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4.7 _/5

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Home Sale-Leaseback

• Sell your home at 100% of the fair market value
• Maintain your rights to any home value appreciation
• You can repurchase the home
• EasyKnock covers home repairs
• No credit score or debt-to-income requirements

• 3.75% or 4.99% processing fee taken out of your proceeds

Closing time	4 – 6 weeks
Eligible homes	Single-family, townhomes, and certain condos
Ineligible states	CA, DE, MA, MD, ND, NY, SD, VT, WA, and select markets

EasyKnock is a New York City-based company founded in 2016. It offers the first commercialized residential sale-leaseback program in the United States, which allows homeowners to access their home value without moving.

EasyKnock differs distinctly from reverse mortgages and home equity lines of credit. With its model, homeowners sell their houses to EasyKnock and stay in their homes as renters. EasyKnock says its mission is to help homeowners achieve financial freedom by accessing the value of their home through their innovative programs: MoveAbility and Sell & Stay.

If you are looking to learn more about a specific product offered by EasyKnock, you can click on the product below to jump down to that review. If you are interested in learning about all of EasyKnock’s products to see which one can help you, continue to the next section.

• MoveAbility
• Sell & Stay

Compare EasyKnock’s products

EasyKnock offers two sale-leaseback programs to homeowners, each offering a solution for different problems.

• MoveAbility: EasyKnock buys your home, pays off the mortgage, and provides up to 75% of the cash value. The rest remains in the program until the home is sold. Lease the home for up to 12 months.
• Sell & Stay: EasyKnock buys your home, pays off the mortgage, and provides up to 75% of the cash value. The rest remains in the program until the home is sold. Renew the lease annually as long as you’d like.

Here’s a closer look at the differences.

Feature	MoveAbility	Sell & Stay
Purpose	Bridge solution while transferring homes	Convert equity into cash with option to repurchase
Lease duration	Up to 12 months	Renewable 12-month lease
Eligibility requirements	Flexible and more lenient than loans	Flexible and more lenient than loans
Processing fee	3.75%	4.99%
Additional costs	Rent	Rent and annual lease renewal fee
Repurchase option	No	Yes

What makes EasyKnock different than a traditional home sale?

Prior to home sale-leaseback programs like those offered by EasyKnock, the traditional way for homeowners to convert the maximum amount of equity in their home into cash was through selling the home.

Now, with these programs, homeowners are able to remain in their home while utilizing the equity they have built in that home.

Here is a direct comparison between EasyKnock and a traditional sale.

	EasyKnock	Traditional Sale
Can you remain in home?	Yes	Must move before closing
Home value you can access	Up to 100%	100%
Option to receive future home appreciation?	Yes	No
Transaction costs	Up to 4.99% + closing costs	5% – 6% + closing costs + moving costs

Reviews of EasyKnock’s programs

Below, you will find in-depth reviews of each of EasyKnock’s programs.

MoveAbility

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• A bridge solution for those transitioning into a new home
• Get up to 75% of your home’s value upfront and the rest once you sell your home
• While you wait to sell, pay rent to remain in your home for up to 12 months

The MoveAbility program from EasyKnock is a solution for homeowners looking for a bridge solution to eliminate the stresses of selling your home while at the same time trying to buy a new one.

How MoveAbility works

Through the program, EasyKnock buys your house and leases it back to you for up to 12 months until you are ready to move. Here’s how it works:

1. An EasyKnock specialist will create a plan that purchases your home and gives you up to 75% of your home value in cash upfront and provides a lease for up to 12 months to keep you in the home as you search for your new house.
2. Once due diligence and appraisal are completed, closing documents are signed and you’ll receive your money.
3. You’ll be able to stay in your home during the 12-month lease and work with your realtor to sell your home.
4. Once the sale is finalized, you’ll move to your new home and receive the remaining home value plus any appreciation accrued during the lease.

Program details

• Credit Requirements: None 
• Fees: 3.75% processing fee
• Purchase Price: EasyKnock purchases the property at its full appraised value and gives you up to 75% cash at closing, and the remaining amount is received once the home is sold.
• Who It’s Good For: People who want to sell their home quickly but aren’t ready to move.
• Lease Lengths: Up to 12 months
• Rent deferral options:
  • Defer 100% of the rent for a 1% cash funding fee
  • Defer 50% of the rent for a 0.5% cash funding fee
  • Defer 22% of the rent for a 0.22% cash funding fee

Pros and cons

Pros

• Getting money out of your home is easy.

  You aren’t taking out a loan with EasyKnock, so you don’t have to meet the typical qualification requirements necessary for a cash-out refinance loan or other home equity products.

