It comes down to cash flow and your blended rate, and the size of the second lien relative to the first is what tips it. Ideally the second lien would have been set up alongside your first mortgage in the first place, which can avoid FHA mortgage insurance. From where you sit now: - Small first, big need: a new first mortgage often wins. As an illustration, a $100,000 first at a low rate plus a $150,000 line at, say, 7.5% blends out to a high cost. One new first mortgage at, say, 6% can beat that blend. - Big low-rate first, small need: the HELOC usually wins. A $500,000 balance at an illustrative 2.75% with only a $50,000 need barely moves your blended cost, and the big low-rate loan stays untouched. One thing to plan for: when you eventually refinance and pay off that HELOC, nearly every lender except some jumbo lenders treats the new loan as a cash-out refinance, which prices slightly worse even though you're only consolidating your own debt. And a caution on using equity to clear debt at all. We see two kinds of borrowers: those who treat the payoff as a genuine clean slate and move forward, and those who run the cards right back up. Be honest with yourself about which one you are before you tap the equity. If you want the blended-rate math run on your actual balances, that's what the free Roadmap conversation (about 20 minutes) is for.