5 guides, read top to bottom, take you from Cash-Out Refinance Calculator and Guide to Interpreting Your Cash-Out Calculator Results.
Read in this order
- Cash-Out Refinance Calculator and GuideUnder 2 min min read
Estimate how much equity a cash-out refinance could make available using your own value, balance and limit, and compare it with a HELOC.
- Lenders cap the new loan at a maximum loan-to-value (LTV) set by the program.
- Consolidating unsecured debt into a mortgage can lower monthly costs, but it converts that debt into debt secured by your home and stretches it over many years.
- Debt Consolidation With Home Equity: Pros and ConsUnder 2 min min read
A balanced look at using home equity to pay off other debts.
- Mortgage debt usually costs less than credit cards, and one payment can be easier to manage.
- Compare total interest on each option over the time you expect to repay.
- Loan-to-Value Limits on Cash-Out RefinancesUnder 2 min min read
How maximum loan-to-value works by program and how it limits the cash you can take.
- Maximum loan equals appraised value times the program's maximum loan-to-value.
- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac generally cap cash-out on a one-unit primary residence at 80 percent loan-to-value, with lower limits for multi-unit homes and second homes.
- Debt Consolidation With a Cash-Out: Questions to Ask FirstUnder 2 min min read
How to evaluate using home equity to pay off other debts, including total cost and risk.
- Credit cards and personal loans are usually unsecured.
- A longer term can lower the monthly payment but increase total interest paid on the consolidated debt.
- Interpreting Your Cash-Out Calculator ResultsUnder 2 min min read
How to read cash-out estimates, what the calculator leaves out, and the questions to ask a lender next.
- The calculator multiplies your home value by the maximum loan-to-value limit you enter.
- Your payoff amount is usually higher than the balance on your statement because it includes interest through the payoff date and any fees.
Run your own numbers
5 calculators on this site, all blank until you type:
- Cash-out estimate
- Payment and amortization
- Refinance break-even
- Debt-to-income check
- Closing cost worksheet
Check which programs fit
The loan finder asks six questions and points you to the programs worth reading about, with a side-by-side comparison table. It is education, not an eligibility decision.
Talk to lenders
When you are ready to compare offers, print the questions to ask a lender worksheet and fill in one column per lender.
Terms you will meet in these guides
- Cash-out refinancefirst in Debt Consolidation With Home Equity: Pros and Cons
- Principalfirst in Debt Consolidation With Home Equity: Pros and Cons
- Loan-to-value (LTV)first in Loan-to-Value Limits on Cash-Out Refinances
- Loan Estimatefirst in Loan-to-Value Limits on Cash-Out Refinances
- Appraisalfirst in Interpreting Your Cash-Out Calculator Results
- Servicerfirst in Interpreting Your Cash-Out Calculator Results
- HELOCfirst in Cash-Out Refinance Calculator and Guide
Everything here is general education. Program rules change; confirm current requirements with the official sources below and with a licensed lender.
Sources
- CFPB: Mortgages
- HUD: Find a housing counselor
- Fannie Mae Eligibility Matrix
- HUD Handbook 4000.1
- CFPB: Debt consolidation
- IRS Publication 936
- CFPB: What is a HELOC?
- CFPB: What is an appraisal?
Sources reviewed . This page was assembled from the guides on this site.