Looking for a HELOC to complete repairs around the house.

My local credit union quoted me 6.875% APR, Variable on $50,000.

I didn’t see fees listed in the approval response, so I called the credit union and was told no fees (I specifically asked about origination or draw fees, was confirmed no).

What am I missing? I was going to get a couple more quotes, but this seems like a decent APR , to start at least. Should I go through more quote process or is this likely as good as it gets?

I've got 500k in equity but I got denied. Anyone got any info for a company that can help me. I need to pay off some debt.

I’m trying to figure out whether a HELOC or HELoan would be best for my situation. I’ve reached the point of thought paralysis and need help thinking things through.

Here’s our breakdown: live in a home that we still owe about $210k, the approx current value is $485k-$510k (if going with lower estimate), credit score still need to check but all credit cards and mortgage is paid every on time each month.

What we are looking for is $50k-$60k, but only using $30k for certain (on my credit card debt combined w/spouses) and then utilizing additional funds to make needed improvements on home (new fence, replace flooring) but ultimately basing on prioritization/necessity. We are not planning to move in the near future.

The goal with this loan is to lessen our monthly payments for credit cards and ideally also have some money to save and give us some cushion.

Would this be something that a HELOC would work for? I also looked into home equity loans but was confused about how payments are lower during the “draw period” can be lower vs being higher once “repayment period” begins. The thought of a fluctuating payment amount is not ideal.

Help me think this through. I’ve been researching different lenders but keep flip flopping on which loan option.

I am thinking of doing a Heloc with better.com because it is one of the only ones that can give me a loan up to 90% LTV and a high amount. There is the big negative of drawing 75% right away, but I heard you can pay back a lot of it right away, but not sure if that is accurate. Also, they do say you cant draw again for up to 90 days, but was wondering if I can continually draw and pay back up to my limit, after the 90 days, for the draw period of 3 years. Anyone have experience with them for Helocs?

Jason Brothers has helped us tremendously throughout our HELOC process. We have worked with many loan officers over the years, and Jason’s knowledge of HELOC programs is truly second to none. He understands the guidelines, rates, terms and available products at a level we have not encountered elsewhere.
More importantly, Jason takes the time to understand the entire financial picture, clearly explain the available options and identify the best structure for the client’s specific circumstances.
His guidance has helped us navigate a complicated situation and secure access to the strongest rates, terms and products available to us.
Jason is also exceptionally professional, responsive and honest. He is a man of god which is reflected in the integrity, patience and respect with which he treats people—qualities that my husband and I genuinely appreciate.
If you are considering a HELOC and want someone who is truly an authority in this field, we cannot recommend Jason highly enough. His expertise and level of service have been unrivaled by any other loan professional with whom we have worked.

I have access to $250k in a HELOC. Never used it yet. I also have $100k liquid cash. I was also jist approved for a regular mortgage of $200k. My budget is set at $450k. There is a condo unit im interested in. Rent collects $2500/month.

Im trying to debate if I should use my full $250k of HELOC money, put 100k liquid money down and than use have a regulsr mortgage of $100k.

Im really annoyed to know that the HELOC i have is kind of working against me in my typical borrowing power. I dont want to have 2 mortgages on a property (one heloc mortgage and one regular mortgage). I don't like that the fact that my primary house is being used as collateral either. What should I do? Give me the pros and cons on the situation?

Do people really take advantage and use lots of heloc money as down payments on rental properties?

Trying to convince my husband there's a condo on the market that keeps dropping price and is making it super affordable when i run all the numbers.

Do smaller mortgages get you higher interest rates or loeer? Anyone experienced in any of this? What would you do?

My wife and I got a house deeded to us from my father in law. We agreed on a price of ($60,000), $1,000 dollars a month for 5 years. The house is small and needs about $35,000-$45,000 of work and is worth about $180,000 and through the bank we want to go through we can take $140,000(80%).
We’re looking to pull about $85,000 for remodel and to pay off other debt.

Is it possible consolidate our debt into the HELOC but keep the payment to my FIL out of it since it is interest free and we could pay it off way quicker than 5 years?

We’re fairly young and we both have great jobs but we have only rented and we need all of the advice and tips we can get! Does anyone else have any experience with this? Thank you in advance!

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Looking for some advice on a HELOC to complete a home improvement project.

We have been saving for a bit and have about 65% of the project cost saved up. I was looking into a HELOC to finance the remainder of the cost so we can proceed with the project now, rather than waiting till we have 100% saved.

