Renovation Loan Payment Calculator

Four common options, roughly cheapest to most expensive. A cash-out refinance replaces your entire mortgage at current rates, which only makes sense if today’s rate is at or below the one you already hold. A home equity loan is a fixed-rate second mortgage with a predictable payment — that is what this calculator models. A HELOC is a revolving line at a variable rate, useful for phased work where you draw as you go, but the payment can move against you. An unsecured personal loan needs no equity and closes fast, yet typically prices several points higher over a shorter term. Compare APR, not the headline rate.

A HELOC, home equity loan, or cash-out refinance is secured by your house, which is precisely why the rate is lower than an unsecured loan — the lender can foreclose if you stop paying. That is not theoretical on a renovation, where a job that runs over budget can leave you carrying a payment on a house that is still torn apart. Borrow against equity only for a payment you could still make if your income dropped, keep the term short enough that the debt clears well before you expect to sell, and avoid stacking a second loan on top mid-project.

It is illustrative only. Your actual APR depends on your credit score, debt-to-income ratio, how much equity remains after the loan (lenders typically want combined loan-to-value at or under 80–85%), the term, and the individual lender. Home equity products commonly price a few points above first-mortgage rates; unsecured personal loans price far higher, reaching the high teens for average credit. APR also folds in origination and closing costs, which is why it is the only figure worth comparing across lenders. Get written quotes from at least three and re-run this with the real numbers.

Usually not, if resale is the whole reason. If a $35,000 project adds about $22,000 at sale — roughly 63% recouped — you are already $13,000 down before any interest, and ten years at 8.5% adds about $17,000 more. Borrowing is easier to justify when the project is something else: a repair that prevents worse damage, a change that makes a home you plan to keep genuinely work better, or work that avoids a move whose transaction costs would run 8–10% of the sale price on their own. Run the ROI calculator alongside this one before you sign.

No. This is a planning tool that runs a standard amortization formula on the numbers you type in. It is not financial, tax, or legal advice. It does not account for the tax treatment of mortgage or home equity interest, which carries conditions and limits, and it does not model variable rates, prepayment, escrow, mortgage insurance, or any closing cost beyond the origination fee you enter. Before borrowing against your home, talk to a lender and, ideally, an independent financial advisor or a HUD-approved housing counselor who has no stake in whether the loan closes.