• Your debt-to-income ratio and credit score are less important factors.

  You can access your home’s value even if you aren’t an ideal borrower.

• Funds can be accessed quickly.

  It normally takes a long time to sell your house. But you don’t have to worry about this with EasyKnock. Most people get their money in less than 30 days.

• You don’t have to move out once you sell the house to EasyKnock.

  Since you’ll no longer be an owner, you don’t have to worry about all the costs of homeownership, such as property taxes and insurance.

• Share in appreciation of your home.

  If your home appreciates during your lease, you’ll receive that appreciation once the home is sold.

Cons

• You must pay rent.

  While you were previously an owner and building equity, you’re now a tenant. If you want to stay put in your home and rent, the money you pay each month goes to your landlord.

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Sell & Stay

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• A sale-leaseback program that lets you get the money you need while staying in your home
• Get up to 75% of your home’s value upfront and the rest once you sell your home
• You can lease your home for as long as you’d like, with the option to buy back the house at any point

The Sell & Stay program from EasyKnock lets homeowners get the money they need while staying in their home. There is no cap on the length of time in which you can lease your home. You’ll have the option to buy back the house or move at any point.

How Sell & Stay works

Through the program, EasyKnock buys your house and leases it back to you with no limit on how long you can stay in the home. Here’s how it works:

1. An EasyKnock specialist will create a plan that purchases your home and gives you up to 75% of your home value in cash upfront. The remaining amount can be received if you decide to move.
2. Once due diligence and appraisal are completed, closing documents are signed and you’ll receive your money.
3. You’ll be able to stay in your home for as long as you like while you pay rent to EasyKnock under the agreed-upon lease.
4. When ready, you can either buy the house back or work with a realtor to sell it on the market. Once the house sells, you’ll receive the remaining percentage of your home’s value plus any appreciation that occurred during the leasing period.

Program details

• Credit Requirements: None
• Fees: EasyKnock’s processing fee is 4.99%
• Cash Out Value: Ranges from $60,000 to $450,000.
• Required LTV Ratio: Sell & Stay does have a maximum LTV ratio, contingent upon home value. For most individuals, if your LTV is 50% or less they can offer a plan for you. You can calculate your LTV ratio by dividing your current mortgage balance by the current value of your house.
• Who It’s Good For: The company touts its program as an option for people looking to access the value of their home without moving, but don’t qualify for or want to deal with loans.
• Lease Lengths: EasyKnock offers renewable 12-month lease terms with the option to terminate at any point.
• Pricing: Homeowners can negotiate the sale price, the length of the lease, and the price of their rent.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Lenient Eligibility Requirements.

  One of the main benefits of Sell & Stay from EasyKnock is that you may be eligible for it even if you don’t qualify for a home equity loan or reverse mortgages. Since EasyKnock takes into consideration you and your house, unlike banks and lenders who have strict requirements for types of income and credit score, they are able to open their opportunities up to a broader range of customers.

• Short Time to Close.

  EasyKnock says delivering funds can take less than 30 days.

• Educational Website.

  EasyKnock’s website makes it easy to understand the products offered, and it is user-friendly and simple to navigate.

Cons

• Have to Pay Rent.

  The main downside of EasyKnock’s product is that you become a renter in the house that you previously owned.

Read More

The best home sale-leaseback companies and EasyKnock alternatives

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How home equity works

Home equity is the value of your home that you fully own and cannot be claimed by a lender. It is calculated by subtracting any outstanding loan balances from the home’s market value. If the property value of a home increases or if the outstanding loan balances are reduced, then the home equity increases.

Home equity is an asset. If you have equity and you sell your home, you can use the equity toward buying a new one. Of course, you could also borrow against your home’s equity through a reverse mortgage or line of credit.

Using a loan to tap your home equity does come with risks. In these situations, your home is your collateral, and if you can’t repay your loan, you could lose your home.

How we rated EasyKnock

We designed LendEDU’s editorial rating system to help readers find companies that offer the best home sale-leasebacks. Our system awards higher ratings to companies with affordable solutions, positive customer reviews, and online transparency of benefits and terms.

We compared EasyKnock to several home sale-leaseback lenders, using hundreds of data points from company websites, public disclosures, customer reviews, and direct communication with company representatives. We weighted, scored, and combined each factor to produce a final editorial rating. This rating is expressed on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest possible score. Our take is represented in our rating and best-for designation, recapped below.

Product	Best for	Rating
EasyKnock home sale-leaseback	Best Home-Repurchase Option	4.7