Category: News

Planning a major renovation project can cause homeowners a lot of stress. You want to be sure you’re making the right choice and staying within your budget, which requires a huge amount of research. Every home needs multiple renovations, both big and small, over the years as features wear down or become outdated. One big renovation every home eventually needs is new siding. Your home’s siding helps protect it from the elements, keeping your house and everything inside safe for years. Siding also has a major impact on the curb appeal of your home, so you want to be sure that you’re happy with the way it looks. There’s a lot to think about when getting new siding, so it’s important that you get the right help. 

Here’s your guide to siding that can make your renovation project a little easier.

Types of Siding

There are a few different house siding options that are common today. What’s right for one home might not be best for another, so you should learn the differences to determine which will work best for you and what your home needs. 

Here are some of the most popular siding options that you might consider for your house. 

Vinyl Siding

One of the most popular siding materials that you can find on many houses is vinyl. You can order vinyl in just about any color without having to worry about painting it, so you can get exactly what you want. If you have siding up already and you’re wondering “how to put on vinyl siding,” it’s much easier than you might think. Vinyl siding is also a great option for older homes, as it can usually be installed over already existing siding, so you don’t have to worry about removing it. 

Vinyl siding is likely to be the longest-lasting siding option that you can choose from. Vinyl siding is long-lasting and doesn’t require much maintenance other than an occasional cleaning, which you can likely manage on your own. This is also a great choice for many homeowners because vinyl is often the most affordable option but is still durable and high-quality. 

Wood Siding

Many consider wood to be one of the best-looking siding options. If the appearance of your house is your top priority, wood siding might be your best option. This can give a house a more traditional look, and some may think natural wood looks more high-quality compared to other materials that try to mimic it. 

Wood siding is also an expensive option. The initial cost of wood siding is more than other siding options but will also require a lot of regular maintenance over the years. This maintenance can cost a few thousand dollars each time to keep the siding in good shape. Wood siding is very durable if you invest the maintenance but can rot without it. However, even with regular maintenance, wood siding may not last as long as other options, so it will need to be replaced sooner. 

Fiber Cement Siding

Fiber cement siding is a type of siding made from a mixture of cement, sand, water, and cellulose fibers. This is often the most durable type of siding available. Fiber cement fiber is very resistant to harsh weather, even tornados and hurricanes, and is fire resistant. You can also have fiber cement siding painted the color you want.  

Fiber cement siding isn’t the most expensive siding option on the market, but it is more than vinyl. Like vinyl siding, fiber cement siding doesn’t require much maintenance. An occasional cleaning and some touch-ups if the siding gets damaged are all that is needed. You also might have to repaint this siding over the years. 

How to Find the Right Siding for Your Home

There are many great choices for siding, but some might not be right for your home. When you’re choosing siding, think of what your home needs. Maybe you live in an area where you get bad weather often and are worried about how it will hold up or don’t want to get something that you require you to invest in a lot of maintenance. Of course, your budget might be the determining factor when you’re looking at siding for your home. While there are more affordable siding options, they’re still high-quality and a great choice for many homes. 

Finding Funding for Your Siding

Most homeowners don’t need to be reminded of how expensive siding is. While some types of siding are more budget-friendly, they still come at a huge cost. This is something many homeowners can’t afford on their own, but it’s an essential renovation project that you can’t put off for very long. Fortunately, many homeowners can benefit from funding programs to help them get new siding for their homes. This is similar to other funding programs for home repair projects, such as new roof financing. At Homeowner Funding, we can help you find a funding program that’s right for you and your project. 

Contact Homeowner Funding today to learn more about how we can help you finance your new siding. 

Buying a house is a big investment, one that you want to make sure will pay off should the time come when you decide to put your property back on the market. The way housing markets fluctuate, however, the best way to boost your resale value is with the following home improvement projects.

Beautify Your Exterior

The strongest way to communicate value to neighbors and potential buyers is to make sure that the first thing they see when approaching your home is a beautiful, clean, well-maintained exterior. If you imagine the façade of a house as its face, then it’s important to greet visitors with a welcoming smile. A property with dirty siding, a broken porchlight, or a banged-up door is the equivalent of a frown.

