Home Equity Calculator

Knowing where you stand on home equity, your Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio, and how much a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) might open up is a practical starting point for tapping the value built into your property. That picture changes as you pay down the loan and as prices move, so it is worth revisiting as part of any financial plan.

Equity is simply your current home value minus the outstanding mortgage balance. LTV comes from dividing that mortgage balance by the home value and multiplying by 100. Lenders set their own combined loan-to-value limits, so the borrowing-power table shows two versions: 80% of your home value minus what you still owe, and the same at 90%. The equity breakdown estimates where your equity came from by assuming you bought with a loan of 80% of the price: the implied purchase price is your original loan ÷ 0.80, the down payment is that price minus the original loan, principal paid down is the original loan minus today's balance, and appreciation is today's value minus the implied price, also shown as an annual rate over the years you have owned the home.

Get the home value right by leaning on recent comparable sales rather than a hopeful guess, because misjudging your market value is one of the easiest ways to throw off every number that follows. Bear in mind too that equity alone won't secure approval; lenders also weigh your credit score and income. Borrow with a repayment plan you can live with, and resist stretching the leverage to its limit.