What is Hope?

Hope is the AI assistant on FreeRateUpdate.com. It is software, not a person. Hope answers general questions about mortgages, refinancing and home equity, and can help you start a request.

Last updated September 30, 2026

What Hope does not do

Hope does not give personalized rate quotes, lending advice or loan decisions. Rates and terms come from the lenders and brokers in our network, and depend on your application.

Hope can make mistakes. Please double-check anything important with a licensed loan officer before you rely on it.

Your conversations with Hope

We keep Hope conversations with the rest of your request, for as long as our Privacy Policy describes.

People on our team may read conversations to help you, to check quality, and to meet our legal obligations.

When you submit a request, the details you give us are shared with lenders in our network as our Privacy Policy describes.

Talk to a person

You never have to use Hope. To reach a person on our team, use our contact page.

Mortgage and Home Equity Calculators

Estimate a payment before you talk to a lender. Each explains its math.

Mortgage Calculator Principal and interest from a loan amount, a rate and a term.

Mortgage Payment Calculator Principal and interest plus taxes, insurance, PMI and HOA, explained.

Home Equity Loan Calculator How much equity you can borrow, and the fixed monthly payment.

HELOC Calculator Your credit line, and the payment jump when repayment begins.

Mortgage Guides and Answers

The questions rate shoppers ask, and the explainers that go with them.

FAQ Answers to common mortgage and home equity questions, grouped by topic.

Blogs Longer explainers on buying, refinancing and borrowing against equity.

Is a Lender Legitimate? Check a company or loan officer in the free NMLS lookup.

Direct Lender or Broker? Who actually underwrites and funds your loan, and how to ask.

FreeRateUpdate Rates & Data

The rate and market data we publish, including figures measured from our own lender network and the consumers who shop rates here.

Daily Rates Our archive of dated mortgage rate write-ups.

As Low As Rates The best verified rate in our network, against the Freddie Mac average.

As Low As Rates History The same verified network rates, tracked daily over time.

Rate vs. Treasury Spread The 30-year fixed average against the 10-year Treasury yield.

Median Home Values What consumers shopping rates here report their homes are worth.

U.S. HELOC Market Volume Total U.S. home-equity balances outstanding, 2009 to 2025.

U.S. Refinance Application Volume Refinance application activity from the MBA index, 2009 to 2025.