A home equity line of credit sits behind your first mortgage. It does not replace it, it does not reprice it, and it does not touch the rate you locked years ago. You pull from the equity you already built and leave the loan alone.
No credit pull to see where you stand.
Most homeowners in San Diego are sitting on a first mortgage they will never be able to replace, and several hundred thousand dollars of equity they cannot reach. A HELOC solves exactly that problem and nothing else.
Tap any card to open it.
A cash‑out refinance pays off your existing loan and writes a new one at today's rate. A HELOC does not. It records behind your first mortgage as a second lien, which means your rate, your term, your payment and your payoff date all stay exactly as they are. If you closed or refinanced before 2022, this is the entire argument.
Ninety percent combined loan‑to‑value at a 720 credit score, eighty‑five percent at 680. On a home worth $1,200,000 with $600,000 owed, ninety percent puts $480,000 within reach. Plenty of lenders stop at seventy percent, which on that same house is a very different number.
The minimum line is $25,000 and the maximum is $750,000. Coastal San Diego equity outgrows a lot of lenders' caps quickly, and running out of room on the line is a problem you find out about at the worst possible moment.
Ten years of interest‑only payments on your balance. On the thirty‑year line the balance then amortizes over the remaining twenty years; on the twenty‑year line, over the remaining ten. Ten years is a long runway to do the work, sell, refinance or simply pay it down on your own schedule.
On lines at or under $400,000 the valuation can come from an approved automated model or an exterior‑only appraisal instead of a full interior inspection. Above $400,000 a full appraisal is required. The automated route has to clear a confidence threshold, so it is not automatic, but it is the common path and it removes the step people dread most.
Investment property lines go to seventy‑five percent of value at 720 credit, seventy percent at 680. Second homes qualify as well. If you own a rental in Riverside or a place in the desert, the equity in it is reachable, and most institutions that advertise a HELOC will only look at the house you live in.
Two to four unit properties qualify on a primary residence. If you live in one unit and rent the others, you are sitting on equity that the standard consumer HELOC market simply does not advertise to. Two to four unit properties are not eligible as second homes.
The primary program starts at a 680 credit score with debt‑to‑income up to fifty percent. There is a second program that goes down to 640 at a lower combined loan‑to‑value. One bank prices to one credit box and that is the end of the conversation. We are not one lender's loan officer, so the question is which box the file fits, not whether it fits ours.
There is no prepayment penalty on the line. One thing worth knowing up front rather than later: if the balance is paid all the way down to zero within 180 days of closing, an early payoff provision applies. Past that window, pay it down on any schedule you like.
Three ways to get at money you need. They are not interchangeable, and one of them is usually obviously right once you see them side by side. Tap any box for the detail.
Two boxes above do not go our way, and they are the two that matter. A credit card does not put your house at risk, and a refinance can lock a fixed rate on the whole balance. If rate certainty on every dollar is what you are after, or if the amount is small enough that unsecured credit is the sane answer, we will tell you that. We earn more on the refinance, which is exactly why you should believe us when we say not to do one.
One institution has one HELOC, one combined loan‑to‑value ceiling, one credit minimum and one maximum line. If your file does not fit, that is the end of the conversation. Here is something we bring that a retail bank cannot: we are not one lender's loan officer. When a file needs ninety percent instead of seventy, or a 640 score instead of a 680, or a duplex instead of a single family home, the question is which lender it goes to, not whether we have one.
See Where You StandNinety percent of value, minus what you still owe. These are illustrations at common San Diego price points, not quotes, and the real number depends on your credit, your income and the appraised value.
| Home value | Still owed | 90% of value | Potentially available |
|---|---|---|---|
| $800,000 | $450,000 | $720,000 | $270,000 |
| $1,000,000 | $550,000 | $900,000 | $350,000 |
| $1,200,000 | $600,000 | $1,080,000 | $480,000 |
| $1,500,000 | $700,000 | $1,350,000 | $650,000 |
| $2,000,000 | $900,000 | $1,800,000 | $750,000 max |
Ninety percent combined loan‑to‑value assumes a 720 credit score on a primary residence. At 680 the ceiling is eighty‑five percent. Investment property is seventy‑five percent at 720 and seventy percent at 680. The largest line available is $750,000, so the last row is capped by the program rather than by the equity. Figures are illustrations only and are not an offer of credit or a commitment to lend.
There is no restriction on what the money is for. These are the reasons it usually comes up.
Credit cards, personal loans and anything else carrying a consumer rate. This is the single most common reason a line gets opened, and the arithmetic is usually not close.
Kitchen, baths, roof, flooring, windows. Work that raises the value of the asset the line is secured by.
