Best HELOC Rates in Virginia
A home equity line of credit (HELOC) offers peace of mind and flexibility to borrow money when you need it. Most HELOCs even offer interest-only payments during the draw period—when you can borrow money as needed before making full principal-and-interest payments several years later during the repayment period.
Rates on a HELOC are often lower than a credit card, but they might be higher than the rate you’re eligible for on a home equity loan—a lump-sum loan that also uses your home as collateral. HELOC rates have increased since 2022, making shopping around even more crucial.
We’ve gathered the highest-rated lenders offering the lowest HELOC rates in Virginia to help you compare your options.
In this guide:
- About HELOC rates in Virginia
- How your HELOC rate affects your overall loan cost
- How to get the lowest HELOC rates in Virginia
- How to apply for a HELOC in Virginia
- FAQ
About HELOC rates in Virginia
Nationwide, HELOC rates during the third quarter of 2023 averaged 8.38% among credit unions and 8.45% among banks, according to the National Credit Union Administration. In contrast, HELOC rates in Virginia in October 2023 start as low as 6.10%, depending on your lender.
Your exact rate depends on many factors, such as your credit score, income, and current monthly debt payments. Since you’re using your home equity to secure your line of credit, your rate may also depend on your home value and your mortgage balance (if any).
The best HELOC rates in Virginia
Click each lender’s name in the table below for all the details about its home equity products for Virginia residents.
| Lender | Product | APR in Virginia |
| Figure | HELOC | 6.10% – 14.74% |
| Spring EQ | HELOC and home equity loan | Not disclosed |
| PenFed | HELOC | Starting at 8.625% |
| Bethpage FCU | HELOC | Starting at 8.50% |
| Navy Federal Credit Union | HELOC and home equity loan | Starting at 8.75% |
Figure – Best HELOC overall
Editorial rating: 4.9 out of 5
- Partners with other lenders, including credit unions, to fund HELOCs.
- Must draw 100% of your credit line (minus origination fees) for your first disbursement; after that, the minimum disbursement amount is $500.
- Repay each individual draw with a fixed rate, but the interest rate for each draw may vary.
Two of the biggest complaints people have about HELOCs are the amount of time it takes to get funds and the variable rates, which can make budgeting for payments difficult. Figure removes those barriers by offering digital notaries and automated appraisals for your home, with funding available in as little as five days.
Figure’s HELOC operates more like a series of fixed-rate loans. You get the option to take draws as you like for two to five years. Your rate is set with each individual draw based on current market conditions, but you repay it with a fixed rate.
- APR: 6.10% – 14.74%; hybrid fixed/variable rate
- Loan amount: Up to 95% of home equity; maximum of $400,000
- Minimum credit score: 640
- Repayment term: 5, 10, 15, or 30 years
- Fees: Lien release fee ($0 to $220), origination fee (up to 4.99%)
Spring EQ – Best multi-product application
Editorial rating: 4.3 out of 5
- HELOCs offer a 10-year draw period, but Spring EQ doesn’t specify the repayment period length.
- Can take 2–3 weeks to receive your HELOC funds.
- Stricter credit and income requirements for HELOCs than for home equity loans (credit score of 680 vs. 640, maximum debt-to-income ratio of 45% vs. 50%, respectively).
Spring HQ is a newer company—it’s been around since 2016. It offers online HELOCs and home equity loans with the potential to borrow up to $500,000 if you have sufficient equity to support it. You can borrow up to a combined loan-to-value ratio of 95% of your home’s value.
We found Spring HQ isn’t as helpful as we’d like in terms of details. It doesn’t publicly disclose what draw requirements, if any, you need to meet, its rates, or the length of its repayment period.
We know the lender will offer you terms for a HELOC and a home equity loan with one application—so if you’re unsure which product is right for you, this is a convenient way to compare offers and make the best financial decision to align with your budget.
- APR: Not disclosed
- Loan amount: Up to 95% of home equity up to a maximum of $500,000
- Minimum credit score: 680
- Repayment term: Not disclosed
- Standard fees: $195 loan administration fee, $99 annual HELOC maintenance fee, $8 credit report fee, $30 document preparation fee, $80 title report fee, $290 notary and disbursement fee
- Fees if applicable: $149 drive-by appraisal fee, full appraisal fee (unspecified amount), $115 fee to use a prior appraisal
Bethpage FCU – Best credit union
Editorial rating: 4.2 out of 5
- Must join the credit union by depositing $5 in a savings account if approved for a HELOC.
- Typical funding speeds of 34 days.
- Appraisals are generally only required for HELOCs above $400,000 or combined loan-to-value ratios above 75%.