There are a lot of ways to beautify your exterior, from making much-needed repairs, upgrading outdoor light fixtures, and replacing doors and windows to repaving the walkway, fixing up or adding a new porch, and applying a fresh coat of paint. One simple method of completely changing the look of your home is by installing new siding. With a wide variety of house siding options available, including vinyl, wood, metal, and stucco, it’s easy to increase your property’s value at a relatively small cost.

Upgrade the Technology

When people think of “technology” they often think of things like smartphones and computers, not houses. Today, however, everything from your thermostat to your interior lighting to the locks on your doors can be customized to be more safe, economical, and convenient through the use of “smart home” technology.

Upgrading your home’s technology isn’t as pricey or complicated as it might seem. In many cases, it’s just a matter of replacing an old fixture with a new one, then downloading an app that allows you to make adjustments and monitor your property even when on the go. If you’re not interested in going high-tech, you can still add value by switching to more energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly options, such as LED light bulbs, or by updating common household appliances, such as the refrigerator or oven.

Add More Space

What does every house need more of? Space. Homeownership is all about privacy and comfort, two things that are a lot easier to enjoy when there’s enough room for everyone to get some alone time when they need it. For homeowners with large families or lots of belongings, it can be hard to find space to accommodate everything. That’s why bigger houses tend to come with bigger price tags.

The best way to add space to a property, is arguably by building additions. House additions can be basic, such as constructing an additional full-size bedroom or a smaller “bump-in.” But they can also be major, such as building a sunroom or a garage. Either way, it’s easy to see how such projects add value to a property. Although it can seem like a major undertaking, even a simple addition can earn back everything you put into it and then some.

Invest in Landscaping

If you think the only way to boost your home’s value is by making renovations to the building itself, you’re neglecting one aspect of your property with huge potential: the grounds. Whether you’ve got a huge backyard full of trees and rolling hills or just a small front lawn with a slender dirt path leading to your door, investing in landscaping is a great way to impress neighbors and attract buyers.

If you have the space, planting some trees, shrubbery, or even a full-blown flower garden is a surefire way to give your property some eye-catching flair. If that doesn’t interest you, though, at least make sure that your grounds are well-kept, neat, and healthy. Dead grass, weed-infested walkways, and overgrown shrubs will turn off most potential home buyers immediately.

Maintain the Necessities

When it comes to increasing your home’s value, it’s easy to get excited by all the big changes and stylish additions you can make. It’s important to remember, though, that keeping what you already have in good shape matters just as much. After all, what good is adding value by focusing on one project while neglect is causing you to lose value elsewhere?

No one wants to buy a house in disrepair. It doesn’t matter how pretty it is, if the foundation is damaged, the roof is leaky, and the wiring is on the fritz, that property is going to be a hard sell. Make sure to have a professional, such as an Owens Corning preferred contractor, regularly inspect your home and make any necessary repairs. If parts of your house in especially bad shape, you may need to replace them entirely, but putting in the work is vital if you want to maximize your property’s value.

In the modern age, it’s almost impossible for homeowners to avoid the infamous kitchen remodel.

People want to fix up their kitchens for any number of reasons. Whether you’re looking to increase your home’s value before you move, or you just can’t stand those ugly pea green walls and linoleum floor anymore, an update is never a bad idea.

In fact, the kitchen is where people spend most of their time. It’s where families gather to make meals or simply be together. So, you deserve the chance to make this room more useful and visually appealing.

The issue comes down to cost, though. Construction is an expensive business, whether you’re looking at kitchen remodels or something bigger like house additions. Today, you could spend anywhere from $12,000 to $35,000 or beyond for a kitchen remodel.

If you’re like many people and don’t exactly have that money upfront, you’ll likely be turning to financing to pay for your remodel.

But what are your options, and which of those is right for you? At Homeowner Funding, we’re all about helping homeowners in the Northeastern United States to renovate their homes as they see fit.

Here’s how to finance your kitchen remodel.

1. Get a Personal Loan

One direct way to get financing for your kitchen remodel is by obtaining a personal loan. Just like they sound, personal loans consist of money that banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions loan to individuals to finance large projects.