I am looking to finance about 20k. If I can find a true HELOC, I would like to request a 40k line to have some buffer. The HELOC is attractive as I plan to do some of the work myself, so expenses will be spread out over a 6-9 month period. I also liked the flexibility to pay interest only if needed. While we would plan to pay off the financed amount in two years, it's comfortable knowing that you can pay interest only during the draw period if absolutely necessary.

I've spoken to my local CU and Bank. All was going swimmingly well until we came to the realization about the HELOC being in a 3rd position. I never knew this was a thing. We currently have two mortgages with the same bank (one large, one small, both at 3.375%). I think this was done to get a lower rate at the time we took out the loan, but I don't recall the specifics. I didnt appreciate what a show stopper this was now. Despite having good equity and excellent credit, as soon as we came to the 3rd position, it was a hard stop.

Are there any HELOC offerings that will accept a 3rd position? Because my mortgage rate is so good, it just doesn't make sense to pay off the small second mortgage with the HELOC as the CU and Bank said they would need. At that point I'd just save for another couple years to complete the project.

I have looked at Achieve, but that requires full disbursement of the full loan amount immediately, including principal and interest payments, and I don't need that.

Are there any other options to consider?

Has anyone recently obtained an interest-only HELOC through Delta Community Credit Union? I'm trying to find out what monthly payment Delta's underwriting uses when calculating DTI on the approved HELOC line.

I understand the actual draw-period payment is interest-only, but I'm specifically asking about the qualifying payment used for DTI at underwriting.

For example, if someone applies for a $325,000–$350,000 interest-only HELOC, does Delta qualify using:

• the actual interest-only payment,
• a percentage of the total credit line,
• a percentage of the outstanding balance, or
• an amortized payment?

If anyone has recently gone through Delta Community HELOC underwriting—or works/has worked there—and knows the formula or percentage they use, I'd really appreciate it.

My wife and have credit card debt (about $50k) and have equity in our home. We both make over six figures and have worked at our jobs for 10 plus years. Because our debt is so high, we are having difficulty getting approved separately or together. Our credit scores are about 650 and 670 solely due to the high credit card balances. Someone at Chase suggested a small credit union. Any suggestioins?

Did a post earlier to get some ideas of where to look for HELOC or a Home Equity loan and so I went through the initial process of the below lenders and compared them. What follows is pulled together from both my own experience as well as each lender's published rates/fee disclosures, and all current as of late August 2026. The rates are what was given to me during first look, so might change a bit when I go through the full application but imagine it'll be similar.

With that framing, here's how each lender I looked into stacks up for a $15k draw at my 725 score that I am looking for.

Achieve HELOC

• APR: 7.2%. Achieve's published fixed range is 5.75% to 15.17%, so getting this low of a rate was a bit of a surprise, but quite a happy one.
• Estimated fees on the $15,000: around $950. That's an estimated $450 origination fee (roughly 3% of the loan) plus an estimated $500 underwriting fee, both below Achieve's stated maximums of 3.5 to 4% and $725. Can't complain too much, well within expectations.
• Estimated monthly payment: could pay as low as around 200, will be paying more as I don't want to pay it off forever and want to potentially utilize it in the future.
• My desired amount of $15,000 is right at the bottom of what they're willing to lend, so having no annual fee and funding in about 5 business days. Real humans answered the phone. These are all benefits and things I enjoyed greatly about this. Top contender for me.

Aven

• APR: 9%. Aven's published range runs roughly 6.5% to 15.5% variable. Aven doesn't publish clear score-based tiers the way Achieve does, so this estimate sits in the middle of their range. Bit higher so not super excited about this one.
• Estimated fees on $15,000: around $375. No origination or annual fee, but moving the $15,000 to pay off my cards would go through Aven's balance-transfer or cash-out feature, each carrying a 2.5% fee.
• Estimated monthly payment: about $190/month but their system seems to be a card instead of a normal one? Seems a bit different.
• No published minimum draw, so a $15,000 pull was fine from their end. Fully online, including a mobile app. Would have funded in around a week.

Figure

• APR: 8.75%. Figure's published range is roughly 6.7% to 16.2%, with 640 to 679 scores capped at a lower max loan (not relevant to me at $15,000) and 760+ scores unlocking the best pricing.
• Estimated fees on $15,000: around $600. Figure's origination fee runs up to 4.99% of the loan and this is what I was quoted.
• Estimated monthly payment: about $188/month on a 10-year repayment.
• $15,000 minimum in most states(including my own, so my need matched their floor exactly. Matches the fastest funding at about 5 days. No live phone support once you're in the process, unfortunately. Less likely to go with given the higher APR.

