Home equity investment (HEI) · United States

Unison Equity Sharing Agreement: what $50,000 costs by the day you sell

In our illustration, take $50,000 from a $500,000 home through Unison and sell in year 10: the model produces $82,533 more than you received, an annualized modeled cost of 10.8%. Sold in year 5 the cost is $45,605.

You return the $50,000 plus 40.0% of the gain, measured from a starting value set 5% below the appraisal.

What does the provider publish?

Unison publishes the terms below on its own pages; each line links to the page it was read from.

What Unison publishes, copied as stated. checked 2026-09-29
Term	As published	Where
Origination fee	3.9% of the cash	source
Third-party costs	$1,800 to $4,050	source
Term	30 years	source
How the share is set	the cash back, plus a share of the gain in value	source
Share of the gain	40% of the change in value	source
Starting-value adjustment	5% below appraised value	source
Provider's example	$50,000 on a $500,000 home; sold in year 10 at $575,000; provider receives $90,000	source
Minimum amount	$30,000	source
Maximum amount	$500,000	source

Notes from the page; text in quotation marks is quoted verbatim. “Program Guide (May 2023): one-time transaction fee equaling 3.9% of the Initial Payment due to Unison at closing. Appraisal fees generally range from $450 to $1250, inspection costs range from $650 to $1,050 and settlement costs range from $700 to $1,750 (third_party_fees_low/high = sum of the three lows / highs). Investor percentage = 'multiplying the percentage of your home's value you are receiving today by four'; minimum 20%, maximum 60%. Minimum investment size is $30,000; maximum initial payment is $500,000 or 15% of your home's value - whichever is lower. Maximum of 30 years. Example: home value $500,000, initial payment $50,000 (10%), investor percentage 40%, sale after 10 years $575,000, change in value $100,000, Unison's share $40,000, payment to Unison $90,000. '5% risk adjustment to your home's independently appraised value' (https://www.unison.com/equity-sharing-agreement). FAQ answers (states, credit) were not readable. Rechecked 2026-09-29 against the official published source; the modeled core terms remained as recorded. Individual terms still depend on offer and eligibility.” checked 2026-09-29

States: not stated in the provider's published documentation (checked 2026-09-29).

Minimum credit score: not stated in the provider's published documentation (checked 2026-09-29).

Maximum combined loan-to-value: not stated in the provider's published documentation (checked 2026-09-29).

Minimum home value: not stated in the provider's published documentation (checked 2026-09-29).

Cap on the payoff: not stated in the provider's published documentation (checked 2026-09-29).

What does it cost by the day you sell?

The table applies the published terms to one scenario, the same one used for every product on this site. Upfront: 3.9% origination, $1,800 third-party costs (published low end) = $3,750.

$50,000 taken from a $500,000 home that gains 3% a year, computed from the published terms above at the lowest published rate. checked 2026-09-29
Sold in	Paid along the way	Owed at sale	Upfront fees	Total cost	Annualized
year 3	$0	$78,545	$3,750	$32,295	19.3%
year 5	$0	$91,855	$3,750	$45,605	14.7%
year 10	$0	$128,783	$3,750	$82,533	10.8%

Scroll sideways on a phone.

How that is worked out

home value today = $500,000; cash taken = $50,000 (10% of value) home value in year N = $500,000 x 1.03^N (3% a year, every product) HEI, share of value = multiplier x 10% x home value in year N HEI, principal + share = $50,000 + share x (value in year N - adjusted starting value) HEI cap = $50,000 x (1 + cap/12)^(12N) where the provider publishes a cap HELOC illustration = interest-only using the lowest published APR as a rate proxy, then amortized home equity loan example = amortized using the lowest published APR as a rate proxy total cost at sale (N) = payments made + balance or payoff owed at sale - $50,000 + upfront fees annualized cost = the yearly rate that turns the cash received into everything paid back

Every rate is the lowest the provider publishes, so where a page says “as low as” the figure is an illustrative starting scenario. An “up to” fee is modeled at its stated maximum; the actual fee may be lower. APR is used as a proxy for the payment rate when no separate note rate is published. Variable rates are held flat. Eligibility, unpublished charges, taxes and insurance are excluded. These figures are neither quotes nor guaranteed lower bounds. Read the method.

Who owns it?

Owned by Real Estate Equity Exchange, Inc. d/b/a Unison. Source. checked 2026-09-29

Where this leaves you

If you expect to sell within three years, the cost is $32,295, which is 19.3% a year — an HEI is priced for a long hold, not a short one.
If your home does not gain 3% a year, the figure moves with it: a flat market lowers what you owe on this product and leaves a loan unchanged, which is the one way an HEI can come out ahead.
Do not decide yet if you do not know when you will sell: this product costs $32,295 at a sale in year 3 and $82,533 in year 10, and the right comparison is against your own sale year and home value, not ours.

Who this page is not for

This is not a review. We have not used Unison, we hold no opinion on its service, and nothing here is a recommendation or advice. It answers one question: what the published terms turn into by the day you sell.

Sources

Unison terms page. checked 2026-09-29
Unison: starting-value adjustment. checked 2026-09-29
Ownership source. checked 2026-09-29
data.json — the row behind this page, with the source URL and check date on every figure.

Written by Kaz (pen name). Figures are copied from providers' published pages on the dates shown. We have not used these products. Corrections: contact form.