Home Equity Line of Credit
The line of credit your bank reserves for W-2 people.
A HELOC is the most requested product in home lending and the most narrowly granted: banks write them for tidy salaries and decline everyone else. This one reads the file differently — twelve months of bank deposits, or the rent a property collects, can qualify the line. Up to ninety percent of combined value on a primary residence, the mortgage in front untouched, and no reserves required.
Who this is built for
Owners guarding a first mortgage worth keeping
The line sits behind the loan you already have — same rate, same balance, same payoff date. You get working capital without surrendering what you locked in.
Self-employed owners the bank’s HELOC desk declined
The write-offs that shrink your tax return do not shrink your deposits. Twelve months of bank statements — personal or business — qualify the line here.
Landlords who want a line on the rental
The property’s own rent can carry the file at a modest cover, with the line vested in your LLC. Your paycheck stays out of it.
Owners who want the line to be the mortgage
A first-lien HELOC replaces the mortgage entirely with a revolving line — draw down, pay down, draw again against your own house. Rare anywhere; printed on this matrix.
Not sure how much equity is actually reachable, or which income route fits you? That is a short conversation and it saves guessing at the number.
Talk it throughBanks write these for salaries. This one reads a business
Your bank wants a W-2. This line will also read your deposits, your rent roll, or your assets.
Three sentences, each from the current matrix:
And the quiet mechanics: no reserves are required, no minimum cash left over after closing, and smaller lines can often close on an automated valuation with a condition report instead of a full appraisal — which takes both a cost and a week off the calendar. Larger lines step down in leverage and tighten the ratio math; the strongest band shown here is exactly that, the strongest.
| Ninety percent combined | From a 700 score | On a primary residence, at the strongest band — deeper than most banks will stack a line. |
| Income, four ways | Bank statements and rent included | Full doc, twelve months of deposits, a 1.10 rent cover, or qualified assets. The self-employed door is open. |
| The line can be the mortgage | A first-lien HELOC to 80% | No first mortgage required underneath — the revolving line takes its place entirely. |
Program parameters reflect one program’s current HELOC matrix and change without notice. Leverage tiers vary by line size; the strongest published band is shown. This is open-end, variable-rate credit. Not all applicants or properties will qualify.
How it actually works
A revolving line, sized against your equity, qualified once.
Your first mortgage stays put
Nothing about it is touched, repriced or renegotiated — or, on the first-lien version, the line simply is the mortgage.
The line is sized on combined value
Both liens together, measured against the home: up to 90% on a primary residence at the strongest band. Score and occupancy set the ceiling.
Income qualifies one of four ways
Full documentation, twelve months of bank statements, the property’s own rent, or your assets. Two of those never open a tax return.
Then it revolves
A draw window measured in years, then a long amortizing runway. The rate is variable — it moves with the market, in both directions, and saying so plainly is part of the product.
The grid — and the four ways in
Two tables decide a line: how far it can reach, and which document gets you there. The second one is where banks lose this comparison.
One program’s current matrix — maximum combined line against value, strongest band:
| The file | Maximum combined line | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Primary residence — line behind your mortgage | 90% | From a 700 score; 85% at 680, 70% at 660 |
| Second home | 85% | From 700; 75% at 680 |
| Investment property | 75% | From 720; the rent-qualified route holds 70% |
| Primary residence — first-lien line | 80% | From 700; the line is the only mortgage on the home |
Lines run from $50,000 to $1,000,000 in either lien position. Larger lines step down from these ceilings and the ratio bar tightens past half a million — the grid prices size, not just score. The ordinary tests still apply: ratios to 50%, twelve clean months of housing history, and four years since any major credit event. Condos cap at 80% combined and non-warrantable buildings at 75%. One eligibility point belongs here rather than in the fine print below: this program does not lend in New York or Massachusetts. If you own in either, the third tab is the grid that matters to you. What is absent matters as much: no reserve requirement, and no rule about how much cash must remain after closing.