One benefit of personal loans is that they tend to offer lower interest rates than credit cards would. Additionally, many lenders don’t use anything other than your credit history to approve you, so you can theoretically get approved in about a week.

A word of caution: different lenders will offer you different terms. Don’t jump on your first loan offer. Shop around just as you would for a mortgage lender. It’s the wise thing to do because you could end up saving thousands on interest.

2. Get a Home Equity Loan

Another relatively simple financing option is a home equity loan. These are definitely worth looking into because the lender will provide you with the borrowed money in one lump sum. Then, you’ll repay the amount over time.

The upshots of home equity loans are that they tend to offer longer repayment periods and lower interest rates than personal loans. That’s because your home serves as the collateral for the loan.

If you are borrowing this money to finance a remodel, which in itself will increase your home’s value, then lenders feel fairly confident that you will repay it on time. Don’t skip the home equity loan option when looking at kitchen remodel financing.

3. Get a Cash-Out Refinance

This one you may not have heard of before, but it’s a no-less-viable option.

A cash-out refinance works like this. First, you need to have built up enough equity in your home. That’s because you’re going to be doing some borrowing on top of your existing mortgage.

You’ll get the final approximate cost of your kitchen remodel and then borrow that from your lender. You will get the financing as cash to spend on your renovations. Then, the lender will tack on that amount to your mortgage, and you’ll owe that much more on your house.

So if you owed $50,000 on your home at the time of your cash-out refinance, and you borrowed $20,000 for the remodel, you’d get that cash immediately but then owe a total of $70,000 on the house.

4. Use Credit Cards

Another option for financing your kitchen remodel is by using credit cards, but this is more for lower-cost renovations that you can fit on one or two cards.

Now, obviously, if you could pay for this project all at once, you wouldn’t need a financing option, so you can expect to owe interest on your monthly credit card debt payments.

One pro tip for doing this is to apply for a new credit card that offers a promotional period of 0% interest over 12 or 18 months. If you can pay off your remodel in the allotted time, you can avoid paying high interest rates.

Doing this may call for you to pay more than the monthly minimum, but if you plan correctly, you can ultimately save yourself thousands.

5. Go with Homeowner Funding

The final option we’re presenting here encompasses all the loan options we offer at Homeowner Funding. We are an Owens Corning preferred contractor, meaning we are licensed and approved to install Owens Corning building products in your home.

A kitchen remodel may call for numerous components, including new insulation and roofing. Not only are we ready and willing to fund your project through our own programs, but we will offer you the highest-quality installation services.

All you have to do is call us up and tell us about your project. Homeowner Funding has been helping homeowners just like you to realize their remodeling dreams since 2005.

Contact us today to get started on your own renovations!

The only thing more nerve-wracking than preparing to buy a house might just be preparing to sell one. The housing market is difficult to predict, with values rising and falling all the time. You obviously put a lot of work and money into acquiring your property. How can you make sure you get the biggest possible return on that investment now that it’s time to sell?
Two words: home improvements. The best way to get a good price when selling your home is to leave it better than you found it. That means house additions, renovations, and remodels. It’s also important to do maintenance, repairs, and possibly even full replacements for parts of the property that have suffered damage over the years.
All this might sound like a lot of work put into something you’re planning to get rid of, but the truth is that almost no one wants a house in disrepair, and even fewer people want to pay a lot for it. What’s more, adding value to a home with additions and improvements may cost money now, but it often pays off by allowing you to sell your property for more than you ever put into it. Even better, with stress-free grants and other financing options from Homeowner Funding, you may not have to put any money into it at all.

1. Upgrade Your Curb Appeal
When selling a home you only have one chance to make a good first impression. Get it right, and you’re more likely to attract potential buyers. Get it wrong, and that could color their perception of everything else, even if a home interior is perfect.
How exactly do you get it right? First, make sure that any and all obvious, easily noticeable issues are taken care of. Clean the gutters. Fix the fence. Put up a new mailbox. You may want to consider replacing the outer doors and windows. Spruce up the front porch or even build a new one entirely. Last but not least, don’t forget to invest in landscaping. A healthy lawn, eye-catching garden, or the addition of trees or shrubs, will instantly make your house more appealing.

