{
  "slug": "home-equity",
  "title": "Home Equity Calculator",
  "heading": "Home Equity & HELOC Calculator",
  "category": "financial",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/home-equity",
  "summary": "Equity available, LTV, and how much you can borrow.",
  "description": "Most lenders cap combined loan-to-value at 80–85%. Your accessible equity is that cap minus what you still owe, not the full difference between value and balance.",
  "formula": "Available = Value × max CLTV − Mortgage balance.",
  "dateModified": "2026-09-30",
  "run_url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/calc?tool=home-equity",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "value",
      "label": "Current home value",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 520000,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "balance",
      "label": "Mortgage balance",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 310000,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "second",
      "label": "Other liens / second mortgage",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 0,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "cltv",
      "label": "Max combined LTV allowed",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 85,
      "unit": "%",
      "min": 50,
      "max": 100
    },
    {
      "id": "rate",
      "label": "HELOC rate",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 8.4,
      "unit": "%",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [
    {
      "id": "available",
      "label": "Equity you can borrow",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": true
    },
    {
      "id": "equity",
      "label": "Total equity",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "equityPct",
      "label": "Equity share of value",
      "format": "percent",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "ltv",
      "label": "Current loan-to-value",
      "format": "percent",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "interestOnly",
      "label": "Interest-only payment on the full draw",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "payment10",
      "label": "10-year amortizing payment",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "worked_example": {
    "inputs": [
      "Current home value: 520000 $",
      "Mortgage balance: 310000 $",
      "Other liens / second mortgage: 0 $",
      "Max combined LTV allowed: 85 %",
      "HELOC rate: 8.4 %"
    ],
    "outputs": [
      "Equity you can borrow: $132,000.00",
      "Total equity: $210,000.00",
      "Equity share of value: 40.4%",
      "Current loan-to-value: 59.6%",
      "Interest-only payment on the full draw: $924.00",
      "10-year amortizing payment: $1,629.56"
    ]
  },
  "how_to": {
    "title": "How to use this",
    "steps": [
      "Enter current home value ($).",
      "Enter mortgage balance ($).",
      "Enter other liens / second mortgage ($).",
      "Enter max combined ltv allowed (%).",
      "Enter heloc rate (%).",
      "Read your equity you can borrow on the right — it updates as you type.",
      "Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone."
    ]
  },
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "Conservative",
      "description": "Lower-end numbers — what if things land soft?",
      "values": {
        "value": 310000,
        "balance": 185000,
        "second": 0,
        "cltv": 51,
        "rate": 8.4
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Typical",
      "description": "Defaults — the most common real-world setup.",
      "values": {
        "value": 520000,
        "balance": 310000,
        "second": 0,
        "cltv": 85,
        "rate": 8.4
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Ambitious",
      "description": "Higher-end numbers — what if things really pop?",
      "values": {
        "value": 830000,
        "balance": 495000,
        "second": 0,
        "cltv": 100,
        "rate": 8.4
      }
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.",
    "Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.",
    "This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant."
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "How does the home equity & heloc calculator work?",
      "a": "Most lenders cap combined loan-to-value at 80–85%. Your accessible equity is that cap minus what you still owe, not the full difference between value and balance. The underlying maths is: Available = Value × max CLTV − Mortgage balance."
    },
    {
      "q": "What do I need to enter?",
      "a": "5 values: current home value, mortgage balance, other liens / second mortgage, max combined ltv allowed, and heloc rate. Each field starts with a sensible default, so you can change one number at a time and watch the result move."
    },
    {
      "q": "What does the equity you can borrow result mean?",
      "a": "It is returned as a money amount in US dollars and updates live as you edit the inputs, so you can compare two or three versions of a scenario in a few seconds."
    },
    {
      "q": "Is this calculator free, and do I need an account?",
      "a": "Yes, it's free, and no account is required. Nothing you type is stored on our servers — the maths runs entirely in your browser."
    },
    {
      "q": "How accurate is the result?",
      "a": "It applies the standard formula exactly, so the arithmetic is precise. Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them."
    },
    {
      "q": "Who is this tool for?",
      "a": "It's built for anyone comparing money scenarios before committing — budgeting a payment, sanity-checking a quote, or seeing what a change in rate or term actually costs."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/pmi",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/rent-vs-buy",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/cash-out-refinance"
  ],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "citation": "RevenueLab — Home Equity Calculator (https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/home-equity)"
}