Real People, Real Issues - Home Improvement
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Reported by: WROC-TV
Thursday, Nov 13, 2008 @01:33pm EST
"There's always a reason not to do it. We felt that this would be a good time to continue it, and next year, we will probably pick another project to do," said Allan Mason, who has been living in his home for several decades.
He recently wanted to make some improvements to make his house more appealing.
"I think the value of the home will be improved. I think we can live in the home the way we would like to live in it, and the improvements we made are beneficial to the house," said Mason. "If we do choose to sell it, the upgrades will make the house that much more sell-able."
"There's people with good credit that can go to their bank and get the very best options that are available, just with their own banking relationships," said Charlie Graves, of Graves Brothers Inc. "People with marginal or questionable credit - there are companies out there that sell financing to sell home financing and throw in the home improvements."
People with credit scores above 650 can try applying for a home equity loan or a line of credit.
"A home equity loan tends to be a fixed amount that you pay back over a fix amount of time," said George Conboy of Brighton Securities. "A home equity line of credit is an amount that you can borrow, but you may not need to borrow as much."
The upside to a line of credit is you're approved for an amount of money, but don't have to take all of it out at once. The downside, however, is the interest varies on when you choose to withdraw form it. You're also borrowing against the value of your home.
"If you have run out of all avenues, and there aren't any banks or credit unions willing to lend a home equity loan for you, you could consider a credit card or some other form of unsecured financing - but it will be very expensive, and you can expect to pay two or three times as much interest so not a good deal for most consumers," said Conboy.
"Everyone has to look at their own personal finances," said Graves. "There are things that you can do on your home that have very vast returns, and there are other things that if you were to sell your house in a year's time, you might not recover any of the benefit."
So far, Allan Mason is happy with the progress on his home improvement project.
Some banks offer direct home improvement loans, which in some cases can be the best way to finance a home improvement project, because you may be able to get a better interest rate. Check with your lender for the best option that fits your financial situation.
Click here for some tips for help with home improvement.
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