2. Repair or Replace the Roof
Over the years, homes accumulate a lot of wear and tear. Arguably no part of a property is at risk quite as much as the roof. From heavy piles of snow to violent blowing winds to ricocheting chunks of hail, the roof can really take a pounding while it protects you and your loved ones from inclement weather. Shingles can come loose. Holes and leaks can form. Falling debris poses a serious danger. There’s even the possibility of total collapse.
That’s why it’s important to give your roof a thorough checkup before putting a property on the market. In more drastic situations, you may need to replace your roof entirely, an expensive proposition that new roof financing from Homeowner Funding can make a lot simpler.

3. Remodel the Bathroom
Part of what determines a home’s value is its ability to provide both basic necessities and creature comforts. That same combination of factors also goes into one of the most important parts of any house, an area of us that most of us use every single day: the bathroom.
A bathroom that can’t properly serve its basic functions—for example, a bathroom with little space, dripping faucets, faulty plumbing, or damaged tiles—is no bathroom at all. A bathroom that goes the extra mile meanwhile—such as by offering a spacious interior, a luxurious walk-in bathtub or shower, and stylish fixtures—has a wow factor that can add significant resale value to your home.

4. Install New Exterior Siding
When giving a person a makeover, what do we usually start with? That’s right, a new outfit. Such a simple exterior change can do wonders, and that’s just as true for houses. When it comes to home improvement, there are few better ways to give your property a bold new look than with replacing the siding. It’s like stepping into a whole new skin.
There are many home siding options to consider, from inexpensive stucco to high-maintenance clapboard. In most cases, however, the experienced contractors at Homeowner Funding recommend vinyl siding for its affordability, resilience, affordable, and eye-pleasing aesthetics.

5. Update the Light Fixtures
If installing vinyl siding, a walk-in bathtub, or a brand new roof all sound like too much work, here’s a much smaller home improvement project that can nevertheless make a very big impact. Swapping out your home’s old light fixtures for newer, better ones is inexpensive and comparatively easy, but it’s something that won’t go unnoticed by potential buyers.
Replacing recessed lights with chandeliers, for example, can give a property a touch of class and luxury. Updating weak or energy-inefficient bulbs for brighter and more economical options not only makes your home look better, it also makes it more cost-effective and environmentally friendly. Adding outdoor lighting to a porch or walkway can also give your house greater utility and make it feel more inviting to visitors.

At Homeowner Funding, we make it our business to be experts in the home improvement industry. After all, we are more than just the company that provides remodeling financing to customers throughout the Northeastern United States. We are also the installers who know how to do it all.

When it comes to roofing, everybody knows you can’t skimp. Roofing is too important to go cheap with materials or labor. The wrong kind of roofing will allow gaps to form and rain to come pouring inside your home.

Many customers who come to us seeking roof funding ask us which material is best. You certainly have options to consider on the type of roofing you get.

We are comparing a metal roof to an asphalt shingle roof in this post. You probably have heard things about each, maybe about the durability of metal or the affordability of asphalt shingles.

We are going to set the record straight here by showing you how, when you’re looking to get a new roof on your house, asphalt shingles win out every time.

The Cost

Pretty much everything you can buy has different levels and price points. The same applies to roofing.

You can roof your house with anything you want, but when it comes to metal vs. asphalt shingle roofs, shingles win from a pricing perspective.

Metal roofs tend to be about three times as expensive as asphalt shingles. Consider the fact that shingle roofs can cost several thousand dollars, and then triple that for metal. In that case, metal roofs suddenly seem out of reach and unnecessary for the average homeowner.

In the interest of explaining things as comprehensively as we can, you should know that homeowners do get something back for the cost of a metal roof. In this case, that is longevity, as metal roofs are estimated to last between 40 and 70 years based on the metal type and proper installation (more on that later).

Compare that to shingle roofs, which last between 20 and 25 years. However, we still fully support asphalt shingles at Homeowner Funding because we know that most homeowners today would not remain in their current homes long enough to reap the 40-to-70-year benefits of metal roofs. That makes the cost simply not worth it.

Color Fading

This one is a no-brainer. Roofing fades over time due to the sun and the UV rays it produces. This fact applies to shingles and metal.

