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Achieve: 2026 Home Equity Review

Written by

Emma Woodward,

Edited by

Katie Lowery

Expert verified

Updated on Feb 17, 2026

Bankrate is always editorially independent. Though our partners compensate us from links on this page, we maintain , and partners don't influence our product evaluations. Here's more on .

NMLS: 1810501

Bankrate score

4.8

Our methodology

Customer score

4.7

Read reviews

SCORE BREAKDOWN

Affordability

5.0

Availability

4.8

Borrower experience

4.5

EDITOR'S TAKE

Borrowers with lower credit who need to consolidate high-interest debt could benefit from a HELOC from Achieve. Unlike other HELOCs, Achieve’s product is fully amortizing, meaning that you start paying the principal and interest right away. It’s also fixed-rate, so once you’re done drawing, your payment will stay the same. If you qualify for a competitive rate, a HELOC from Achieve could be a good option, especially if you’re motivated to pay off the debt quickly.

PROS

• A significantly lower-than-average credit score minimum for debt consolidation compared to other lenders
• You can close and receive funds in as few as 10 business days — much faster than the industry average
• Offers a 0.5 percentage point rate discount for automatic payments

CONS

• HELOC doesn’t offer an interest-only payment period; principal repayments start immediately
• Achieve is only licensed to lend in 31 states

Affordability

5.0

Availability

4.8

Borrower experience

4.5

• A significantly lower-than-average credit score minimum for debt consolidation compared to other lenders
• You can close and receive funds in as few as 10 business days — much faster than the industry average
• Offers a 0.5 percentage point rate discount for automatic payments

• HELOC doesn’t offer an interest-only payment period; principal repayments start immediately
• Achieve is only licensed to lend in 31 states

Find competitive home equity rates near you

Achieve Loans overview

Two college friends founded Achieve, an online-only lender, in 2002. Since then, they’ve served over 1.5 million members. The lender claims to offer responsible debt solutions, stating that it only offers HELOCs to borrowers who will save at least $200 per month on their current monthly payments. Here are the details on the HELOC they offer:

Fixed interest rate
20- to 30-year term with a five-year draw period
Allows you to borrow, repay the funds and borrow again
You only incur interest on the amount borrowed, and you start repaying the principal immediately
A minimum credit score of 600 for debt consolidation; 700 for any other reason to tap your equity

How Bankrate scored Achieve Loans

Affordability: 5 stars

APR: Achieve doesn’t offer an introductory rate for its fixed-rate HELOCs. APRs range as low as 6.24% — well below the national average.
Fees: Closing costs vary by state, but generally include an origination fee of 0% to 3.5% and an underwriting fee of $0 to $725.

Achieve’s low APR earns it a perfect 5 out of 5 stars for affordability.

Availability: 4.8 stars

Loan products: The only home equity product Achieve offers is its unconventional fixed-rate HELOC.
Loan minimum: The minimum loan amount offered for Achieve’s HELOC is $15,000, on the low side of average range.
Draw requirement: There’s no minimum draw amount, but you can access funds for only five years.

Achieve Loans is only licensed in 31 states, which pulls its availability rating down slightly to 4.8 out of 5 stars.

Borrower experience: 4.5 stars

Rate transparency: Achieve lists their rates on their website, albeit in a fine-print footnote.
Convenience: There are no physical branches at Achieve – the lender is all digital.
Customer service: You can send an email, an online message or call a representative Monday to Friday from 11 am to 8 pm ET.

Being available 24/7 online, along with listing a rate range, earns Achieve a 4.5 out of 5 stars for borrower experience.

Achieve HELOC application

Images courtesy of Achieve Loans as of August 15, 2025. Note: Depending on method of contact, your individual credit profile and other circumstances, your experience might differ.

How easy is it to contact Achieve?

We called recently and were connected with an agent almost immediately. The agent was friendly and professional, and he answered all my questions.

Achieve Loans reputation

The lender has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and customer ratings on the platform average 4.4 out of 5 stars. Customer reviews on Trustpilot average 4.8 out of 5 stars.

