How it works
Sell the house. Keep the home.
Mainstay is a one-way sale plus a leaseback. You sell us your home for near its full value, we pay off your mortgage, and you stay on as a renter — with six months of rent prepaid from your own proceeds.
We bring you our best offer
You tell us your home’s value and mortgage payoff, and a real person confirms it. We put our best, transparent number forward from the start — we don’t haggle or negotiate back and forth, out of respect for your time. The only thing that adjusts it is what an inspector objectively finds about the home. Nothing is binding until inspection and final agreement.
We buy your home and clear your mortgage
At closing, the sale proceeds pay off your mortgage and any liens in full. A 2.9% fee — about half the total agent commissions a typical home sale pays (usually 5–6%) — is withheld from proceeds.
Six months of rent, paid up front
From your own proceeds, six months of rent is paid up front to Mainstay at closing — so you won’t write a rent check for six months.
You get a check and stay put
After payoff, the fee, six months of prepaid rent, and a one-month deposit, the remaining cash is yours at closing. You keep living in your home as a renter.
You stay — for the term you choose
Your lease length is set as part of the deal — typically two to five years — and a longer commitment means lower rent. Your first six months are prepaid from your own proceeds. When the term is up, you can renew for another — staying is the whole point, and we don’t buy homes to push people out. Rent is set with the local market (and escalates about 3% a year), and like any lease nothing is guaranteed forever, but the intent is that you stay for the long haul.
“So what happens when the lease is up — do I have to leave?”
No — staying is the entire point of Mainstay. Your lease runs for the term you agree to up front (typically two to five years), and when it’s up you can renew for another. We’re not in the business of buying homes to push people out; rent is set with the local market and terms can evolve over time.
Like any lease, we can’t promise it lasts forever, and either side can choose not to renew at the end of a term. But our goal is simple, and it’s the reason this company exists: you stay in the home you love, as a renter, for the long haul.
About the prepaid rent
At closing, six months of rent is paid up front to Mainstay out of the proceeds you just unlocked. Think of it as covering your first half-year of rent in advance — so a hard season doesn’t come with a new monthly bill on day one. After that, you pay rent month to month like any lease.
The full terms are covered in our disclosures.
What changes — often in your favor
Becoming a renter in your own home shifts a few costs off your plate.
No rent checks for six months
Six months of rent are paid up front from your own proceeds — so you won’t write a rent check for six months.
Property taxes off your plate
Once you sell, property taxes are the new owner’s responsibility — not yours. For many homeowners that’s hundreds of dollars a month out of the budget.
Switch to renters insurance
You swap homeowners insurance for renters insurance — which typically costs a small fraction, often $15–25/mo versus $100+ before.
Property taxes, insurance, and any savings vary by home and provider — these are typical ranges, not guarantees.
How it’s different
vs. a HELOC or cash-out refinance
Those are loans — you take on new debt and monthly payments, and your credit matters. Mainstay is a sale: no new debt, no credit gate to sell.
vs. a reverse mortgage
Reverse mortgages are loans against your equity with age requirements and growing balances. This is a clean sale plus a lease — no loan, no balance.
vs. an iBuyer or “we buy ugly houses”
Those buy low and you move out. We pay near full value and you stay in your home and community.
What you give up: future appreciation on the home and the equity above the purchase price. We state that plainly so you can weigh it.