You can attempt to slow the faded look of your roof by choosing lighter colors for the materials, but the truth is this: dark metal fades quite easily over time. Metal roofing materials are dyed with colors that simply can’t last against the power of the sun. For instance, a navy blue roof will look quite different in five to ten years.

When you pick out lighter-colored shingles for your roof, you can delay the inevitable fading process by a long time while also saving a lot of money. It just makes more sense.

The Construction

When it comes to assembling your roofing, shingles come out on top by sheer simplicity and effectiveness. Shingles are laid down in straight lines, and the excess is cut off when the roofer reaches the edge of the house. Shingles are a much more precise method of roofing for this reason.

Metal roofing comes in seams that have to be screwed and fastened together. Therefore, the chances of exposing an opening are greater and make a leak more likely. Furthermore, over time, the sun’s UV rays can affect the roof’s washers and screws. This can wear down any existing openings and eventually create a hole.

The problem is compounded by the fact that metal expands and contracts over time, particularly with ice and water. This fluctuation further exposes those seams and gaps in the roof.

None of this is an issue with asphalt shingle roofs.

Labor Pool

Because asphalt shingle roofs are much more common on houses today, you will find the labor pool for installing them is much larger than it is for metal roofs. Any roofers worth their weight will know how to select and install shingles on your roof.

This is not so with metal roofs. The margin of error is quite high, since it is so difficult to find a true expert in metal roof installation. You will likely find many roofers who claim to be knowledgeable in metal roofing but who actually install the pieces incorrectly.

With a roof, you want peace of mind, knowing that your home is protected from the elements. Shingle roofs are popular for a reason.

Installation Time

Finally, we come to installation time. Whereas shingle roofs take just a few days to install, metal roofs can take up to a few weeks.

Not only does this extend the inconvenience for you, the homeowner, but it also leaves your home exposed to the elements for much longer.

Asphalt shingles are a tried-and-true roofing material, and roofing contractors everywhere should know how to install them. You can speed up the process by going with shingles every time.
We hope you’ve learned a bit from this listicle on metal roofs vs. asphalt shingle roofs. Shingles are what we install when customers come to us looking for roof funding. They’re reliable, affordable, and don’t take too long to install. They’re a win all around.

Everybody wants a good credit score. After all, a strong number on your credit report is essentially the key to unlocking all kinds of financial products and options that can benefit you in the long run. Credit cards, substantial loans, and low interest rates could all be yours if you can just get that credit number in the 700 range.

Unfortunately, life circumstances sometimes take over, and money gets tight. Before you know it, you could find yourself buried under a mountain of debt and a credit score that wouldn’t get you the time of day.

Improving your credit score generally takes some time–say, several months. However, there are ways to boost your credit score fast. These are common-sense solutions, and if you follow them, your credit score can begin to rise. That means you will qualify for all kinds of new loans. You may even start looking into how home improvement loans work.

Check out these four ways to kickstart a stagnant credit score when you’re in a pinch.

1. Pay Down Current Debts

If you’re the type of person who keeps your debts revolving from month to month, then take steps to pay off those debts as soon as you can. Aside from saving yourself on all that interest, eliminating the debt will instantly decrease your credit usage. To creditors, that’s a sign of a fiscally responsible person. Some finance experts recommend using no more than 30% of your available credit in a given month. The less credit you use, the better off your credit score is likely to be.

2. Pay Your Monthly Bills on Time

Now, it’s worth it to mention that utility companies generally do not report your payments or non-payments to credit bureaus. If that’s the case, you might wonder, then why would someone recommend paying these monthly bills on time?

It’s because utility bills naturally provide one of the best ways to build credit fast. If you use a credit card to pay your utilities, you will probably accumulate a few hundred dollars a month in those bills alone.

Put it in your calendar, or write yourself notes, to pay off those utility payments from your credit card bill on time every month. The recurring nature of those payments guarantees you a monthly outlet to pay down debt. This is an easy way to boost your credit score fast.

3. Increase Your Credit Limit

If you’re able, you can also boost your credit score by raising your credit limits. With more credit available to you, any debt you currently have will suddenly equal a smaller percentage of your total. Of course, the trick here is not to grow that debt just because you can borrow more. That would wind you back up in the same predicament.