Representative of one program’s Equity Advantage HELOC matrix effective 08/04/2026. Figures shown are the strongest loan-size band; leverage steps down as line size increases, and maximum combined loan-to-value, credit score and line amount are separate limits shown only in combinations that appear together in the source. A valid Social Security number is required. Unavailable in several states, including New York and Massachusetts. Not all applicants or properties will qualify.
The grid is ordinary; the income menu is what banks will not match:
| The route | What documents it | The condition that makes it real |
|---|---|---|
| Full documentation | One or two years of W-2s or returns | The classic route — for files where the returns tell the story cleanly |
| Bank statements | Twelve months, personal or business | No tax returns opened; deposits carry the file — the self-employed door |
| The property’s own rent | A 1.10 cover on the line’s payment | Investment properties only; lease or market rent, whichever is lower — your paycheck never enters |
| Asset utilization | Qualified assets read as monthly income | Primary residences, at a trimmed ceiling — for balance-sheet-rich, paper-poor files |
Two mechanics decide these files more than the menu does. First, the line qualifies at a stressed payment on the full limit — you qualify for the whole line on day one, not for your first draw, which is exactly why the approval means something. Second, ownership seasoning is real: a primary residence refinanced or purchased within the last six months gives up ten points of leverage, and second homes and rentals want six months of ownership before a line attaches at all. On rentals, the lease needs to exist — two-to-four-unit properties tolerate one vacant unit, no more. And one line does not wait for you to own the house at all: a concurrent-close piggyback arranges a first mortgage and a line together at purchase, reaching just under ninety percent of value combined from a 680 score, so the purchase completes without mortgage insurance.*
Representative of the same matrix, effective 08/04/2026. Rent qualification uses the lesser of market rent and the lease; asset utilization is limited to primary residences with substantial documented assets and reduces the maximum line. Qualifying payment stress and seasoning rules per the source. Not all applicants will qualify.
Everything above comes from one program, and it caps at a million dollars. A second program on my shelf writes lines to three — and sets its leverage by the size of the line rather than by your credit score:
| The line | Maximum combined line | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 to $1,200,000 | 80% | From the program floor of 660 |
| $1,200,001 to $2,000,000 | 70% | Same 660 floor |
| $2,000,001 to $3,000,000 | 65% | Same 660 floor |
Read the condition column carefully, because this grid is built differently from the one above it: the leverage steps down with the size of the line, not with your credit score. A 660 score and a 760 score reach the same percentage of value on this program — the score changes what the line costs, not how far it goes. Three things follow from that. A borrower who was turned down for depth elsewhere on a mid-600s score should be priced here before anything else. A line above a million dollars exists at all, which is not true of most of this market. And there is a geographic difference worth saying plainly rather than leaving in the fine print: the program behind the first grid on this page does not lend in New York, and this one names only Texas. If you own in New York, this is the door to ask about. Investment property and three-to-four-unit owner-occupied buildings cap lower, and manufactured and mobile homes are eligible here at their own reduced ceilings — a combination almost nothing else on this shelf will write a line against.
Representative of a second program’s published HELOC eligibility bands effective 08/04/2026, read off its rate sheet: maximum combined line against value by line size, minimum credit score 660. Leverage bands on this program are set by line size; credit score affects pricing rather than the maximum. Non-owner-occupied one-to-two-unit and owner-occupied three-to-four-unit properties cap at 70%, singlewide manufactured homes at 60% and doublewide at 70%. Income documents as full documentation, bank statements or a profit-and-loss statement. That program is not available on Texas properties and its sheet states no other geographic limit, so state availability is confirmed per file. Figures from different programs never combine. Maximum combined line, credit score and line amount are separate limits shown only in combinations printed together in the source. Not all applicants or properties will qualify.
One fixed sum with a fixed end date instead? The closed-end second page is here →
* From a separate program’s published matrix effective 08/20/2026: a line that closes at the same time as the purchase, taking combined financing to 89.99% from a 680 credit score — a first mortgage and a line together, arranged with one lender, so the purchase completes without mortgage insurance. Draws from $25,000. An annual fee applies. Figures from different programs never combine.
The mechanics that decide these files
What you actually hand over
Your current mortgage statement
For a second-lien line — so the combined math starts from the real balance. The first mortgage must be current.
