A first lien HELOC is a home equity line of credit that sits in first position on your house. That happens one of two ways: the house is already paid off, or the HELOC pays off your mortgage at closing and takes its spot.
If you own your home outright, it’s really just the HELOC you’d get anyway. Figure is the quickest place to see a real number, since it does both first and second lien HELOCs and checking your rate is a soft pull.
Still paying off a 3% or 4% mortgage? Swapping it for a first lien HELOC almost always costs you more, no matter what the sweep account videos say. Keep the mortgage and look at a HELOC from Upstart Home Lending behind it instead.
Where to check first
Which one fits depends on whether you still have a mortgage and whether you want to keep it.
| Option | Best for | Amount or term | APR | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 FigureFirst or second lien | Paid-off homes | From $15K | 7.35% to 14.85%as of October 2026 | Check My RateSoft pull, no credit impact |
 Upstart Home LendingKeep your mortgage | Low-rate mortgages | $26K to $250K | 6.52% to 18.00%1 | See If You Could QualifySoft pull to check your APR |
 SpliteroNo monthly payments | Retired or hard-to-document income | Terms of 10 to 30 years | No APR, you share home value at exit | See My OfferNo income requirement |
| Navy Federal | Military members and families | $10K to $500K | From 7.25% variable | Members only |
What is a first lien HELOC?
It’s a HELOC that holds the main lien on your home.
A regular HELOC sits behind your mortgage as a second lien. A first lien HELOC either stands alone on a house with no mortgage, or it replaces the mortgage entirely, so the line of credit becomes your home loan.
Otherwise it works like any HELOC. You get a credit limit, you draw from it, you pay it down and you can draw again during the draw period. After that it turns into a repayment period where you pay principal and interest on whatever is left.
First lien vs. second lien HELOC
Lien position decides who gets paid first if the home is sold or foreclosed on. The first lien lender is first in line, so it takes less risk, and Figure says that can mean a lower rate than a second lien.
That last row is the big one. With a second lien, your mortgage rate, payment and payoff date don’t move at all.
With a first lien HELOC, the old fixed rate is gone and the whole balance moves to the HELOC’s rate, which is usually variable.
Escrow tends to come along for the ride. Navy Federal’s disclosures say the member pays prepaid interest and escrow on first lien HELOCs, and FNBA’s draw period payments are interest plus escrow.
How to get a HELOC in first lien position
There are two ways.
1. Own the home free and clear
Any HELOC you open on a paid-off house is automatically in first position. That’s the most common case and the simplest one, since there’s nothing to refinance.
Figure’s FAQ says it offers first liens on homes that are fully paid off, and lines start at $15,000. Anything over $400,000 needs an appraisal.
2. Refinance your mortgage into one
The HELOC pays off your mortgage at closing and takes over first position. That’s what the “all in one” and “sweep” products are built for, where cash sitting in a linked checking account counts against what you owe.
Figure can do this too. It says it can directly pay off the most junior lien on the property at closing, mortgages included.
Is a first lien HELOC a good idea?
It depends almost entirely on your current mortgage rate.
Say you owe $300,000 at 3.5% with 25 years left. Here’s the first year side by side.
The sweep savings assume $6,000 to $10,000 sits in the account on an average day. Even with that, you’re paying around $11,000 more in the first year.
For the HELOC to break even, its rate would need to be about 3.5%. None of the lenders below advertise anything close.
What about the “pay off your house in 5 to 7 years” pitch? That comes from putting your monthly surplus toward principal. You can do the same thing with extra payments on the mortgage you already have, at the lower rate, without giving up your fixed rate.
But flip it around and the answer changes. If your house is paid off, or you owe a small balance at a rate already close to what HELOCs charge, a first lien HELOC gives you an open line of credit for about what you’re paying now. That’s the situation these were built for.
See your first lien HELOC rate with Figure
Figure offers first lien HELOCs on paid-off homes, and checking your rate is a soft pull, so it costs your score nothing to look.
Check My Figure Rate →Soft pull, no impact on your credit scoreIf you want the full break-even math at every mortgage rate, this first lien HELOC vs mortgage breakdown runs the numbers, sweep account included.
Who offers a first lien HELOC?
Not many lenders advertise one. These are the ones whose own pages say they do.
Figure is the online option. It offers both first and second liens, initial APRs run 7.35% to 14.85% as of October 2026 and funding can happen in as few as 5 days on loans under $400,000. The minimum credit score is set by state, and it isn’t available in New York.
There’s also a fixed rate option. That line is fully drawn at closing, minus an origination fee of 0% to 4.99% of the draw, and you redraw as you pay it down. Check your Figure rate here.
Navy Federal Credit Union has a HELOC that can sit in first position, but you have to be a member, which is open to the armed forces, the DoD, veterans and their families. The variable APR starts at 7.25% for a 750 FICO with a 70% maximum HLTV, and lines run $10,000 to $500,000.