There are two main ways to increase your credit limit. You can request a credit increase from the institution where you hold your credit cards. Some banks do this automatically every so often, but asking directly for an increase expedites that process.

The other way to increase your credit limit is to open a new credit card. Doing that instantly expands your total credit allowances. Managing the extra card responsibly shows creditors that you can handle the temptation of additional credit.

All of this is good for your credit score.

4. Correct Credit Report Errors

The last of our recommended ways to boost your credit score fast is to check over your credit reports for errors and correct them as soon as possible. If you didn’t think it was possible for mistakes to exist on those ever-so official documents known as credit reports, think again. Errors are present in about 25% of credit reports in the United States. Those errors could seriously bring down your credit score, and unfairly so.

If you find such an anomaly in your report, dispute it with the credit bureau. The sooner you correct the mistakes, the faster you can raise your credit score and get on with your life.

Simplify Improving Your Credit Score

Our main point in this post is to impart to you that it doesn’t have to take you years to rebuild a low credit score. You can take these four simple steps right now to start down the right path, that of producing and maintaining a healthy credit score.

Don’t forget, once you build up that number again, you can start looking into all kinds of new financing options for yourself. From researching how home improvement loans work, to getting a mortgage, to securing a car loan, a robust credit score is good news all around.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a teenager getting your first credit card or an adult looking to buy your first house: most people could probably use some education on credit scores. You’ve probably heard how important it is to build and maintain good credit throughout your life. A strong credit score can allow you to get a mortgage and take out a car loan.

With that said, Homeowner Funding has prepared this beginner’s guide to credit scores to assist anyone looking to boost their credit standing and get ahead in life. We’ll cover what determines a credit score, provide a credit score breakdown, and describe the effects of a good and bad credit score. We will also list some ways you can improve your existing score.

Healthy credit is the key to many good things, from securing low interest rates to qualifying for vinyl siding funding. Let’s dive into the facts.

What Determines Your Credit Score?

Credit bureaus use various models to calculate a person’s credit score. Those bureaus typically do not share which model they use, although the most common ones are the FICO score or VantageScore.

The exact nuances of each are probably of little interest to the average consumer. However, to give you an idea of what goes into your credit score, here is an overview of the elements that factor into an individual’s FICO score:

• Credit card repayment history
• Credit utilization rate, or your current debts compared to your credit limit
• How long you have held your current credit
• Frequency of new credit applications, as in, how often you open new credit cards
• The diversity of your existing debts, such as a balance between a mortgage, car loan, and monthly credit allowances

You can learn a lot even from this bird’s-eye view of the matter. Credit scores really come down to this: the less financial risk you seem to pose to your lenders, the more options will be open to you when you need a loan.

Credit Score Breakdown

FICO scores and VantageScores are calculated slightly differently. To make it easy, however, the three-digit numbers are broken down into categories indicating the strength of that credit score range.

The credit score breakdown for FICO read like this:

• 300-579: Very poor
• 580-669: Fair
• 670-739: Good
• 740-799: Very Good
• 800-850: Exceptional

Meanwhile, the VantageScore credit ranges run this way:

• 300-499: Very Poor
• 500-600: Poor
• 601-660: Fair
• 661-780: Good
• 781-850: Excellent

How Your Credit Score Affects Your Life

You can see from the breakdowns above that the higher your credit score, the better off you will be when applying for credit and other financing. Conversely, a low score will make that aspect of life more difficult for you. Let’s see how it works.

Benefits of a High Credit Score

A high credit score–say, one between 740 and 850 in the FICO range–will allow you to get approved for virtually any kind of credit you want. You should have no trouble getting credit cards, a car loan, or a mortgage, and at the lower end of interest rates, too!

In some cases, like getting a mortgage for a house purchase, your credit could be the deciding factor in whether you can proceed. Pose too much of a risk to a potential lender, and you’ll get passed up. That could seriously foil your life plan of buying a house and settling down.

So, always work on keeping your credit score high and healthy.

Disadvantages of a Low Credit Score

On the other hand, if your FICO score is anywhere from 300 to 669, you may struggle to get approved for credit cards or major loans. That means you could be rejected for car loans and mortgages, two of the largest types of loans a person will generally take out in life.