Income, by your route
Returns or W-2s, twelve months of statements, the lease and rent schedule, or asset statements. One route, not all four.
Insurance that covers both liens
Homeowner’s coverage sized to protect the first mortgage and the line together — flood coverage included where the map says so.
A valuation
Often an automated valuation with a condition report on smaller lines; a full appraisal on larger ones and on rural properties.
Want the exact list for your file before you ever apply? Build your document checklist — the list changes with your answers, printable and yours to keep.
Where it wins — and the honest limits
Told straight, because this page is useless otherwise.
A second-lien line sits behind the mortgage you already have, so reaching your equity does not mean giving up the loan you are already holding.
Four ways income qualifies — full documentation, twelve months of deposits, the rent the property collects, or documented assets. A bank HELOC desk offers one.
Ninety percent combined against value at the strongest band on a primary residence — further than most banks will stack a line behind a first mortgage.
No reserves required and no minimum cash left over afterward, and smaller lines can often close on an automated valuation instead of a full appraisal.
This is variable-rate credit — the cost tracks the market in both directions for as long as the line is open. If payment certainty is the point, the closed-end second next door is the honest answer, and I will say so first.
The 80% opening draw defines the product: it is built for people deploying equity now — a renovation, a payoff, a purchase — not for a just-in-case backstop that sits unused.
Bought or refinanced within six months? The ceiling drops ten points on a primary — and second homes and rentals need six months of ownership before any line attaches.
This program does not lend in several states — New York and Massachusetts among them — and a handful of markets carry their own trims. The address check takes a minute and goes first.
Price the line against your equity
Tell me the address, the first-mortgage balance and how your income documents — I will show you the combined math, which of the four routes reads your file best, and whether the closed-end second honestly beats the line for what you’re doing. Ten minutes.
Questions people actually ask
Open the full Q&A — the draw, the income routes, and the fine points ▾
+What’s the difference between this and the second mortgage on the other page?
Shape. That one is a closed-end second: one fixed sum at closing, fixed payment, fixed end date. This is a revolving line: draw, repay, draw again during the window, at a rate that moves with the market. People who need one specific amount for one specific thing usually want that page; people deploying equity in stages want this one.
+I’m self-employed and my bank declined my HELOC. Would this really be different?
Structurally, yes. The bank read your tax returns after the write-offs; this program reads twelve months of deposits — personal or business accounts — and never opens the returns. Same house, same equity, different document.
+Can I put a line on a rental property?
Yes — two ways. Qualify on your own income to 75% combined, or let the property qualify itself: if the rent covers the line’s payment at a modest cover, your income never enters the file, and the line can vest in your LLC.
+What is a first-lien HELOC?
The line replaces the mortgage entirely — there is nothing in front of it. Your whole home loan becomes revolving: draw when you need capital, pay down when cash arrives. For owners with lumpy income or active investment lives it is a genuinely different way to hold a house, at up to 80% of value here.
+How much do I have to take at closing?
At least 80% of the line — that is the program’s defining rule. You can pay it down the following month and redraw later in increments of $5,000, but the line opens working, not idle.
+Do I need reserves or leftover savings to qualify?
No — this program requires no reserves and sets no minimum on what remains after closing. The file stands on equity, credit and the income route you pick, which is rarer than it sounds.
Schedule a Consultation
Loan programs, explained honestly
The program described is a variable-rate, open-end home equity line of credit offered through a third-party program, subject to lender approval and full underwriting, and changes without notice. Figures reflect that program’s Equity Advantage HELOC matrix effective 08/04/2026; leverage tiers vary by line size and the strongest published band is shown. Maximum combined loan-to-value, credit score, line amount, ratio and documentation requirements are separate limits shown only in combinations that appear together in the source. A minimum initial draw of 80% of the credit line applies at closing; subsequent draws are subject to program minimums during the draw period. Rates are variable and subject to program floors and caps; ask for current terms. A valid Social Security number is required. Property, occupancy and geographic restrictions apply; unavailable in several states, including New York and Massachusetts. Not all applicants or properties will qualify. This is not a commitment to lend. Equal Housing Opportunity.