aspire-logo
aspire-logo

Frequently asked questions

  • An Aspire HEI agreement provides you with a cash payment today in exchange for a portion of the future change in value of your home.
  • At the end of the agreement, if your home has gone up in value, Aspire will receive its predetermined share of that increase in value. If the value of the home goes down, Aspire will receive less.
  • You retain complete control of your home and can end the agreement at any time – typically accomplished through the sale or refinance of your home or a buyout of your HEI agreement.
  • At the outset of the agreement, Aspire will determine a starting property value for your home based on 3rd party valuation. The starting property value includes a 15% risk adjustment to the appraised value, meaning the starting value used in your HEI agreement will be 15% less than the appraised value.
  • At the end of the agreement – up to 15 years after the agreement is signed – the ending value of your home would be determined by the sale price or, if you refinance and/or buy out the agreement, by an independent 3rd party valuation.
  • Aspire can provide you with up to 15% of the appraised value of your home, depending on your home value and other qualifying criteria. We require a minimum investment amount of $35k and a maximum amount of $250K.
  • Some of the requirements that you must meet to qualify for an Aspire HEI agreement include:
    •  Your property must be included in an eligible location. You can see if your home’s location is eligible by entering your address into our address check tool at www.aspirehei.com. We are currently working with homeowners in the following states: Arizona, California, Colorado, DC, Florida, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and Washington State.
    • You must live in the property –investment/rental properties are not eligible at this time.
    • Single-family residences (1-4 units), condominiums, and townhomes are eligible. Multi-family residential properties are not eligible at this time.
    • You must have owned the home for at least 12 months.
    • You cannot have an active reverse mortgage, shared appreciation mortgage, or an outstanding HEI agreement on the property.
    • All applicants must be U.S citizens or lawful permanent residents and must provide proof of identity.
    • You and any co-applicants must have a credit score of at least 660.
    • You must keep at least 25-30% of the equity in your home (inclusive of the cash payment you receive for your HEI agreement, as well as all existing mortgages, HELOCs and other liens on your property)
    • You must not have experienced a bankruptcy within the last 3 years or a property foreclosure within the last 5 years.
  • Aspire deducts certain fees and costs from the lump sum you receive at the start of your HEI. Aspire will deduct a 3% processing fee and third-party closing costs from your funding amount, and will wire the net amount to your account. All deducted costs are disclosed to you in advance, and, in addition to the 3% processing fee, may include things like appraisal/valuation fees, title and escrow fees, recording costs, and government taxes/fees.
  • The entire process, from application to funding, can take as little as 2 weeks, and consists of the following steps:
    • Enter your address into our online form to instantly see if your home is in an eligible location.
    • If your home is eligible, you’ll need to complete a short online application. It generally takes less than 10 minutes to complete and asks for information about you and your home. When you submit the application, you are agreeing to allow Aspire to make a credit inquiry. We will check your credit report to confirm you meet our credit score and other eligibility requirements.
    • We’ll review your application and let you know if you are eligible for an Aspire HEI agreement based on the information you provided. If you are eligible, we’ll ask you to create an account and provide us with a few documents we’ll need to continue processing your HEI agreement application. Some of the documents we may ask for include:
      • Most recent mortgage statement if you have an existing mortgage on the property
      • Proof of identity
      • Evidence of Homeowners/Hazard Insurance
      • In some cases, we will need to work with you to schedule an in-person appraisal of your property to determine your home’s value.
    • After a complete review of all required applicant- and property-related information, we’ll provide you with an offer package reflecting the amount of cash we can provide to you in exchange for a share in the future change in value of the property. This offer package will also contain more information about how the program works and estimated closing costs.
    • If you accept the offer, we’ll work with you to schedule a closing date, at which you’ll sign the agreement. Four business days after signing, we’ll wire the funds directly into your account.
  • You can sell your home at any time, and it will trigger the termination of our agreement. When you sell your home, Aspire will receive the amount originally given to you at the beginning of the agreement, plus or minus its agreed-upon share of the home’s change in value.
  • You can end the agreement at any time by buying out the agreement. If you elect to buy out the agreement, Aspire will work with you to establish a third-party appraised value of your property. This ending appraised value will be compared to the starting value in your HEI agreement to determine the change in value of your home during the term. Aspire will receive a percentage share of that change in value, as reflected in your HEI agreement. Some homeowners elect to use a cash-out refinance mortgage or a HELOC to facilitate the buyout of their Aspire HEI agreement.
  • Aspire does not charge any penalties if you choose to buy out your HEI agreement, but you may be expected to pay certain fees and costs associated with your buyout.
