Finance James Redder on 18 May 2008
home improvement loan
Remodeling areas of your home that are beginning to look dated is always a good idea but money is often the issue that needs to be addressed. this is the purpose of a home improvement loan. Tradesmen such as carpenters, electricians, plumbers, plasterers are an expensive addition to the overall home improvement budget but for many homeowners they have no alternative as their own skills are not sufficient.
A home improvement loan is a borrowing option that is open to most homeowners and there’s a choice for you to take a secured loan or a loan with no equity required. The last responsibility a new homeowner wants is that of it being used as equity for a loan to improve it. The maximum period for finance without any form of equity can be up to fifteen years.
However, one stipulation for a zero equity finance arrangement is that the combined income of the owners reaches a specified limit but it must not be greater than the limit imposed by the county where they live. Certain facts are researched by the lenders; like the type of property and reasons for the loan but essentially, this type of loan is easy to arrange with only a small amount of documentation to complete.
The difference with a secured home improvement loan means the value of the property is taken into account so when there is spare equity, the loan is basically taken out of this. Equity based loans are arranged quite quickly and whilst these loans are not considered as second mortgages, they have the benefit of lower interest rates and preferential terms as part of the arrangement.
Still before a secured loan can be arranged, the equity available in your home will need to be agreed upon by the lender. All factors are considered before a final amount is agreed upon and that includes how much is owed on the mortgage, its current value and what other debts the owners may have.
After this has taken place, the lenders will put a package forward which may not necessarily be for the full amount the homeowner wanted. Normally a lender will lend to the upper limit of the house valuation but a few lenders go much further and provide loans up to 125 percent of the valuation.
An equity based loan can be risky if you arrange to lend an amount greater than you can comfortably afford so consider this carefully as you may end up handing your beautiful home over to your creditors. If you have big plans for your property but the home improvement loan isn’t really enough to cover all the remodeling costs then use it for necessary maintenance first and see what is left over.