Hometap Review 2026: Costs, Who Qualifies, Pros and Cons

What is Hometap, exactly?

Hometap is a Boston-based financial technology company that started in 2017. Its main product is a home equity investment, or HEI for short. You get a lump sum of cash now, and in exchange Hometap earns a share of your home’s future value. You make no monthly payments during the 10-year term. You settle the investment one time, at or before the end of the term, by selling the home, refinancing or using savings.

The company says it has funded more than 29,000 homeowners. Investments are made through two Hometap entities, Hometap Equity Partners, LLC (NMLS ID 2467867) and Hometap Homeownership Solutions, LLC (NMLS ID 2819930). To secure its interest, Hometap records a lien against the property.

This kind of product also goes by home equity agreement or home equity sharing agreement. Hometap calls it an investment because what it earns depends on what your home is worth when you settle. Our home equity guides cover other ways to use the equity in your home.

Is Hometap available in your state?

As of this update, Hometap offers home equity investments in 27 states:

Hometap says more states are coming. Homes in the other 23 states and the District of Columbia aren’t eligible today.

How Hometap works in practice

It starts with an estimate. Hometap says that takes less than 2 minutes and has no credit impact. If the numbers look good, you finish an online application, and Hometap reviews it in underwriting, which includes a third-party appraisal of the home. Once you’re approved, an Investment Manager walks you through the offer before you sign.

The money arrives by wire, typically four to seven business days after you sign. From start to finish, Hometap says it could take as little as 30 to 45 days.

You keep living in the home during the term. Upkeep, your traditional mortgage payments, property taxes and insurance all stay with you. You also have to tell Hometap before you refinance, sell, rent out the home or add another lien.

You may settle at any time in the 10 years, and there’s no prepayment penalty. Settlement happens in one transaction for the full amount due then. Hometap doesn’t offer partial payments along the way.

Hometap eligibility requirements

Hometap looks at each property individually, so treat these as its published starting points. Meeting them doesn’t mean you’ll be approved.

Other requirements may apply, and Hometap notes its eligibility criteria are subject to change.

What the money could go toward

Hometap doesn’t restrict how you use the funds. These are the uses it highlights:

Settling could cost more than the cash you receive, so the best uses are the ones that leave you better off over the next 10 years, like clearing high-cost debt or adding value to the home.

What Hometap costs: pricing and fees

You put nothing in out of pocket to start. Fees are deducted from your investment proceeds rather than paid upfront, and after you apply Hometap sends a detailed estimate of the final costs.

Example: on a $50,000 investment, the 4.5% processing fee comes to $2,250. Add third-party costs at the low and high ends of Hometap’s ranges ($1,110 to $5,725), and you’d receive roughly $42,025 to $46,640. Your own estimate will show the exact figures.

How settlement works and what the Hometap Share is

Hometap calls its approach a share of home value model. You receive a percentage of your home’s current value in cash. On the day you settle, Hometap earns an agreed percentage of the home’s value. That agreed percentage is the Hometap Percentage, and it depends on how much you received and when you settle.

Under the two-tier pricing that Hometap rolled out in June 2026, the Hometap Percentage is 1.65 times the percentage of home value you received if you settle in years 0 to 5, and 1.8 times if you settle in years 6 to 10.

The percentage applies to whatever the home is worth at settlement. If the home appreciates, the dollar amount rises, and if it loses value, the amount falls. What you actually pay, the Hometap Share, is the lesser of that amount and the Hometap Cap described below. Settlement is based on the sale price or a current appraisal, and a sale has to be an arm’s-length transaction at 90% or more of fair market value.

Example: $50,000 invested on a $500,000 home

The figures below come from Hometap’s own pricing calculator. The inputs are a $500,000 home, a $50,000 investment (10% of the home’s value) and the moderate appreciation setting of 3.25% a year, which Hometap describes as the 20-year national average.

Here’s the math for year 10. A $500,000 home growing 3.25% a year ends up worth $688,447. Eighteen percent of that is $123,920. That’s below the cap of $313,534, so $123,920 is the Hometap Share. You received $50,000 before fees, which means the investment cost you $73,920 over 10 years.