You can see how having bad credit can frustrate your efforts to get ahead. If your current car is on its last legs, and you badly need a replacement, you would have to come up with cash to pay for it. Mortgage lenders will also probably avoid giving you a loan, meaning you might be unable to buy a house with anything other than cash (an unrealistic expectation for most people).

The other major disadvantage to keep in mind here is that, if a lender does approve you for a loan, the terms will not be favorable to you. That means your interest rates would be higher than for someone with good credit. You may also have to pay annual fees for the life of the loan, whereas someone with a high credit score might not have to pay any fee at all.

Improving Your Credit Score

It is never too late to start improving your credit score. Doing so can open all kinds of doors to the future you want to make for yourself and your family. We have written about the ways to boost your credit score fast.

Here are a few methods:

• Start paying your bills on time – pay off your credit card bills in full every month. This shows you are responsible with your credit.
• Lower your credit utilization rate – one way to pay off those bills on time is simply to spend less if you can help it. Eliminate unnecessary purchases so you can ultimately use less of your available credit each month. Reducing that percentage over time will help raise your score.
• Correct credit report errors – your credit reports, which explain your credit history in greater detail than a score does, may contain errors that artificially lower your score. Check over your reports and ensure the credit bureau that produced it fixes any mistakes.
• Get a credit card now if you have no credit history – having no credit history can hurt you, too. The longer you hold credit, the higher your score will tend to be. Make small, responsible purchases with your new card every month, and you can start building credit.

Credit Scores Matter in Many Ways

As you can tell, good credit scores are necessary to get a lot done in life. They are also a large part of how Homeowner Funding does business.

In explaining to our customers how home improvement loans work, we remind people that good credit is often necessary to qualify for such a loan, or at least for a favorable one. Low credit scores could wind you up with a low loan amount, high interest rates, or no loan at all. This all comes back to the point we made above: bad credit can stop your life in its tracks. Good credit is the key to opportunity.

We hope you have learned from this beginner’s guide to credit scores. Building good credit isn’t rocket science, but it also doesn’t take much to ruin a good score with bad spending habits. Stay conservative with your credit, and all kinds of exciting options will become available, from financing your home improvement projects to buying that first house.

Most home improvement projects are extremely expensive, so few people can pay for this out of pocket. If you’re planning your first large home renovation project, you might be wondering how to pay for home improvements. To afford home repairs, most people turn to home improvement loans. These loans are specifically meant for homeowners to get access to funding that can help them tackle their home improvements. You can spend the money how you need to, and then pay it off later.

While home improvement loans can make completing your home improvements possible, you do need to consider your credit score. Many require you to have a high credit score, but finding home loans with bad credit is possible.

Here are a few ways to get a home loan with bad credit. 

Government Home Improvement Loans 

Many people who are looking for home improvement loans look at what’s offered by private lenders. However, private lenders aren’t your only option, especially if you have a low credit score. There are many government loans available that are intended to help people afford home improvements who might not qualify for private home improvement loans. Government home improvement loans can help various groups of people get access to funding they wouldn’t be able to get from a private lender. Where you live, your income, and how old you are can all affect what type of loans you can qualify for. 

Energy Efficiency Home Improvement Loans

Making energy-efficient home improvements is extremely beneficial. While many home improvement loans can be used for whatever project you have lined up, some are intended to be used for specific projects, such as loans for energy-efficient home improvements. There are many great reasons to make energy-efficient and many of the reasons to make this change go beyond you. Having an energy-efficient home can help you save a significant amount of money over time, which is why many people decide to do this. Your choice to be more energy-efficient affects everyone and can positively impact the environment. Because of this, you may be able to qualify for a special energy-efficient home improvement loan to help you create a greener home. 

Work With Homeowner Funding

Applying for any type of loan is often a hassle. Figuring out what home improvement loan is right for you is always difficult, especially when you have to worry about your credit score. Homeowner Funding is an NRIA program provider, meaning that one of our main goals is to help you get access to special funding for your home repair projects. Even if you’re struggling with a low credit score, we can work with you to find a funding option that will fit your needs. We work with many programs that help homeowners get access to funding for whatever improvements they need. 

At Homeowner Funding, we know how important it is to be able to complete the improvements and repairs that your home needs. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you get renovation loans for bad credit. 

