Home Improvement Loans: Your First Home Can Be Your Dream Home
There's so much potential and so many dreams in that first home. But is it usually a dream home? Quite often it's not. Instead, first time home buyers often buy smaller homes, older housing stock and settle for what they can afford. It's still a great buy full of awesome ideas, but it's not exactly a dream home. It doesn't have to be this way if you know about home improvement loans and how to use them.
As a first home buyer, what do you want in a home? A nice yard, 2 or 3 bedrooms, maybe a garage and a not-leaking roof. You might want 2 bathrooms and an unfinished basement where you can design your own entertainment room. Are you looking for a new kitchen or one that needs a bit of work?
With a home improvement loan you can find a house that meets your basic needs like 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and an attached garage and focus on some of the desired improvements. The FHA 203k is one renovation mortgage you can use. Home upgrades like a new kitchen, replacement windows, home painting, new flooring and a deck off the back door are all eligible for financing.
You can buy a house that needs a little TLC and do the work yourself over weekends and evenings. You can find friends and family to help, paying them in $5 pizzas and cheap beer. this is what a lot of first time home buyers do, and it works pretty well. Or you can consider home improvement loans to finance a professional contractor to do the work. The FHA 203k is not a DIY home improvement mortgage. It requires a contractor do the work.
When you're looking a home and considering this option, remember the figure "$6 per $1,000." For every $1,000 in home improvements you finance, you'll add about another $6 to your house payment. Of course that's in addition to the cost of the house. So let's say you're planning to finance a deck and a minor kitchen remodel into the house, plus have the walls all repainted and new carpet laid. If all that adds up to about $20,000 you might skip it all if you have to pay for it with credit cards and bank accounts. But with a home improvement loan, that work can be rolled into your mortgage for about another $120 a month.
Because of this option, first time home buyers don't have to setlle for old housing stock and a house in disrepair. You can now get that dream home with the deck, new windows, beautiful paint inside and a new kitchen the first time around.
Learn more about this home buying option with "The Ultimate Guide to Home Improvement Loans" at the button below. Whether you're buying your first home or you'd like to refinance and remodel, this guide walks you through the process and offers all kinds of tips and advice. Get your free copy today.
(dream home photo credit)