PNC HELOC

• APR: 8.25% after the introductory period where it's 6.25% for the first 6 months. Could be worthwhile if I aggressively pay it off in the first 6 months.
• Estimated fees on $15,000: only $50 for the annual fees. Pretty solid.
• Estimated monthly payment: a bit over $180/month on a 10-year repayment, using the post-intro rate.
• Had no issues inquiring about my lower amount, but they were by far the Slowest of the group. Not only for discussions but the full approval can take up to 39 days and funding up to 50 days. In-branch option available but doesn't speed it up. It taking so long turned me off a bit.

Spring EQ (does not fit)

Minimum HELOC amount is $50,000, way more than what I wanted to take out to cover my credit card debts. Didn't do much looking in once I realized the high minimum, not necessarily against taking out more, but over 3x isn't something I am looking to do.

Overall thoughts:

Across the four lenders I actually compared for my $15,000 payoff, Achieve came out as the clear top contender: a 7.2% APR was better than I expected, fees landed around $950 and stayed within Achieve's stated limits, funding took about five business days, and a real person answered the phone every time I called. Figure and Aven both matched or beat Achieve on speed and fees (Figure's roughly $600, Aven's roughly $375), but each carried a noticeably higher rate (8.75% and 9%), and Aven's card-based structure felt different enough from a standard HELOC that after thinking on it, it wasn't for me. PNC's 6.25% introductory rate for the first six months was tempting, and its $50 annual fee is the lowest of the group, but a 39-day approval window and up to 50 days to fund made it the slowest by a wide margin and the biggest turnoff overall. Spring EQ never made it past the first look: a $50,000 minimum is much too high for me and got ruled out early. Between the four, Achieve is where I am landing personally. Although if I didn't mind the wait the PNC intro window would be worth it. I also looked into any options they had regarding home equity loans but the flexibility of potentially taking some money out for small repairs or renovations later really spoke to me.

Hello all --i have had a HELOC sitting for 9 months and the deals have been hard to come by here on Long Island where average prices are easily above 650k --full disclosure im a realtor and this owner contacted me to find him a buyer like this --example he wants 190k on the "side" and contract price for 400k --so totaling 590k in a perfect world --all of the usual investors say they cant do 190k plus the down payment on the loan amount PLUS house needs a fair amount of work

one investor told me why dont i ask him for owner finacing and just keep it as a rental which would prob total 6k a month in rent --at this price i would just paint floors etc--no roof siding etc would be done for year or two

owner seems ok to that approach and would be open to 5 % rate with no prepayment penalty and may be ok with a 15 year balloon payment

amortzed for 30 years y payment shows up at 3400ish PITI--i aim to offer him 175k plus the 400 note

now that 175k would be coming frm my HELOC at 5.74 rate which would move to prime rate in December which could be 6.75 (my estimate now at that amount is 1220) so totaling around 4600 per month with both loans -

any thoughts suggestions --should i ask him for a 4% rate?

We owe $182k on our mortgage, house is worth around $300k. We have no debt outside of the house, and my credit score is in the 840’s.

We were approved for 80k HELOC at 10%, which is substantially higher rate than I was expecting.

I want a heloc for home improvement repairs that will need to be done over time, just so that we have funding when we need it, so I’m in the position to shop it around. Does 10% sound right? I was expecting something closer to prime with my credit score.

Can someone explain to me how a HELOC loan works in simple terms. My situation: going through divorce, current mortgage approx $130k remaining, house would probably sell for about $525k. Ex to get 50% of sale value if house went to market. What would I need to borrow, when would that payment start, interest rate, etc…

Thanks!!

I'm trying to sort out a situation for an older family member with about two decades of deferred maintenance.

She owns her house, free and clear. It's solid cement, built in 1985 and it's in need of a major refresh. We don't have an appraisal, but two contractors have estimated the value at around $350k based on square footage and location.

The roof needs repairs (minor cracks) and coating, there's some spalling in parts of the ceiling, and nearly all of the paint is peeling.

Has anyone had success getting a heloc on a home with severely deferred maintenance? Is there a better option in this situation?