Bethpage may not be a speedy lender compared to several online banks, but it offers plenty of ways to save money on many costs you’ll often pay when you take out a HELOC. You’ll pay no annual fees, and Bethpage will even cover closing costs for the first $500,000, which may eliminate these charges entirely.
Bethpage charges low rates, but it will drop them even further during your first year if you take out and maintain a balance of $25,000 or more after you open your HELOC. If you weren’t planning to repay the debt immediately, this could save you in interest.
- APR: Starting at 8.50% variable. Fixed rates of 6.99% available for the first year if you qualify, or 9.63% if you convert a portion of your HELOC balance to a loan.
- Loan amount: Up to 75% of home equity; maximum of $1 million
- Minimum credit score: 720
- Repayment term: 20 years
- Fees: Closing fees of $500 to $15,000; third-party closing fees of $500 to $60,000. Bethpage pays closing costs for the first $500,000 as long as you keep your HELOC open for at least three years; otherwise, you must repay it.
PenFed Credit Union
Editorial rating: 4.2 out of 5
- Credit union membership is open to anyone, but you must deposit $5 in a savings account to establish your membership if approved for a HELOC.
- PenFed HELOCs come with 10-year draw periods and 20-year repayment periods.
- Get funds in as few as 15 days in some cases because appraisals may only be needed on lines of credit over $400,000.
PenFed Credit Union is based out of McLean, Virginia, and is one of the largest credit unions in the country, with nearly 3 million members nationwide. In addition to a solid blend of banking products, it offers helpful lending options, including its HELOC.
If you’re looking for a fixed-rate HELOC, PenFed is an excellent option because it offers the option to swap some or all of your HELOC debt to a fixed-rate balance.
- APR: Starting from 8.625%; hybrid fixed/variable
- Loan amount: Up to 85% of home equity; $25,000 – $500,000
- Minimum credit score: 680
- Repayment term: 20 years
- Fees: $99 annual fee; $550 – $850 appraisal fee (only required on HELOCs above $400,000); other closing fees ranging from $500 – $8,500 depending on the HELOC amount.
Navy Federal Credit Union – Best for military members
- J.D. Power rated Navy Federal the No. 1 lender in 2023 for personal loans—a metric that could indicate a positive borrowing experience for HELOCs.
- Convert your HELOC to a fixed-rate home equity loan at any time after it’s been open for six months.
- Interest rate adjusts monthly based on the current prime rate, with lifetime lower and upper bounds of 3.99% and 18.00% APR.
Navy Federal is an excellent credit union to consider—especially if you prefer to work with a local lender. It’s based out of Vienna, Virginia. It operates 63 branches throughout Eastern Virginia, so you can get help in person. You must be a military member or related to a service member to join.
Navy Federal HELOCs come with a 20-year draw period and a 20-year repayment period. You can opt for a credit card which you can use to draw against your line of credit, making it useful if you plan to use it for smaller, more frequent purchases.
- APR: Starting at 8.75%; variable
- Loan amount: Up to 95% of home equity; $10,000 – $500,000
- Minimum credit score: 650
- Repayment terms: 20 years
- Fees: No closing costs on HELOCs, but you may have to pay undisclosed fees to third-party vendors for a title search or appraisal.
How your HELOC rate affects your overall loan cost
Most HELOCs come with variable rates, which make it impossible to know your exact borrowing costs ahead of time. No one can say for sure where HELOC rates in Virginia or anywhere else in the U.S. will go.
However, we can see an example of how powerful rates can be in affecting your overall loan costs by looking at where rates have been over the past 20 years—often starting between 3.25% and 8.50%.
Here is what your total borrowing cost and monthly payments could look like under a high-interest-rate and a low-interest-rate scenario:
| If you borrow $25,000 | Interest rate environment | HELOC payments |
| Term length | — | 10-year draw period followed by 10-year repayment period |
| Monthly payment | Low (3.25%) | Interest-only draw period: $68 Principal-and-interest repayment period: $244 |
| High (8.50%) | Draw period: $177 (payment increase of $109) Repayment period: $310 (payment increase of $66) | |
| Total interest paid | Low (3.25%) | Draw period: $8,125 Repayment period: $4,316 Total: $12,441 |
| High (8.50%) | Draw period: $21,250 Repayment period: $12,196 Total: $33,446 (increase of $21,005) |
Note: The amounts in the table above reflect interest only.
Remember: Your rates may not stay constant with a variable-rate HELOC as they do for a fixed-rate loan, so these numbers will change over time and affect your total loan cost.