An accessory dwelling unit is one of the few improvements in this state that can pay for itself. Very few lenders talk about funding one with equity you already have.
Use the equity in the house you own to get into the one you want. We handle both sides of that transaction.
Large one‑time projects where a contractor's financing is usually the most expensive money in the deal.
Education, a wedding, a medical bill, helping a kid with their own down payment.
Equipment, payroll, an opportunity with a deadline on it. Often the cheapest capital a small business owner has access to.
Access the equity in the current house so your offer on the next one is not contingent on selling it first.
Sometimes the point is not the rate. It is knowing the exact month everything is gone.
Most people picture a HELOC as an untouched credit line sitting there for a rainy day. That is not what this is, and it is better to know that now than three weeks in.
At closing you draw at least seventy‑five percent of the line. There is then a ninety‑day waiting period before you can draw again, and after that, subsequent draws run a $1,000 minimum through the servicer. What that means in practice is simple: this is a line built for a purpose you already have, and we size it to that purpose.
If you are consolidating $170,000 of credit card debt, funding an ADU, or writing a check to a contractor next month, you were drawing it anyway. If you want an emergency fund you never touch, this is the wrong product and we will say so.
Twenty or thirty years. Interest‑only for the first ten, then the balance amortizes over the remaining term. Draw period of three or five years.
Variable, indexed to the Prime Rate and adjusting monthly. Floor of 4%, lifetime ceiling of 18%. No introductory teaser that resets on you.
Second lien. There has to be an existing first mortgage on the property, which also means a home owned free and clear is not eligible for this particular line.
Full documentation, manually underwritten by a person. Self‑employed borrowers provide two years of signed personal and business returns.
Published so you can rule yourself in or out before you spend an hour on it.
One to four unit homes, warrantable condominiums, planned developments. Primary residences, second homes and investment property. Non‑occupying co‑borrowers on a primary.
Manufactured and mobile homes, co‑ops, non‑warrantable condominiums, condotels, mixed use, properties over ten acres, and homes listed for sale in the last six months.
A clean mortgage payment history for the last twelve months, and title vested in your own name. Properties held by an LLC, corporation or partnership are not eligible on this program.
A recurring on‑demand session on using home equity without giving up your rate, plus short videos you can watch at eleven at night without talking to anyone.
Video library and the recurring session are in production. Links go live as each one is recorded.
No Closing Disclosure waiting period applies to a home equity line, and on most lines under $400,000 there is no appraiser walking through your house. Both of those are structural, not promises.
Eight questions, no credit pull, about two minutes. What the house is worth, what you owe, and what the money is for.
We take it to the lender whose credit box it fits, and come back with what is actually available and what it costs.
Income, the mortgage statement, insurance. The valuation runs in the background, usually without an inspection.
Sign, then a three‑day right of rescission on a primary residence, then the funds are released.
Eight questions, no credit pull, and a real answer from a licensed loan officer instead of a form letter.
1st Choice Home Team is not a government agency and is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored or approved by any government agency. Jorge Antonio Murillo, Broker Owner.
All loans are subject to credit approval, income and asset verification, property valuation and program guidelines. Not all applicants will qualify. Program terms, guidelines and availability are subject to change without notice. A home equity line of credit is secured by a lien on your home and is subject to a maximum combined loan-to-value that varies by credit score, occupancy and property type; the figures shown on this page reflect current program maximums of wholesale lenders we are approved with and are not a guarantee of approval or of any particular line amount. The interest rate on this line is variable, is indexed to the Prime Rate and adjusts monthly, and is subject to a floor and a lifetime maximum; your rate will change over the life of the line. This line is a second lien product and requires an existing first mortgage on the subject property. A minimum initial draw and a draw lock-out period apply. An underwriting fee and customary third-party closing costs apply. Equity access illustrations shown are hypothetical examples at selected property values, are provided for general information only, and do not reflect any particular borrower, property or credit profile. Closing timelines and valuation methods referenced are dependent on a complete file, the property and third parties, and are not a guarantee. Consult a tax advisor regarding the deductibility of interest. Nothing on this page is an offer of credit, a commitment to lend, or an advertisement of specific credit terms.
Licensing information available at NMLS Consumer Access, www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Your best estimate is fine. The buttons move it $10,000 at a time.
All liens against the property. The buttons move it $10,000 at a time.
You could be eligible for a line of credit up to
The buttons move it one eighth of a percent at a time.
We have what we need. A licensed loan officer on our team is going to look at your answers and come back to you with what your equity will actually support, what it would cost, and whether a line is even the right move.
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