Compare Mortgage Options
There is rarely one right answer, only the option that costs least over the years you plan to stay. Each comparison puts two strategies side by side on the same figures, covering refinancing, turning equity into cash, lowering the payment and clearing the debt sooner.
- HELOC vs cash-out refinanceThree ways to turn equity into cash (cash-out refinance, HELOC and home equity loan), costed over the years you plan to stay.
- Compare all eight optionsThe full decision engine: every strategy costed on one set of your figures, over the years you expect to stay.
- Recast vs extra paymentsOne lump sum that lowers the required payment, against the same money paid as extra principal.
- HELOC vs home equity loanBoth are second liens that leave your first mortgage alone. One is a variable line you draw against, the other a fixed lump sum with a fixed payment.
- Recast vs refinanceRe-amortizing the loan you have at the rate you have, against replacing it with a new one at today's.
What these comparisons measure
The same definition applies to every option, which is what makes two strategies comparable.
Each option is scored on net cost over the holding period you enter: the payments made, plus mortgage insurance and any closing costs paid in cash, plus the balance still owed at the end, minus any cash received. Most comparisons drop the balance, which skews them: a longer term moves less cash each month and leaves more owed, so ignoring the leftover debt makes the longer loan look cheaper every time.
None of these pages names a winner. They show a fixed order, the arithmetic, and say what each option demands in cash up front and in monthly commitment. Cost over a horizon cannot see how secure your income is or how much cash you need within reach, and those decide as many of these questions as the interest does.
How each option is costed, explained in full on the all-options page
Which comparison fits your situation
The right pairing usually follows from one fact: whether the rate you already hold is worth protecting.
If your current rate is below what is offered today, the question is almost always how to borrow without touching it. That points to the second-lien comparisons: a HELOC against a fixed home equity loan, or either against a cash-out refinance that would re-price your whole balance.
If your rate is at or above market, there is nothing to protect, and the comparison is between the ways of restructuring the loan itself: refinancing against keeping it, or against a recast that lowers the required payment without a new loan at all.
If you have a lump sum and no interest in borrowing, the question is what to do with it: a recast that cuts the required payment, or extra principal that cuts the term. They buy different things, and the comparison prices both.