If your property is worth $350,000 and you owe $210,000 on your mortgage, your equity is $140,000. This number changes as your property appreciates, as you pay down your mortgage, or as you make improvements that increase value. Checking your equity position annually is good portfolio hygiene — it tells you how much capital you have available to deploy into new deals.
For a quick estimate: Zillow's Zestimate, Redfin's estimate, or running your address through FreeDealCalc's Freddie (which pulls Rentcast comparable sales data) all provide market value estimates. For a more precise number: have an agent pull current comps, or order a formal appraisal ($400–$600) if you are planning to use the equity for financing.
Lenders do not let you access 100% of your equity. Most HELOCs allow combined LTV of 80–85% — meaning if your home is worth $350,000, a lender will allow total debt of $280,000–$297,500. If you owe $210,000, your accessible equity is $70,000–$87,500. This is your usable equity — the capital available for your next deal.
Three levers grow equity faster than natural appreciation and paydown: making improvements that increase value (strategic renovations with high ROI), making extra principal payments (reduces the denominator of the equity equation), and investing in markets with above-average appreciation. BRRRR investors are masters of forced equity creation — buying below market and adding value through renovation to manufacture equity that the market did not provide.
Dan White is a licensed Virginia real estate agent at Pearson Smith Realty and founder of FreeDealCalc.com. He has been investing in Northern Virginia real estate for 20+ years.