Customer Success Story: Erika

Home equity agreement provides cash cushion 

Erika was having a tough year. Worried about being able to pay all bills on time each month, she was working multiple jobs, and was fearful about what would happen if her hours got cut at one of those jobs. She thought that having a cash cushion would ease some of the stress she was feeling. 

Knowing she was sitting on equity in her home, she considered obtaining a home equity loan or home equity line of credit. “I had some credit challenges, though, and was unable to qualify,” she says. Then, she looked into a cash-out refinance. But since interest rates had risen, it made no sense for her to exchange her low-interest-rate mortgage for a higher one.

Easy, fast and trustworthy

After a quick online search, she found Unlock. “I was a little concerned at first since I never heard of anything like a home equity agreement before,” she explains. But she found the Unlock website clear and helpful, and the Unlock representative with whom she spoke on the phone was able to answer all her questions. “The communication was great throughout the process,” she says. 

She researched and read up on both home equity agreements and Unlock, and checked online reviews. “I found nothing that raised red flags for me.” Citing trustworthiness as the most important factor in selecting any financial services company or product, she said she felt she could trust the HEA concept and Unlock.  

Still, up to the day of closing, Erika admits she “was still a little unsure if it was going to happen and going to work.” She says she was pleasantly surprised that the entire process went just as Unlock had explained it would. She was able to get her home appraised quickly, so the time between when she submitted her application and when she received funding was only a few weeks. “It was easy, it was fast, and it worked great.” 

Easing stress

The HEA paid off – in more than one way. “Not having a monthly payment was really helpful. I wasn’t worried about having to make one more payment.” And her stress level dropped. “I was no longer worried about how to pay everything on time.” 

Erika stresses that having a plan in place for the HEA was key to how well it worked. Her husband and she were planning on selling their home within a couple of years of obtaining the HEA and knew they would buy back their equity at that time. “We weren’t worried about the 10-year term and what we would do at that point,” she explains. Erika would advise homeowners with no plans to sell their homes to develop a strategy to buy back their equity throughout the term or when it ends. 

“We had a plan,” she emphasizes. “For our situation, the home equity agreement made a lot of sense.” 

Erika and her husband settled their agreement after selling their home and have since moved to another state. But she is already thinking about another HEA. “I want to work with Unlock again.”