  • Aspire’s share percentage reflected in your HEI agreement is determined based on the “Initial Cash Payment,” you received at the start of your agreement. Aspire determines its share by taking the Initial Cash Payment (expressed as a percentage of your home’s appraised value at that time) and multiplying the percentage by 3.25. As an illustration, if you were to access $50k on a home with an appraised value of $500k, that would be equal to 10% of the home’s value. That 10% is multiplied by 3.25 to determine Aspire’s share—in this example, Aspire’s share would be 32.5% of the property’s change in value.
  • Don’t forget, the Starting Property Value we use to determine the home’s change in value is a risk-adjusted amount, and is 15% less than the home’s appraised value determined at the start of the agreement. When you buy out or otherwise settle the HEI agreement with Aspire, we receive an amount equal to the Initial Cash Payment plus or minus our share of the property’s change in value from that agreed-upon Starting Property Value.
  • Additionally, to provide you with protection, the amount due to Aspire is limited to a maximum annual return (compounding monthly) of 12% if the agreement terminates in the first 3 years, up to a maximum of 18% if the agreement terminates in year 4 or later. The maximum cap applicable to your agreement may be slightly lower than 18%, depending on your credit score at the beginning of the HEI agreement.
  • Aspire is not added to the title of your property. You will retain ownership of your home with Aspire as an investor and lienholder. Similar to a mortgage loan or a HELOC, Aspire will secure its interest by recording a lien on your property.
  • Unlike a loan/HELOC, which generally require monthly payments and accrue interest at a specific rate, an Aspire HEI agreement has no monthly payments or set interest rate. Additionally, loans/HELOCs often have strict income qualification requirements, and have to be paid by you in full no matter what happens to your home’s value. What you pay for an Aspire HEI is determined at the end of your agreement—when your agreement terminates (up to 15 years after being signed), you pay what you received at the start, plus or minus Aspire’s share of the property’s change in value.
  • There is nothing about the Aspire agreement that prevents a lender from refinancing your mortgage with an Aspire agreement attached to it. Before refinancing, you’ll need to get our approval; because we are a lienholder, the refinancing lender will need to coordinate with us during the refinance process.
  • Redwood Trust is the parent company of Aspire. Redwood Trust, a publicly traded company (NYSE: RWT), has been expanding access to housing opportunities for American homeowners, homebuyers and renters alike since 1994. Redwood Trust is proud of the number of families who have been able to purchase, finance or rent quality homes — with a sense of well-being and security — because Redwood Trust has been there.
  • Since Aspire only works with owner-occupied homes, at this time, renting out your home with the agreement in place would violate the terms of the agreement. We suggest homeowners buy out the agreement if they decide they want to rent out their property.
  • If you remodel your home while the agreement is in place, you may be able to receive credit at the end of the agreement for the increase in the appraised value attributable to the remodel. We call this a Remodeling Adjustment, and it’s described in more detail in the HEI agreement. For qualifying remodels, Aspire will work with a third-party appraiser to determine the value added from remodeling and credit you a Remodeling Adjustment at agreement termination. If you do qualify for a Remodeling Adjustment, Aspire does not share in the added value from the remodel.
  • Homeowners can only request a Remodeling Adjustment after the first 2 years of the agreement, but eligible remodeling work can be completed at any time. In order to receive a Remodeling Adjustment, the homeowner must provide us with proper documentation, permits, and other items specified in the HEI agreement.
  • You remain the owner of your home and are responsible for keeping the property in good condition, paying your mortgage(s), property taxes, insurance, and any other obligations as the homeowner.
  • If the last surviving homeowner listed on title passes away while the agreement is in place, the agreement will pass on to the homeowner’s heir(s) inheriting the property. Our lien will remain in place and the heir(s) will continue to be bound by the agreement until termination.
  • Qualified properties held in a Revocable Trust are eligible for an Aspire HEI. Trust related documents will be required during the underwriting process. Irrevocable trusts are not eligible for an Aspire agreement.
  •  Unlike mortgage lenders, Aspire does not have rigid income or employment requirements, primarily because the homeowner doesn’t make any monthly payments with an Aspire HEI. Both our initial investment and how much you pay at the end of your agreement are based upon the value of your home.

We make it easy to check your eligibility and apply

  • Instantly see your home's eligibility and how much cash you can potentially access
  • No income requirements
  • Dedicated reps are ready to answer questions and help you through the process

View your estimate

Instantly see how much your home may qualify for

Linkedin Facebook Instagram

Aspire RWT, LLC – NMLS Consumer Access (#2506505)
1 Belvedere Pl # 300, Mill Valley, CA 94941

Aspire HEI agreements are provided and administered by Aspire RWT, LLC and affiliates. Aspire is a home equity investment platform owned by Redwood Trust, Inc. For more information about Redwood Trust, please visit www.redwoodtrust.com.

California DRE #02215315 (RWT Home Options, Inc.)