Home Equity Loan Calculator

A home equity loan is a separate, second loan taken against the value you've already built up in your home \u2014 the difference between what the home is worth and what you still owe on your primary mortgage. Unlike a home equity line of credit (HELOC), which works more like a credit card with a variable rate, a home equity loan is disbursed as a lump sum and repaid on a fixed schedule, which is why the same EMI math used elsewhere on this site applies directly.

Because your home secures the loan, rates are usually lower than unsecured personal loans \u2014 but missing payments carries real risk to your property, which is worth weighing carefully against the lower rate before borrowing.

Borrowing $50,000 against home equity at 7% over 10 years produces a monthly payment of roughly $581, with total interest over the term around $19,720 — typically lower than an unsecured personal loan of the same size, reflecting the lower risk to the lender from the home-secured collateral.

A home equity loan's lower rate compared to unsecured borrowing exists specifically because your home secures it — which means sustained missed payments carry a risk to your property that an unsecured personal loan doesn't. That trade-off is worth weighing deliberately, not just comparing rates in isolation.