How James Used an HEI to Buy Before Selling His First Home

James was a self-proclaimed city boy from Pennsylvania — but he and his wife had dreams of a different kind.

They were hoping for a change of scenery and lifestyle, and wanted to purchase a farm with chickens, goats, and other animals and become homesteaders. To do that, though, they needed to cover the costs of some necessary repairs to their current home — and make a down payment on the new one, which was proving to be a challenge.

Finding the Right Fit

Since his income is largely commission-based and can fluctuate, the restrictive criteria of many traditional financing providers made it difficult for James to lock in a good solution.

“We didn’t have enough for a down payment and that transition period. Even though [my house] was paid off, I couldn’t pull equity with an equity loan on top of trying to get a mortgage [for a new house] at the same time,” James explained. “I was trying to look for a way to pull that equity in the short term.”

While he weighed his options, he was intrigued by the idea of a home equity investment, and narrowed it down to Hometap and another home equity investor. Ultimately, Hometap’s 10-year term and lack of monthly payments were especially appealing to James, but it was the positive Trustpilot reviews from fellow homeowners that sold him.

“I’m a finance guy, so I could see the ins and outs of [an HEI] and the repayment period was attractive, because 10 years is a good amount of time that you can refinance or sell, you have that time to make a transition and not worry about a payment coming up in the next month.”

A Simple Process

In addition to the flexible settlement timeline, James also appreciated the one-on-one service he received from his dedicated Investment Manager, Kaleigh.

“She gave me a high level understanding of what Hometap was. Step by step, we went through the process very quickly,” he said. “I didn’t have a mortgage, so we were able to skip some steps. If I had questions, she was really responsive.”

And the experience was totally seamless and quick, too. “...The efficient process, the notary…the whole thing was, I think, a little less than three weeks*.”

…And Smooth Settlement

Once he received his funds, James got to work on his goals, and was able to settle his Investment within about six months. “We used some of the funds for renovations, some paint, minor things to get the house ready. A big chunk went to our down payment. And then the proceeds from the sale [of the first house] allowed us to settle,” he said.

With his homesteader dreams achieved, James is looking ahead to his next homeownership goals and how Hometap can help get him there. “I’m trying to pay off other debts; we live on a homestead, so we have some major projects we want to do: HVAC, solar; so I’m waiting for more equity in the house to be able to take out another home equity investment,” he shared.

Interested in finding out how much of your home equity you could access with a Hometap Investment? It takes less than two minutes to find out.

*While we aim to be as efficient as possible, please note that fewer than three weeks isn’t a typical timeline for receiving an Investment.