Bankrate insight

A home equity loan or HELOC lets you borrow against the value of your home, while using your house as collateral. How much you can borrow depends on your home’s value and your outstanding mortgage, often expressed as your loan-to-value (LTV) and combined loan-to-value (CLTV) ratios. LTV is the amount of your mortgage compared to your home’s value, while CLTV includes all loans on the property.

If your home is worth $300,000 and you owe $150,000, your LTV is 50 percent. If you take out another $75,000 loan, your CLTV would be 75 percent. Typically, lenders allow you to tap up to 80 to 85 percent of your home’s value — so, in this case, you could borrow up to $105,000 — though some lenders go as high as 90 or 95 percent.

Knowing how much equity you can tap is just a part of the picture. Learn more about how to find the right home equity lender.

To determine a home equity lender's Bankrate Score, Bankrate rates lenders on a scale of one (1) to five (5) stars — with five (5) the highest rating — based on a variety of factors relating to the lender's products and services. To assign our ratings, we assessed each mortgage lender across three core areas:
- Affordability: Annual percentage rate (APR) - 80%; introductory APR - 20%
- Availability: Licensing - 50%; credit score - 20%; loan minimum - 10%; draw requirement - 10%; loan products - 10%
- Borrower experience: Rate transparency - 35%; convenience - 35%; customer service - 20%; fixed-rate options - 10%
Learn more about our methodology.

Compare Achieve Loans with other lenders

Selected lender Achieve Loans NMLS: 1810501 Bankrate score 4.8 Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Interest rates, fees, loan terms, borrower requirements and customer service are some of the factors that make up Bankrate's score. Customer score 4.7 Star ranking and total number reflects the lifetime customer reviews received while this lender has been an advertiser on Bankrate. To help serve you with relevant information, the customer reviews shown are limited to only those that this advertiser has received during the past 12 months.	Bankrate score Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Interest rates, fees, loan terms, borrower requirements and customer service are some of the factors that make up Bankrate's score. Customer score Star ranking and total number reflects the lifetime customer reviews received while this lender has been an advertiser on Bankrate. To help serve you with relevant information, the customer reviews shown are limited to only those that this advertiser has received during the past 12 months. Read review	Bankrate score Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Interest rates, fees, loan terms, borrower requirements and customer service are some of the factors that make up Bankrate's score. Customer score Star ranking and total number reflects the lifetime customer reviews received while this lender has been an advertiser on Bankrate. To help serve you with relevant information, the customer reviews shown are limited to only those that this advertiser has received during the past 12 months. Read review
Loan amount
$15,000 - $300,000
Min. credit score required
600 for debt consolidation; 700 for other uses
Repayment terms
5-year draw period in a 20- to 30-year term
Funds available in
10 business days
Recent customer review
Overall experience was awesome. From start to finish. Process was easy and was guided the whole way thru. Chris

To help you make the most informed decisions, our home equity lender reviews team suggests an alternative home equity lender for each lender reviewed. In most cases, this alternative 1.) shares the same strength (affordability, availability or borrower experience) as the lender reviewed; and 2.) rates highly for Bankrate Score. In the event more than one lender meets these standards, we suggest the one with the higher Bankrate Score.

Achieve Loans customer ratings and reviews

NMLS: 1810501

4.7

109 ratings

Knowledge

Level of service

Professionalism

Responsiveness

93% of customers would recommend this lender.

of 96 reviews

The consumer reviews posted on Bankrate.com ("Bankrate") are individual, subjective opinions of reviewers, and not of Bankrate. Bankrate does not endorse any of the opinions expressed by reviewers or any responses to reviews.

Bankrate cannot guarantee or verify the accuracy of the opinions shared by individual reviewers, and reserves the right to reject or remove any review, at any time, for any reason at Bankrate’s sole discretion, including but not limited to those that Bankrate deems inappropriate, fraudulent, invalid, irrelevant, or otherwise outside the parameters of the Bankrate Review Guidelines, the Privacy Policy, or the Terms of Use.

To help serve you with relevant information, the consumer reviews shown below are limited to only those that this advertiser has received during the past 12 months.

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Achieve: 2026 Home Equity Review

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