You get a 20 year draw period and a 20 year repayment period, and Navy Federal pays the closing costs. Closing takes about 30 to 40 days, and it isn’t available in Texas.
FNBA’s FlexFirst HELOC replaces your mortgage and links to an FNBA checking account that sweeps leftover cash against the balance at the end of every day. The rate is variable and based on the 30 day average SOFR.
CMG Financial’s All In One Loan is the other sweep product, sold through mortgage brokers and loan officers in select markets. And University Lending Group, a division of University Bank, has a 1st lien HELOC you use with checks and a debit card.
Some regional banks and credit unions offer them too, often only in their own area. Worth a quick call to yours.
What rates look like
Usually variable, tied to the prime rate or SOFR, and priced close to regular HELOCs. The lowest advertised APRs above are 7.25% at Navy Federal and 7.35% at Figure.
Your own number depends on your credit, how much equity you keep, the line amount and whether it’s your primary home.
For what each lender requires side by side, see this list of banks that offer a first lien HELOC.
Who a first lien HELOC fits
It fits if
- Your home is paid off and you want a line of credit
- You owe a small balance at a rate close to HELOC rates
- Your income is steady and well above your spending
- You won’t treat the line like a checking account with no bottom
Skip it if
- Your mortgage rate is in the 3% to 5% range
- Your budget can’t absorb a payment that moves
- Your income is hard to document
- You’d spend the line just because it’s there
Keeping a low-rate mortgage? Add a second lien instead
If your rate starts with a 3 or a 4, keep it. Need cash? Put a regular second lien HELOC behind it.
A HELOC from Upstart Home Lending is worth a quote for that. It comes in amounts from $26,000 to $250,000, with 10 and 15 year terms and APRs of 6.52% to 18.00%1, and the application is easy and online.
Checking your APR is a soft pull, and you could qualify with credit scores starting at 600. The lowest APR is available only to borrowers who meet specific eligibility conditions, and you’ll need to take at least 80% of your line at closing, so size it to what you need.
Want to keep your mortgage rate? See if you could qualify for a HELOC from Upstart Home Lending.
Check My APR →Retired, or income that’s hard to prove?
This is common if you own outright and you’re retired. Most HELOC lenders want income they can verify.
Splitero is a home equity investment, not a HELOC. There are no monthly payments and no income requirement, with terms from 10 to 30 years. The tradeoff is that you give up a share of your home’s value when you exit, so it usually costs more than a HELOC if the home goes up in value.
The bottom line
Bottom line: on a paid-off house, a first lien HELOC makes a lot of sense. It’s a line of credit that usually costs less than a personal loan or a credit card, so compare an online quote from Figure against your own credit union before signing anything.
With a 3% mortgage, it doesn’t. Keep the mortgage, add a regular HELOC like Upstart Home Lending if you need cash and make extra principal payments if you want the house paid off faster.
More reading: our Figure HELOC review, the Upstart Home Lending HELOC review, our Splitero review and the best HELOC lenders ranking. Not sure a HELOC is right at all? See the best HELOC alternatives.
First Lien HELOC FAQs
It’s a home equity line of credit that holds the first lien on your home. You get one either by opening a HELOC on a house that’s already paid off, or by using the HELOC to pay off your mortgage at closing so it takes the mortgage’s place.
A second lien HELOC sits behind your mortgage and leaves it alone, so your rate, payment and payoff date don’t change. A first lien HELOC replaces the mortgage, so your old fixed rate is gone and the whole balance moves to the HELOC’s rate, which is usually variable.
Usually not. If your mortgage is in the 3% to 5% range, the HELOC’s higher, variable rate costs far more than a sweep account saves. On a $300,000 balance, a 3.5% mortgage runs about $10,400 in first-year interest, while a HELOC at an example 7.5% runs about $22,500 before the sweep.
Usually variable, tied to the prime rate or SOFR. Figure also has a fixed rate option, but that line is fully drawn at closing.
Usually, yes. Once the HELOC is in first position, property taxes and insurance typically move into its payment, the same as a mortgage.
Figure offers first lien HELOCs on homes that are fully paid off, and checking your rate is a soft pull. Navy Federal Credit Union’s HELOC can also sit in first position if you’re eligible for membership.
Upstart Mortgage, LLC dba Upstart Home Lending. NMLS #2443873. Equal Housing Opportunity.
1 Terms shown here are subject to change without notice. APRs for initial advances range from 6.52% to 18.00% based on rates offered as of June 2026. The lowest rate is only available to consumers willing to become a member of a credit union and to those who meet a minimum FICO score of 780, CLTV under 70%, and DTI under 45%. Your actual rate will depend on many factors such as your credit history, combined loan-to-value ratio (CLTV), line amount, loan term, lien position, and property state. Origination fee to open an account is between 0% and 4.99% of the approved credit limit. The Annual Percentage Rate (“APR”) is variable and based on the Prime Rate as published in the Wall Street Journal “Money Rates” table plus or minus a margin. Your APR will never be less than 3.99% or greater than 18.00%. Property insurance is required.