Most of us have long lists of things we want to do around the house. Between urgent, necessary  repairs and cosmetic changes to make a house feel more like a home, houses require a lot of professional work. No matter how good of a caretaker you are, eventually, repairs will need to be done throughout the house. Any homeowner who has owned their home for a long time or has a fixer upper, will eventually need to do some repairs and remodels. Going through a remodel can be stressful when your house is being worked on, but figuring out how to finance your home remodel is often the worst part. 

Here are a few ways you can get home improvement funding.

Personal Loans

When many people wonder how they’ll afford the costs of a remodel, a personal loan is often the solution. A personal loan gives you easy access to the funds you need and can be used for whatever your remodel requires. Personal loans often require you to have a great credit score, which can cause issues for some. If you have a bad credit score, you could be stuck with high interest rates. This can be a good choice if you have a high credit score, but you might want to either work on improving it or look into other options if you don’t. 

Government Loans

A loan from the government might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you’re trying to find out how to pay for your home improvement project. Government loans can be great, but not everyone will qualify for them. Many government home improvement loans are intended to give people who might not qualify for loans from private lenders access to funding. There are several government loans that can be used for home remodels in certain situations, like loans just for homes in rural areas.  

Home Equity Lines of Credit

If you know that your home remodel projects are going to be on-going, a home equity line of credit could be helpful. A HELOC gives you access to funds that you can use over a period of time when you need it, and you can use as much or as little of your total amount as you need. For a home equity line of credit, you’ll need to put your home up as collateral. While this can be a big risk to take if you’re worried about paying it off, you can often get much lower interest rates because of it, so it can be worth considering.  

Let Homeowner Funding Help You Find Funding

There are many routes you can go to get funding your home remodel, and not all of them are the right choice for you. When you need a lot of funding to cover the cost of a project like home additions, it’s extremely important to understand what your options are and what will work for you. At Homeowner Funding, we can help you tackle your home remodel project and get the funds you need to make it happen. 

If you’re trying to figure out how to pay for home improvements, let us make it easy for you. Contact us today to get started. 

In a perfect world, you can pay for whatever you need out of pocket and not worry about finding assistance or applying for loans. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for most people. When you have a big expense, you’ll likely have to get help paying for it. This is the case for many home improvement projects, which are usually extremely expensive. Getting funding for projects like this can be overwhelming, but it helps to understand what options are available. 

Choosing the right home improvement funding program is the most important part of your home improvement project. Here are a few ways you can find funding that works for you. 

Consider Your Credit Score

Many people who are planning home improvement projects use home improvement loans to get access to funding. This is a get, easy to use choice, but it isn’t for everyone. Like any loan, you need to have a good credit score to qualify. If you have a high credit score, there’s a good chance that getting a loan for your home improvement project will be the best route for you. With a low credit score, getting a home improvement loan can end up hurting you over time, so there could be better options for you. Those who have a low credit score and want a home improvement loan can end up with high interest rates, so this is an important aspect to consider when you need funding. 

Look at What’s Available for Your Exact Project

Depending on what your home improvement project is, you might be able to use certain funding programs. If your project has specific programs that you can qualify for, this might be a better option for you. For example, if you need new roof funding, you might find programs specifically meant to help people pay for a new roof. This gives you more options to choose from and could be a good choice if you don’t want to take out a loan. However, these programs might not be available for everyone’s renovation project or might only be available for certain demographics. 

Research Government Funding

Government programs help make home improvement projects possible for many people. Government home improvement grants to cover your next project or federal loans are both options for people who need certain home repairs completed. These programs are extremely important, as they typically help provide funding to people who would have a hard time getting it other ways. There aren’t a huge number of government programs available to help people pay for home improvements, but the available ones can make a huge difference to the people who need them. These programs can benefit people who need home repairs but have difficulty paying for it due to circumstances like their income, age, or disability. 

Finance Your Project With Homeowner Funding

At Homeowner Funding, helping people complete their home improvement projects is our goal. We know how difficult it can be to find funding and go through home repairs, but it doesn’t have to be. With our experience and resources, we can make finishing your home improvement projects easier than you thought possible.

Contact us to learn more about how we can help.