Home Equity
Home equity is the portion of your home you actually own — its current market value minus what you still owe on the mortgage. It grows two ways: as you pay down the loan's principal and as the home appreciates in value, making it a cornerstone of most households' net worth.
Equity grows two ways — repaying principal and the home appreciating — and only the first is under your control. Early in a mortgage it builds slowly, because most of each payment is interest: on a 30-year loan you typically repay only about a third of the principal in the first 15 years. Reaching 20% equity matters twice over, since it is where PMI can be cancelled and where the best refinance pricing begins. Turning equity into cash costs something in every case: selling incurs agent and closing fees, while a home equity loan or HELOC secures the debt against the house, so a payment problem that would have damaged your credit can now cost you the property.
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Mortgage Calculator
Estimate your monthly mortgage payment with taxes, insurance, PMI and HOA — plus total interest and a full amortization breakdown. Free, fast, no signup.
Rent vs. Buy Calculator
Should you rent or buy? Compare the two on a net-worth basis over the years you'll stay — including appreciation, closing and selling costs, and the return on money you'd invest instead.
Amortization Calculator
Build a complete amortization schedule for any loan: payment, year-by-year principal vs interest split, and the effect of extra payments.