A Unison Equity Sharing Agreement (ESA) lets you unlock cash today in exchange for a share of your home’s future change in value. Understanding the valuation process reduces confusion when it’s time to settle the agreement. This guide walks through the valuation process Unison uses, including the appraisal, your Original Agreed Value, and what you’ll pay when the agreement ends.

How Is My Home’s Value Set in a Unison Equity Sharing Agreement?

Unison starts with a professional, third-party appraisal. Then, it applies a 5% Risk Adjustment to the appraised value to establish an Original Agreed Value. For example*, if the appraised value is $500,000, the Original Agreed Value is $475,000.

The Original Agreed Value becomes the fixed reference point for the life of the agreement; any future change in value is calculated from the OAV. For example, if the Original Agreed Value is $475,000 and the home sells for $875,000 twenty years later, the future change in value is $400,000.

*For illustration purposes only. Not based on a real agreement; terms and conditions apply.

How Does Unison Appraise a Home?

Unison doesn’t appraise your home directly. Instead, it orders a professional, third-party home appraisal from an Appraisal Management Company (AMC). AMCs contract individual appraisers, who must follow the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). These are the same type of professionals you might work with when buying or selling a home and ordering an appraisal yourself.

Generally, third-party professionals handle appraisal processes to keep them fair and balanced. In the case of an ESA, neither the homeowner nor Unison has a say in the appraised value or an opportunity to sway the third-party appraiser.

Will Unison Accept an Existing Appraisal?

In some cases, Unison may accept a recent appraisal ordered by a homeowner if it meets standard criteria.

What Do Home Appraisers Look for When Valuing a House?

Appraisers typically consider a home’s location, size, and condition. They write detailed reports on a home’s features and how it compares to nearby properties that recently sold.

Factors an appraiser might consider when valuing your home before you enter into an ESA include:

Physical location. A desirable school system, a pretty view, or other positive location factors can help increase a home’s potential value.
Square footage and layout. Larger homes tend to have higher total values, though layout is important. Details like the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and closet space, can affect value.
Condition. The age and condition of appliances, flooring, roof, doors, windows, and other parts of a home impact value.
Additional features and amenities. Built-in shelves and appliances, garages, decks, swimming pools, and other amenities can improve home values.

Why Does the Starting Home Value Matter?

The starting value, your Original Agreed Value, is the single fixed number every future gain or loss is measured from, so it shapes what you walk away with at settlement. Because both the growth you share and any decline you share are measured from this one point, it sets the reference line for each side of the agreement. The closer that starting point is to what your home is actually worth, the more predictable your eventual settlement becomes, which is why understanding it up front is what lets you estimate your own numbers before you sign.

Why Does Unison Apply a 5% Risk Adjustment?

The 5% Risk Adjustment is what lets Unison fund your agreement from a single appraisal and get your money to you quickly, instead of the multiple appraisals that pinning down a precise value could otherwise require.

Home appraisal always carries some uncertainty, since two equally qualified professionals can look at the same home and arrive at slightly different values.
Averaging several appraisals would narrow that gap, but it is expensive and slow, so Unison applies a small 5% Risk Adjustment to your appraised value instead.
That cushion sets your Original Agreed Value and lets your funds reach you faster, while both sides measure from a steady starting point.

On a $500,000 appraisal, the adjustment is $25,000, which sets a $475,000 Original Agreed Value.

How Is My Home Valued With Unison?

With Unison, your home is valued through a professional appraisal and a 5% Risk Adjustment that together set your Original Agreed Value. From that point, Unison shares only in your home’s future change in value, not its total value. Its share is typically four times the percentage of your home’s value you access, so what you pay at settlement tracks how much your home’s value moves from the Original Agreed Value rather than the whole value of the home.

One way to think about how the Risk Adjustment affects the math is that, because the starting value is set 5% below the appraised value, Unison’s share will always include part of that difference, even if your home’s value doesn’t change from the appraisal. That’s in addition to its share of any change in value, up or down from the appraisal.

For example, consider a homeowner who wants to unlock $75,000 for renovations. Unison has the house appraised at $625,000, so they are accessing 12% of the value. Unison’s share of the future change in value would be four times that, or 48%, and the 5% Risk Adjustment sets an Original Agreed Value of $593,750. That’s the starting value from which all future change in value is measured.

Let’s take a look at the numbers in a variety of possible scenarios:

For illustration purposes only. Not based on a real agreement; terms and conditions apply.

If Your Home’s Value Goes Up

Original Agreed Value	$593,750
Sale price in 15 years	$970,000
Change in value	$376,250
Unison’s 48% share in the change in value	$180,600
Settlement amount (original unlocked value of $75,000 + Unison’s share of $180,600)	$255,600

For illustration purposes only. Not based on a real agreement; terms and conditions apply.

If Your Home’s Value Goes Down

Original Agreed Value	$593,750
Sale price in 15 years	$500,000
Change in value	-$93,750
Unison’s 48% share in the change in value	-$45,000
Settlement amount (original unlocked value of $75,000 + Unison’s share of -$45,000)	$30,000

For illustration purposes only. Not based on a real agreement; terms and conditions apply.

The settlement amount is what the homeowner pays Unison when the agreement ends. ESAs end when:

The homeowner sells the home
The homeowner buys out Unison’s share
The agreement term ends (Unison ESA terms are up to 30 years and are customer-controlled)
The homeowner refinances their mortgage or defaults on the agreement
The homeowner(s) pass away

Note that Unison shares in a loss in value after a typical restriction period of three years (up to five years in niche cases) and only when the homeowner sells the property (not if they buy out Unison’s share). Loss sharing isn’t capped, but settlement does have a floor of $0; Unison doesn’t pay you if the loss share would result in an overall negative number.

What If You Make Improvements to Your Home?

If you invest in your home, you may increase its value. A new roof, a kitchen remodel, or a garage upgrade can all raise what your home is worth. The Capital Improvement Adjustment lets you keep the value that work adds: when you settle, an independent third-party appraiser determines how much value your qualifying projects added, based on the value they created rather than what you spent, and that amount is set aside before Unison’s share of the change in value is calculated, so the growth your improvements created stays yours.

You can make improvements whenever you like. The three-year mark applies only to the adjustment itself, which you can claim at settlement as long as your agreement has been in place for at least three years, and qualifying projects need licensed contractors and documentation. The reverse also applies: if neglect or deferred maintenance lowers your home’s value, that decline can be added back before Unison’s share is calculated, so letting the home fall into disrepair never lowers what you settle for.

Let’s revisit a previous hypothetical to see how the Capital Improvement Adjustment might work. A homeowner wants to unlock $75,000 for renovations, and the house is appraised at $625,000.

Original Agreed Value	$593,750
Sale price in 15 years	$970,000
Change in value	$376,250
Amount of increased value tied to home improvements made after the ESA	$50,000
Change in value Unison shares in	$326,250
Unison’s 48% share in the change in value

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