Home Mortgage and Refinancing » Home Improvement Loans

Best Ways for Financing a Pool

Mortgage Maven — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 23:40:33 +0000

If you are looking into financing a pool , then you have several good options. Generally, these options include the following:

1) You can take out a home equity line of credit to pay for the pool
2) You can refinance your current home loan to include the pool or,
3) You can include the pool cost in your original home loan (if you are building a home and thinking about adding a pool)

Let’s take a look at these options in a little more detail:

First – Taking Out A Home Equity Line of Credit

A HELOC (the abbreviation for home equity line of credit) is a very common option used for people who already own their home but would like to add a pool. This option is great if you have equity into your home and already have a good rate on your current home mortgage loan. However, if your rate is bad, or if you don’t have too much equity in the home, you may want to look at option number 2.

Second – Refinance your Current Loan

This is a great option if you currently have a loan with high interest rates, and the cost to refinance will be less than the origination cost of the refinancing. In addition, specifically with pools, make sure your lender understands that adding any type of pool adds value to your home. So, if your home is worth $150,000 and you add a pool, your home should be worth more afterward – allowing you to borrow more than the old loan limits on the home if needed. Obviously, if you have $50,000 of equity in the home (for example) then you may not need to borrow more than the original loan amount anyways, even after you add the above ground pool financing into the overall loan amount. While this makes the value calculation a litter more difficult to figure out, your loan officer should be able to help you with this.

Inexpensive Rental Property Repairs

admin — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 07:20:35 +0000

There are some really big differences between fixing up your own home and a property you plan to rent out. One of those differences is often your budget for repairs. If you want to make a profit on your investment property, repairs must be kept down to the very minimum.

Because repairs are also necessary to attracting and maintaining quality renters, it is also important to learn how to make repairs on a limited budget. The good news is that there are some repairs and improvements which can be made to your property without spending a great deal of money.

Make a point to go through the house and replace all of the older and outdated switch plates. New switch plates need not be an expensive investment. In fact, most switch plates can be replaced for just a couple of dollars each, at the most. You can easily replace all of the switch plates for less than $20.

In some areas, you may wish to go ahead and ante up for switch plates which are slightly nicer, such as in the living room and foyer. You will pay a couple of dollars more for brass plates; however, even at around $5 each, that is still not much money to pay for an improvement that can really make your rental property stand out.

Also doors are an area where you can make a big difference in your rental property without spending a ton of money. Doors are one of the first things that a prospective renter will notice so it can really be a worthy investment to make when you are trying to attract quality renters.

When you are changing out the doors, be sure to also consider changing out the handles as well. Older door handles can really make a place look drab. For just a few dollars, you can easily replace those old handles with brass finished models. S handles are popular for bedroom doors and bathroom doors and only run a little bit more.

You can make a big impact for not much money with the trim. Take a good look at the trim in your rental property. If it appears worn and cracked, it could be time to replace it. You do not necessarily need to spring for crown molding throughout the entire property; however, adding it to the entryway or the living room can create a great impact.

You might also wish to focus some attention is the entryway or foyer. Keep in mind that once prospective renters step through the front door this is the first area they are going to see, so you want to make sure you make a good first impression. Tiling it can be a great way to do that. For a small foyer area measuring around 8×8 you can easily tile it for less than $100.

Keep in mind that kitchens are one of the most important areas for most people when they view a property for rent, especially women. While it may not be practical to replace all of the cabinets, it can certainly help to paint them. Consider repainting them using a semi-gloss white paint and do not forget to replace the knobs when you are finished. Even less expensive plastic knobs can breathe new life into older kitchen cabinets very quickly.

Differences Between Unsecured and Secured Home Improvement Loans

admin — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:38:58 +0000

There are many different ways to borrow money for a home improvement project, but essentially your options come down to a “secured” or “unsecured” financing vehicle. These two types of loans have advantages and disadvantages.

When you borrow money with an unsecured loan, you are not offering anything up for collateral. An unsecured loan is given based on your past credit rating and your current salary level. You don’t have to have any equity in order to borrow money with an unsecured loan. Most hardware store credit cards are essentially unsecured loans. Unsecured home improvement loans can almost always be used if you have very little equity in your home.

One of the most common types of unsecured loans for home improvements is a credit card. Credit cards can be offered by a home improvement store, but they can also be offered by a number of different lending institutions. Almost any credit card can be used for a small house improvement project and the loan is almost always unsecured because no collateral needs to be put up to secure the loan. Unsecured loans are usually small and can be paid off quickly.

Secure loans are loans in which the bank has some sort of collateral or item which they technically “own” until you pay it off. When you finance a car or buy a house with a mortgage the bank technically owns what you bought until you’ve paid off the debt amount plus interest. With a secured house improvement loan your house is the collateral. If you default on your loan then the bank can take your house or car and sell it in an effort to regain some of the money they lent you.

Secured home improvement loans often have more paperwork but they also usually offer a lower interest rate because they are safer for banks to give out due to the collateral involved. You may even be able to deduct the house improvement loan interest amount from your income taxes!

Both secured and unsecured home improvement loans have a purpose and can really help you fix up your home if you don’t have the cash needed readily available. Be sure to do your homework and make sure you can actually repay the loan on time.

by James Miller

About the Author:

Want to discover more about how you can pay for that home improvement? Be sure to read about other home remodeling loan options that are available.

Keys to Home Improvement Financing

admin — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:04:25 +0000

Are you looking for home improvement financing because you’re ready to give your home a facelift? Maybe you need a large sum to finally finish that basement the way you always wanted or you want to modernize your old kitchen. You should know that there are many different home improvement financing options available to you these days so there’s no reason to put off that facelift any longer.

One reason that home improvement is so popular is that it actually improves the value of your home, leaving you with an appreciated asset and more equity in your home. Of course it also just plain makes people feel better when they walk into a newly redecorated room or use that sun room, patio or new family room. And home improvement financing is available for all these improvements and more.

Before you begin your remodeling project and even before you go searching for home improvement financing there are several questions that you should ask yourself. These questions will help you decide if the improvement is worth it and how much time and money you’ll need to devote to your home improvement project.

What will be the total cost of the home improvement including both materials and labor?
How long will it take to complete the home improvement project and what impact will it have on your daily life while it’s ongoing?
Are you going to do the work yourself or will you hire a professional contractor or maybe a combination of both?
Is it better for you to put money into home improvement or is it better financially for you to move to a new home?
Do you need money for anything besides the home improvement project? You can add this to the home improvement financing and get cash for other things besides home improvement.

Once you’re able to answer these questions satisfactorily it’s time for you to start looking for a home refinancing lender. Take your time to speak with several lenders and make sure they understand your need completely. Compare notes from each lender, you’ll find that some lenders will definitely have better home improvement financing options than others. Some of your options when doing a home improvement financing include the following:

Take a second mortgage on your home.
Refinance your existing mortgage to extract cash.
Borrow against a life insurance policy or your 401(k) savings
Get a home equity line of credit and use that to finance the improvements
Use a credit card to finance the improvements
Sell stocks or bonds or use cash savings
Get a personal home improvement loan from a bank or credit union

As you can see there are many ways to do home improvement financing. These are just some, and the preferred way for you will depend on your own situation and finances. Small projects may be financed with your savings or even from a credit card, but for larger projects you should consider some type of home improvement loan. You’ll get a better interest rate and since it is for your home the interest will also be tax deductible.

If you’re planning on doing some improvements to your home go for the ones that will increase the value of the home the most. The better the improvement the more return you’ll get from your home improvement financing.