score.

How to apply with Prosper

To apply for a Prosper home equity product, you’ll need to fill out an online application. The initial application asks for information about how much you want to borrow, your income and your location. Within minutes, you’ll have a personalized interest rate offer; this initial application does not affect your credit score.

If you want to proceed, you’ll move on to the next part of the application. You might be able to receive your funds in as few as 11 days. If you have questions about a line of credit or loan product, you can call 800-954-2172.

How Bankrate scored Prosper

• Methodology

  To determine a home equity lender's Bankrate Score, Bankrate rates lenders on a scale of one (1) to five (5) stars — with five (5) the highest rating — based on a variety of factors relating to the lender's products and services. To assign our ratings, we assessed each mortgage lender across three core areas:

  • Affordability: Annual percentage rate (APR) - 80%; introductory APR - 20%
  • Availability: Licensing - 50%; credit score - 20%; loan minimum - 10%; draw requirement - 10%; loan products - 10% 
  • Borrower experience: Rate transparency - 45%; convenience - 35%; customer service - 10%; fixed-rate options - 10%

  Learn more about our methodology.