When you purchase a home you get a mortgage and when you make those mortgage payments overtime you build up equity.
A home equity loan is a loan that you take out to borrow money from the equity built up in your home.
You can only borrow up to a certain amount from your homes equity depending on the bank.
To qualify for a home equity loan you'll need to have a good mortgage payment history with the bank and have a good credit score of 620 or above.
A HELOC loan may require you to have a better score.
In short a home equity loan is basically a second mortgage you take out on your home.
Banks usually give you a period of only 15 years to pay back the home equity loan.