In years 1 and 3, the cap is the lower number, so the cap sets what you pay. By year 5 the percentage amount is the lower one, and it stays that way through year 10.

The calculator also shows what happens if the home’s value moves differently before a year 10 settlement:

Check the middle row. Even when the home loses 8% of its value, this example settles for $82,800 on $50,000 received. A drop in value lowers the dollar amount, but that doesn’t mean you settle for less than you received.

How the Hometap Cap works

The Hometap Cap limits what Hometap could receive. Hometap describes it as “your built-in protection that limits how much Hometap can receive when you settle.” The cap is calculated as an 18.5% annual rate, compounded monthly, on the cash you received, or lower if state law requires. You pay the lesser of the cap and the Hometap Percentage.

On a $50,000 investment, the cap comes to $60,076 after 1 year, $86,729 after 3 years, $125,207 after 5 years and $313,534 after 10 years. The formula multiplies the investment amount by (1 + 18.5% / 12) once for every month invested.

In practice, the cap matters most if you settle in the first few years, or if your home’s value jumps quickly. The percentage amount was the lower number in the 10-year examples above, including 8% appreciation a year.

Adjustment for renovations

If you finish qualified renovations of $25,000 or more, you may ask Hometap to adjust the agreed home value so it doesn’t share in the value those renovations added. You have 90 days after the work is done to send evidence such as receipts and photos. An appraiser sets the adjustment, which is the difference between the home’s value after the renovation and its estimated value without it. Hometap notes that adjustments aren’t guaranteed.

The pros and cons of Hometap

Here’s how the verified terms add up.

Is Hometap legit? What we found

Yes. Hometap is an established company and not a scam. It has operated since 2017, lists its NMLS IDs on its website, has been accredited by the Better Business Bureau since May 2019 and reports more than 29,000 funded homeowners. Legit doesn’t mean right for you, though, so read the customer feedback below before you decide.

What Hometap customers say

The Better Business Bureau grades Hometap B+, and its profile cites 16 complaints filed against the business as a reason for that grade. The recent Trustpilot reviews we read were about the staff and the application process, not about settling an investment.

How Hometap compares with other home equity investment companies

Hometap is one of several companies offering home equity investments. Here’s how it stacks up against two others, using the figures each company publishes on its own website.

Hometap and Splitero share the highest ceiling of the three, and Hometap has the longest state list. Unlock and Splitero publish a lower minimum credit score of 500, so check them first if your score is under 575. Unlock also allows partial buyouts during the term, subject to its approval, and a Splitero term could run as long as 30 years, which helps if a 10-year deadline is the sticking point.

More: Top home equity investment companies, compared

How applying for a Hometap investment works

What to do if Hometap turns you down

A decline could trace back to any one of the published requirements: the home sits outside the 27 states, your FICO score is under 575, you have less than 25% equity, or the property type isn’t eligible. What you do next depends on which one it was.

If your credit score is the problem, Unlock (26 states) and Splitero (17 states) each publish a minimum credit score of 500.

If equity is the problem, paying down your traditional mortgage or waiting for the home to appreciate could get you to 25%. A home equity calculator will show where you stand today.

If your state is the problem, check the availability row in the comparison above. Each company has its own state list.

Hometap review: bottom line

Hometap does what it says it will: a large lump sum, no monthly payments for up to 10 years, and qualification that rests on your home and a 575 FICO score, with no income or employment requirements. The pricing is published, the cap is published, and the calculator shows what settling could cost in any year before you apply.

The cost comes at the end. Settling could cost far more than you received, and the full amount is due in one transaction by year 10. If you’d be counting on a rising home value to cover it, or you expect to move within two years, look at other options first.

Hometap questions, answered

How we put this Hometap review together

This review is Banks Done Right’s editorial view, built on primary sources. We went through Hometap’s home page, how it works page, FAQs, pricing guide and June 2026 pricing announcement, ran scenarios in its public pricing calculator and opened its estimate page. We also read Hometap’s profiles on Trustpilot, the Better Business Bureau and Google. Unlock and Splitero figures come from their own websites.

We didn’t give Hometap a star score of our own. The stars at the top of this page show its customer rating on Trustpilot. Without a score, here’s what we measured and what we found.

Sources