HELOC & Home Equity Guides
Every guide we publish, organized by topic. Independent, numbers-first, and updated as the market moves — no email required to read them.
HELOC Basics
How home equity lines of credit actually work.
Compare
HELOC vs HELOAN vs cash-out refinance, side by side.
Qualify
Credit, CLTV, and income requirements explained.
Rates
What moves HELOC rates and how to read the market.
- The Fed Held Rates at Kevin Warsh's First Meeting: What It Means for Your HELOC The June 2026 FOMC held the fed funds rate at 3.50%–3.75%, so prime stays at 6.75% and HELOC rates don't move. But the dot plot turned hawkish — what that signals.
Uses
Smart and risky ways homeowners use their equity.
- Can ADU Rental Income Help You Qualify to Build One? Yes, FHA's 203(k) lets you count 50% of a not-yet-built ADU's projected rent to help you qualify. See the worked DTI math and how conventional rules differ.
- How to Finance an ADU in California: The 2026 Money Guide How to finance an ADU in California: HELOC, home equity loan, or construction loan, the build cost ranges by ADU type, and why the CalHFA grant is now closed.
- How to Finance an ADU: Every Option Compared Every way to finance an ADU compared: HELOC, home equity loan, cash-out refi, construction and renovation loans, with a decision table by borrower situation.
- After You Build the ADU: Refinancing to Pay Off the HELOC Built an ADU with a HELOC? Refinancing to pay it off rarely pencils if it reprices a 3% first mortgage. The keep-your-first-mortgage math, and when refi wins.
- How Do You Finance an ADU With Little or No Equity? Without equity now, a HELOC can't fund an ADU, but loans that underwrite the finished value can. See the paths and which one avoids refinancing your first.
- How Do You Finance a Garage Conversion ADU? Why the Biggest Line Isn't Always the Right One A garage conversion is a small, fixed-scope build, so a HELOC's draw flexibility often goes to waste. See when a fixed home equity loan costs you less.
- HELOC or Construction Loan for an ADU? The Dollar-for-Dollar Math A HELOC usually beats a construction loan for an ADU when you have the equity: it leaves your low first mortgage alone. The worked math, and when it flips.
- Can You Use a HELOC to Build an ADU? The Phase-by-Phase Cost Yes, you can build an ADU with a HELOC. See the draw-period vs. repayment payment math, how much you can borrow at 80% CLTV, and when a construction loan wins.
States: California
State-by-state HELOC rules and lender notes.
- Getting a HELOC in California: 2026 Guide California homeowners hold record equity. See county-by-county HELOC borrowing power, 2026 rates, Prop 13 tax angles, and CA-specific borrower protections.
Calculators
Pressure-test the decision with the numbers in front of you — free to run, no sales pitch in the results.
- Home Equity Calculator See your total equity and how much you could tap at your target CLTV.
- HELOC Payment Calculator Compare your interest-only draw payment to the repayment-period jump.
- HELOC vs Cash-Out Refi Keep your low first mortgage and add a HELOC, or refinance it all? Find the break-even.
- Debt Consolidation Savings Roll high-rate balances into a HELOC and see the monthly and lifetime difference.
- ADU Feasibility Analyzer Will a HELOC-financed California ADU pencil out? Test borrowable equity, the payment shock, and rent across both HELOC phases.