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Home Equity

Find out what home equity is and how to use it, plus news, advice and tools on home equity loans and HELOCs.

Home equity basics

A green house on a sunny day
It’s the portion of your home you own outright. Its uses are almost endless.
Couple sit in living room discuss receipts, control family budget, calculate household bills to pay
How to estimate your ownership stake, and how much of it you can borrow.
House with solar panels
Everything you need to know about HELOC and home equity loan requirements in 2024.

Home equity tools & resources

Bankrate's suite of tools and articles are designed to help you effortlessly learn about your home equity, connect with reputable lenders, compare offers for HELOCs and home equity loans, and more.

The latest

Fisherman off the coast to Italy
It could be a shrewd strategy, but bear in mind the risks of tapping home equity.
Boy with toy airplane in front yard of house
In the home equity sweepstakes, who’s on top and who’s on bottom?
Two women chatting in front of a for sale sign
Your home equity line of credit’s life ends — but the debt doesn’t just disappear.
An older couple reviewing documents
Cash is usually king, but borrowing has its pluses too. Here’s how to decide.
Couple looks at a tablet in a new home
You bet — in ways both good and bad. Here’s how to judge its impact.
Image of town houses with money falling from the sky
It’s when your home’s value sinks below the amount you owe on your mortgage.
couple looking at laptop together
As more institutions jump on the HE Loan bandwagon, here’s how to sort them.
Older couple looking out of the window
They all let you tap your ownership stake, but they differ significantly in a lot of ways.
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