Home Equity Partner

What Home Equity Partner does

Home Equity Partner (HEP) is a privately held Fargo, North Dakota-based company that operates a rent-to-own and home equity release platform serving US consumers who cannot qualify for traditional bank mortgages. The company purchases homes listed for sale (for the rent-to-own track) or homes already owned by the customer (for the sale-leaseback track), then leases the property back to the customer with an exclusive option to purchase at a later date, typically structured for buyers 1-3 years away from conventional mortgage eligibility. Its core products include the Rent-to-Own/Lease Option Program, a Sale-Leaseback Solution (Unlock Equity) allowing access to up to 80% of home value, and Contract for Deed arrangements. Supporting tools include a Pre-Qualification Tool, Payment Estimator, and a beta 'Name Your Price' feature.

The platform is built around an asset-based approval system that underwrites on home equity rather than credit score or debt-to-income, enabling a stated 95% approval rate with no minimum credit score and no income verification. Pricing is transaction-based: monthly lease payments are approximately 1.3% of purchase price with down payments of 6.5-20%, and 10-20% of monthly payments accrue as principal credits toward eventual purchase; the option price typically rises 9% over the initial purchase price. The go-to-market combines direct online sales through the company website with a channel partner program for real estate agents and mortgage bankers who refer mortgage-denied clients ($50/lead, $100/application, full commission at closing).

Revenue is generated from monthly lease payments, a share of home price appreciation, and application fees ($60 per applicant), with the company's cumulative platform facilitating over $20,000,000 in home sales and $1,500,000 in agent commissions across all 50 states. The company is co-founded by Adam Zach and Jon Enright, has received regional innovation awards (2019 Shark Tank, 2019 Innovate ND, 2020 DisruptWell), and maintains a 4.8/5 Google rating across 60+ reviews.

Name

Home Equity Partner

Legal name

Home Equity Partner

Website

https://homeequitypartner.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Home Equity Partner is a Fargo, North Dakota-based private company that purchases homes and leases them back to mortgage-denied buyers with an option to purchase, while also offering sale-leaseback equity release solutions to existing homeowners across all 50 US states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Alternative Residential Real Estate Financing

NAICS

Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers (522310)

SIC

Loan Brokers (6163)

akta.pro primary industry

Home Equity & HELOC Intermediaries (FSALABAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Leasing & Lease Buyout Financing (FSAKADAC)

Keywords

• Rent-to-own housing
• Home equity solutions
• Lease purchase program
• Alternative home financing
• Residential real estate

Headquarters

HQ city

Fargo

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Lease-to-Own Program: Home Equity Partner buys homes and enters into lease-with-option-to-buy contracts with customers. Revenue generated from monthly lease payments and a portion of the home's appreciation over time. Customers pay approximately 1.3% of purchase price monthly, with 10-20% of payments received back as principal pay-down or credits on final purchase. The option purchase price typically increases 9% over the initial purchase price.
2. Agent Referral Fees: Revenue from agent referral program where real estate agents refer qualified leads. Agents are paid $50 per qualified lead, $100 per application, and full commission upon closing.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Home Equity Partner provides rent-to-own and home equity unlock (sale-leaseback) solutions for mortgage-denied and credit-challenged homebuyers, operating as a tech-based platform that connects prospective owner-occupants with real estate investors. The company structures lease-option, contract for deed, and sale-leaseback transactions across all 50 U.S. states, qualifying buyers based on asset value rather than traditional credit scoring.

Product overview

Home Equity Partner operates a rent-to-own home buying platform that helps people who cannot yet qualify for traditional bank mortgages. The core offering consists of a Lease Option Program where they purchase homes listed for sale and allow customers to lease with an option to buy, and a Sale-Leaseback Solution for existing homeowners wanting to unlock equity. They also offer Contract for Deeds as an alternative structure. Supporting tools include a Payment Estimator and Pre-Qualification Tool, with a beta 'Name Your Price' feature for flexible pricing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Rent-to-Own / Lease-Option Program A residential rent-to-own / lease-option program that allows mortgage-denied or credit-challenged consumers to occupy a home and build toward eventual ownership, with HEP structuring the transaction outside the conventional credit-score underwriting system.
• Home Equity Unlock (Sale-Leaseback)
• Contract for Deed
• Real Estate Agent Referral Program

Quantifiable outcome

• 95% of applicants approved
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Real Estate Agents & BankerscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHome Equity Partner works with real estate agents and mortgage bankers who have clients that do not qualify for traditional bank loans. Agents earn $50 per qualified lead, $100 per application, and full commission upon closing. The company has generated over $20,000,000 in home sales resulting in over $1,500,000 in agent commissions. Agents refer clients who are then underwritten and approved by HEP.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Roofstock: Roofstock is a single-family rental investment marketplace and operator. It overlaps with HEP in the SFR investment/operations space, though it targets investors rather than individual homebuyers via rent-to-own.

Direct peers

• Knock: Knock pioneered a home trade-in / bridge financing product allowing buyers to move before selling their old home. Its target customer (stressed buyers needing financing flexibility) and lease-style mechanics overlap with HEP's value proposition.
• Flyhomes: Flyhomes operates a buy-before-you-sell and cash offer platform for homebuyers facing financing gaps. It targets similar non-traditional buyers and provides mortgage alternative solutions in the same conceptual category as HEP.
• Point: Point offers home equity investments where investors share in a home's appreciation in exchange for cash. It addresses the same home equity release use case as HEP's Unlock Equity product with an alternative structural approach.
• Hometap: Hometap offers home equity investments allowing homeowners to unlock equity without selling. It overlaps with HEP's equity unlock product from a different structural angle (investment vs. sale-leaseback), addressing the same homeowner customer base.
• Divvy Homes: Divvy Homes operates a rent-to-own platform that purchases homes and rents them back to buyers with a built-in path to ownership. It is the closest scaled analog to Home Equity Partner's core rent-to-own product, targeting similar credit-challenged buyer segments.
• EasyKnock: EasyKnock provides a sale-leaseback product where homeowners sell their home for cash and lease it back with the option to repurchase. It is the closest direct analog to HEP's "Unlock Equity" sale-leaseback offering.
• Pathway Homes: Pathway Homes offers a rent-to-own program that buys homes on behalf of would-be buyers and leases them back with an option to purchase. It directly mirrors HEP's lease-option structure for mortgage-denied or non-QM buyers.

Broad incumbents

• Offerpad: Offerpad is an iBuyer offering cash offers and flexible move timelines. Its "Flex" program allowing buyers to move before selling competes structurally with the financing flexibility HEP provides to mortgage-denied buyers.
• Opendoor: Opendoor is a large iBuyer that purchases homes directly and resells them, providing a cash offer solution. While broader in scope than HEP, it competes for the same real estate transactions and has expanded into mortgage and title services that overlap with HEP's value proposition.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCEQO9R-CsSfyhZPPPM4q5dg
• Facebookfacebook.com/HomeEquityPartner
• Instagraminstagram.com/homeequitypartner

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Home Equity Partner