Learn About Home Loans

Knowing more about home loans can help you better manage your financial life.

Understand your mortgage options

Understand your mortgage options

With so many different types of mortgages available, choosing the right one can seem overwhelming. We're here to clearly explain your options.

Should you get prequalified or preapproved?

Find out how much you can borrow before you start looking for a house.

Your down payment plays an important role

When you're considering buying a home, the amount of your down payment plays an important role.

View more mortgage articles

Extend your financial know-how with even more information to help you make more confident decisions

Resources and tools

Search for down payment and cost savings programs that can help make buying a home more affordable adatext

Real Estate Center Search millions of existing homes, new homes, and bank-owned properties

Your prequalification

If you're an existing customer please log in to Online Banking, if not please log in as a guest.

Your home loan made easy

Prequalify

Thinking about buying a home? Prequalify now to estimate what you can borrow. adatext

Visit our Real Estate Center to find your next home and search for home values.

Apply for financing and get the mortgage that meets your needs.

Refinancing to a fixed rate

Refinancing to a fixed rate

Switching from an adjustable-rate mortgage (or ARM) to a fixed-rate mortgage is one of the most common reasons to refinance.

Refinancing to lower your monthly mortgage payment

Before you decide if refinancing is the right choice for you, take a look at some of the details.

Should you refinance or take out a home equity line of credit?

If you're interested in borrowing against your home's available equity to pay for other expenses, you have choices.

View more refinance articles

Extend your financial know-how with even more information to help you make more confident decisions

Resources and tools

Your home loan made easy

Prequalify

Thinking about buying a home? Prequalify now to estimate what you can borrow. adatext

Visit our Real Estate Center to find your next home and search for home values.

Apply for financing and get the mortgage that meets your needs.

Visit our home loans overview page to explore your refinance options.

What is a home equity line of credit (HELOC)?

What is a home equity line of credit (HELOC)?

A HELOC is a revolving line of credit that you can use for large expenses or to consolidate higher-interest rate debt.

What can a HELOC help you do?

Learn about how a home equity line of credit works and how it may help you realize your goals – from covering unexpected expenses to paying for educational costs and funding home renovations. adatext

[Music in background]

[Bank of America ® logo shown throughout. Animated characters shown throughout as they experience life events such as a new baby, a house renovation, going off to college and a broken leg injury that are appropriate uses for a HELOC loan.]

In life, you often face major home improvement projects, unexpected costs, education expenses, or the need to consolidate debt.

On screen disclosure:
See important information on this web page.

[Visual of three circles, representing different loans. The circles merge into one to represent debt consolidation.]

A home equity line of credit, or HELOC, could help you achieve your life priorities. At Bank of America ® , we want to help you understand how you might put a HELOC to work for you. A HELOC is a line of credit borrowed against the available equity of your home. Your home's equity is the difference between the appraised value of your home and your current mortgage balance.

On screen copy:
Value of home
Mortgage balance
Home's Equity

Through Bank of America, you can generally borrow up to 85% of the value of your home minus the amount you still owe.

On screen copy:
Bank of America ® logo
Value of home
Mortgage balance
HELOC

For example, say your home's appraised value is $200,000. 85% of that is $170,000. If you still owe $120,000 on your mortgage, you'll subtract that, leaving you with the maximum home equity line of credit you could receive as $50,000.

[Math equation shown on screen as it is being described in the voiceover.]

On screen copy:
$200,000 Value of home
x85%
$170,000
-$120,000 Mortgage balance
$50,000 Max. HELOC

Much like a credit card, a HELOC is a revolving credit line that you pay down, and you only pay interest on the portion of the line you use.

On screen copy:
Available Credit
Withdraw funds
Make a payment

With a Bank of America HELOC, there are no closing costs, no application fees, no annual fees, and no fees to use the funds. Plus, Bank of America offers rate discounts when you sign up for automatic payments,

[Character shown using the Bank of America ® mobile app while ‘Discounts available’ is shown.]

as well as discounts based on the funds you initially use when opening the HELOC.

On screen copy:
Opening Funds

And there's Preferred Rewards, which extends benefits to you as your qualifying Bank of America balances grow. The interest rate is often lower than other forms of credit, and the interest you pay may be tax deductible, but you should consult a tax advisor.

On screen disclosure:
Please consult your tax advisor regarding interest deductibility as tax rules may have changed.

Most HELOCs have a variable rate, which means the interest rate can change over time based on the Wall Street Journal Prime Rate.

[Calendar shows an example interest rate of 5.6% and the next month it changes to 6.3%. A line graph is then shown, also demonstrating that rates can fluctuate.]

On screen disclosure:
Chart for illustrative purposes only.

And Bank of America offers you the option to convert $5,000 or more of your balance to a fixed rate,

On screen copy:
Fixed rate
Predictable monthly payments

so you can take advantage of fixed monthly payments and protect yourself from rising interest rates. Continue to use your home equity line of credit as needed for the duration of your borrowing period, usually 10 years.

Once that borrowing period ends, you'll continue to pay principal and interest on what you borrowed. You'll typically have 20 years for this repayment stage. If a HELOC sounds right for you, get started today by giving us a call, visiting a financial center, or applying online at bankofamerica.com/home-equity.

[Character shown on his computer selecting ‘apply now’ for a Home Equity loan.]

And be sure to inquire about all the ways we can assist you with rate discounts.

On screen copy:
Interest Rate Discounts
Automatic Payments
Opening Funds
Preferred Rewards

No matter what large expenses you may face in the future, a home equity line of credit from Bank of America could help you achieve your life priorities.

On screen copy:
What would you like the power to do? ®
Bank of America ® logo

On screen disclosures:
Credit and collateral are subject to approval. Terms and conditions apply. This is not a commitment to lend. Programs, rates, terms and conditions are subject to change without notice. Sequences shortened. Screen images simulated. All rights reserved. Bank of America, N.A., Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender © 2022 Bank of America Corporation. 4652820

[End of transcript]

*This video is provided for educational purposes only and is not a commitment to lend. Please contact us so we can discuss your specific situation.

Evaluating the available equity you have in your home

The more equity you have, the more refinancing options may be available to you.

Should you refinance or take out a home equity line of credit?

If you're interested in borrowing against your home's available equity to pay for other expenses, you have choices.

View more home equity articles

Extend your financial know-how with even more information to help you make more confident decisions

Resources and tools

Your home equity line of credit application made easy

Start online

Submit your secure application online — there’s no fee and no obligation, and it only takes about 15 minutes. Start your application now.

Work with a specialist

Our experienced specialists will help you every step of the way – and if you decide that predictable monthly payments for a fixed term is best for you, they’ll help you with a Fixed-Rate Loan Option. adatext

Complete the process

Save time and securely upload documents online. If approved, you can enjoy the convenience of closing at a financial centerfinancial center of your choice. After that, you can easily access your new home equity line of credit as
you need it.

Visit our home loans overview page to see what home equity can do for you.