But as you can see, if you took out a HELOC while rates are high (as they are in late 2023), you could benefit from the lower interest-only payments HELOCs generally offer.
Then if rates lower in the future, you may pay less during repayment than someone who took out a home equity loan and is stuck paying high fixed rates.
How to get the lowest HELOC rates in Virginia
Lenders generally look at the same factors when you apply for a HELOC in Virginia as anywhere else in the country.
Three of the most important factors include:
- Credit score: 720 or higher
- Home equity: 80% to 90% combined loan-to-value ratio (CLTV)
- Debt-to-income ratio: 43% or less
The better you score in each category, the better your odds of finding the lowest rates. For example, if your credit score is 800, and 10% of your monthly income goes toward debt, you may get better HELOC offers than someone with a lower credit score struggling to make their debt payments each month.
It’s important to shop around for rates before you commit to a particular lender. Every HELOC’s pricing and options will be unique, and the lender can provide you with an exact quote before you sign on the dotted line.
Virginia residents benefit from a higher average credit score than the rest of the country (721 vs. 714), as well as home equity values that have risen steadily.
Homeowners in the Virginia-based D.C. metro area saw an average home equity increase of $10,441 year-over-year during the second quarter of 2023, for example. In contrast, average home equity values declined by an average of $3,260 in the rest of the country.
Erin Kinkade, CFP®, generally advises against borrowing money in a high-rate environment but acknowledges it could work for certain borrowers:
Borrowing money during a high-interest-rate environment isn’t ideal, but when home prices are rising, it could make sense for some individuals. For example, those who want to sell their home and move to a similar area with the same housing costs could find it difficult to sell their home due to the high interest rates we are currently experiencing.
Instead of selling, the decision to apply for a HELOC to make improvements or changes to their current home could be a viable option to meet the goal of having the features they were planning to look for in a new home.
In addition, if the borrower has a steady income and excellent credit, they may be able to obtain the most favorable interest rate. And if analysts think interest rates will decline at some point in the near future, it may be wise to select a variable-rate HELOC so you benefit from the lower-rate environment.
How to apply for a HELOC in Virginia
Applying for a HELOC takes a longer than most other loan types because you’re using your home as collateral. That takes more time to sort out. You can expect the process to take two to six weeks with most lenders.
Virginia homeowners can help speed things up throughout the HELOC application process:
- Prepare your application: Obtain a copy of your credit report from each bureau and check it for errors. (Dispute errors with the credit bureau reporting them.) Check your credit score so you know whether you’re eligible for a HELOC with each lender. Finally, gather the documents you’ll need to qualify for a HELOC.
- Gather quotes: Prequalify with at least three lenders offering HELOCs in Virginia. This usually involves a soft credit pull, which won’t affect your credit score. The final hard credit inquiry—which can cause temporary credit score damage—will come later.
- Apply with the best lender: Choose the best HELOC offer from the lenders you checked with, and complete a full HELOC application. You’ll need to submit your documents and any other details the lender requests during the underwriting period.
- Sign the HELOC agreement: If you’re approved, your lender will send you a final HELOC contract to sign at a scheduled closing. Be sure you read through everything; HELOCs can vary, so you should understand all the terms.
FAQ
What is the lowest HELOC rate in Virginia?
Figure offers the lowest HELOC rates in Virginia from among our featured lenders. Depending on your qualifications, you could pay rates as low as 6.10%—far below the HELOC rates in Virginia that most other lenders charge.
What HELOC has the highest rates in Virginia?
Navy Federal Credit Union has the highest starting HELOC rates in Virginia from among our top lenders, at 8.75%. Navy Federal is only open to military members and offers other benefits, such as no closing costs and dozens of branches in Virginia in case you prefer to close on your HELOC in person.
What is the current average HELOC rate in Virginia?
The top lenders on our list charge HELOC rates from 6.10% to 8.75% for qualified applicants. Nationwide, the average HELOC rates are 8.38% at credit unions and 8.45% at banks (as of October 2023).
Will my Virginia HELOC have insurance requirements?
Yes. You will typically need to carry homeowners insurance and flood insurance, if applicable, to be eligible for a HELOC. Lenders require this because you’re using your home as collateral for the HELOC, so they want to know their investment is protected if a hurricane or tornado blows in.
Do any lenders not offer HELOCs in Virginia, and why not?
Many lenders do not offer HELOCs in Virginia for various reasons. A small out-of-state credit union may not be open to residents of other cities and states. Lenders must be licensed to operate in every state, and some lenders, such as Hitch, are only licensed in a few states, not including Virginia.
The post Best HELOC Rates in Virginia appeared first on LendEDU.