Ways By Which You Can Afford Your Home Renovation

Posted on Aug 12 2013 - 1:20pm by Kathrine Kreger

House

There’s nothing more exciting than being able to renovate your home. Whether it’s installing new cabinets, adding a pool or even adding an additional room to your house; there are a variety of ways you can finance your home renovation. Don’t think you won’t able to translate your vision for your renovation into reality because of your finances? Think again! There are a variety of ways you can finance your home renovation project. Here is a list of five ways you can afford your home renovation.

Home Equity Line of Credit

HELOC loans are perhaps the most popular method that people choose in order to finance their home improvement project. Different from a traditional home equity loan, borrowers can be advanced a limited amount of money similar to a credit card limit. The only drawback behind this type of loan is that the interest rates can vary. If you are a current or former military serviceman, look into a VA streamline loan while shopping for a HELOC loan. Veteran VA Streamline loans will also save you money when it comes to financing your home renovation project.

Solar Energy Incentive Programs

Another awesome way to finance your home is to look into city, state and federal solar energy incentive programs. These programs will offer homeowners tax credits and grants to retrofit their homes to make them more energy efficient. This is usually done to make a home more eco-friendly by utilizing alternative sources of energy such as solar power. If you plan on installing solar energy systems like solar panels and solar water heaters into your home, these programs will help save you a lot of money when it comes to funding your home renovation.

Community Development Grants

Many cities and states have partner up with community development corporations to offer beautification loans to homeowners in certain neighborhoods. Whether it’s fixing your roof, painting your home’s exterior or even redesigning your home’s landscaping – these grants will help you finance those upgrades. Not all cities or states offer these programs. The City of Chicago is an example of one local city government that offers such program.

Personal Loans

Personal Loans usually have lower and fixed interest rates that allow you manage your home renovation project’s budget without worrying about varying interest rates. Instead of relying on your credit cards, talk with a local bank to see if you can take out a personal loan to help finance your home renovation. Not all banks and other lenders offer these types of loans, however, there are a variety of online lenders you can research that might save you as much as 30% when it comes to taking out a personal loan versus going to a traditional brick-and-mortar lender.

Contractor Loans

Contractor Loans are another option to help renovate your home. Larger contracting services will offer various financing plans to home owners looking to make major changes to their home. Usually contractors will help finance expansion of your home or the installation of a large pool. Shop around and see which contractor is willing to work with you in regards to financing your home renovation.

Photo Credit: Flickr/Images Money

About the Author

Kathrine Kreger is a freelance writer from Eugene, OR. She loves museums, art and football.