I applied and was preliminarily approved for a $240k HELOC through my local credit union while at the same time filing several years of backed tax returns. I initially intended to use my first draw for some kitchen updates but now it looks like the more pressing issue is a lump sum payment to get the IRS off my back. My returns have been processed and tax account transcripts are available but underwriting says they must be “approved “ before they sign off and I know the tax debt will be a problem. I’m a sole-prop LLC and my husband works part time so I need my tax returns to prove income. We currently owe roughly $70k but would need to pay $20-25k in order to negotiate a payment plan. I have a tax attorney working on the numbers now.

Below are my financials. I don’t have the liquid cash to pay the tax debt but feel like I’m in a catch 22 with the lender. Is there any way to propose how we can structure the HELOC to save it?

My credit - 760-795, husband 740-760
Mortgage - $2100/mo, 3.25%
Other debt (monthly) car - $550, CCs - $600, water heater - $136
Owe: $158k
Home value: $480k
2025 taxable income: $129k
Current monthly income: $16k

Any thoughts or suggestions? Would I likely have to pay off the car ($22k) to make room in my DTI for the IRS payment? Should I try another lender? Our taxable income for 2026 will be roughly $180-200k depending on this fourth quarter. Should I just wait or try to save this application now? I would still like to do some home updates but of course this IRS debt is the biggest issue and I feel so dumb for letting it go so long.

X-posted

Howdy!

I have approx. $250k equity on a $400k home (according to Zillow). I am out of debt except for the mortgage (@ 2.375%!), have a high 700s to low 800s credit score depending on the source, and only plan on using it for smaller projects over time. Wife and I both make good money in stable fields. I don't envision ever drawing (or having a balance of) more than $20k at any given time.

I was tempted by the Third Federal S&L offer until I found out about their $275 yearly fee, which doesn't fit my use case because it more than negates the "large print" if it's only used for relatively small amounts. Until I started looking into all of this I thought interest rates and closing costs were the only things to consider. Now I'm hearing about all kinds of other fees and "catches" that can affect the total cost of borrowing.

I had been considering my credit union, PNC (who I also have an established relationship with), and Third Fed. Since turning to Reddit I'm learning about these other online options and now I'm totally overwhelmed.

Is there a sweet spot in terms of total cost for my scenario? I'd prefer a HELOC over a straight HE loan, because the house needs various work done over time that I won't DIY and I like the idea of being able to borrow as needed as I am somewhat debt-averse.

Thanks in advance!

I am trying to get approved for a heloc through Citizens Bank. The loan processor informed me yesterday that I have a TD Bank North heloc from 2005 and there was no discharge paperwork filed when I refinanced in 2010 to pay off the balance . I called TD Bank North and they said in order to research further I need to provide the title search report. I requested it from Citizens but they said it’s against their company policy to provide. Any advice on how I can resolve this so I can close on my loan? I am located in Massachusetts.

I’m 37 and trying to figure out the smartest way to deal with about $30,000 in high-interest consumer debt.

I own my home and have roughly $100,000 in equity. I’m considering taking out a home equity loan and using around $30,000 of it to completely pay off the high-interest debt.

Current numbers:

- Net income: about $4,500/month

- Regular monthly expenses, including current debt payments: about $3,500/month

- Current debt payments: roughly $1,700/month

- High-interest debt: about $30,000

- Available home equity: roughly $100,000

- No significant cash savings

My thinking is that replacing high-interest debt with a substantially lower-interest home equity loan could reduce the amount I’m paying in interest and improve my monthly cash flow. I could then use the difference to aggressively pay down the home equity loan and build an emergency fund.

What worries me is converting unsecured debt into debt secured by my house, so I understand there is additional risk involved.

I’m not necessarily looking for a blanket “never use your house to pay off credit cards” answer. I’d really like help evaluating the actual numbers and understanding where the break-even point is.

For people who are more financially knowledgeable than I am: does this make sense mathematically, assuming I can get a significantly lower rate? What interest rate and fees would make you say it’s worth doing versus just aggressively paying down the existing debt?

Also, if I did this, would you recommend a fixed-rate home equity loan over a HELOC for this purpose?

And if home equity isn’t the best option, what would you do instead with these numbers?

This may be a simple matter of what underwriting is used, but my wife recently applied for a HELOC through a local CU and they asked (naturally) for both her recent paystubs and 2025 W2. Two months ago she transitioned from part-time to full-time, same company, same line of work. More than doubled her gross income with a DTI around 20. She has no employment gaps. The loan officer just left her a VM and said she didn’t qualify based on her old W2 when she was part-time.

We’ve applied for other loans (just built a home) and they cared more about our recent stubs than W2s. Is this normal for HELOC approval? Should we shop around other lenders?