No monthly payment, no income test?
Easier to qualify for than a HELOC — but you pay later, not monthly.
- No monthly payment and no interest, because the company buys a share of your home, not lends you money.
- The credit score they want is often lower than a HELOC — commonly the low-500s to 600s.
- They still check your equity, the home's value and condition, and sometimes a loan-to-value cap.
- An HEI is not a loan, so it usually won't build or hurt your credit on its own.
- The catch: easy qualifying is the hook. The price is the share of your home's future value you owe later.
Why there's no monthly payment
A home equity investment, or HEI, is not a loan. The company hands you a lump sum now. In return, it buys a share of what your home is worth later. You settle up when you sell or buy the company out.
Because it's a purchase and not a loan, there's nothing to pay each month and no interest to service. That's the real draw. If you're retired, self-employed, or your income moves around, a HELOC can be hard to get. An HEI skips the monthly test that trips those owners up.
What they still check
Easier to qualify for is not the same as automatic. Before you get a number, expect them to look at:
- Your credit score. There's a minimum, but it's often lower than a HELOC — commonly in the low-500s to 600s.
- Your equity. You need a minimum amount of equity in the home for the deal to work.
- The home itself. They check its value and condition, usually with an appraisal.
- Combined loan-to-value. Some set a cap on how much total debt, including the HEI, can sit against the home.
What it does to your credit
Since an HEI isn't a loan, it usually doesn't show up as debt on your credit report. It also doesn't build credit history the way an on-time loan would.
So on its own, it generally won't help or hurt your score much. The one place it can touch your credit is the upfront check — that may be a soft pull or a hard pull, so ask which before you apply.
The easy qualifying is the sales hook. You skip the income test and the monthly bill, and that access is real.
But you don't skip the cost. You pay it later, as a share of your home's appreciation, and in a rising market that share can dwarf a loan's interest. See what an HEI really costs over time, and weigh it against a HELOC if you can clear the income hurdle.