Friday, October 30, 2009

Getting Refinancing and Your Home Improvement Loan

By Henry L. Pikus

Refinancing packages are often referred to as a "refi" and getting one depends on the type of refi package you are seeking, if you are experienced or have done this before and ultimately based on your credit history. Idea credit brings A-loan package deals and less than perfect credit can increase your interest rates but still guarantee your loan with B-and C-loan package deals. Shopping for the right refi and taking advantage of a low interest rate during market times can be a complicated process. Here are a few simple thoughts about how to refinance and get the funding you are searching for.

What are your options with refinancing? For example, you may want to get a home loan through refinancing for home improvements or for cash. In that case, it looks intimidating, but it's not as hard as it looks. You can take a second mortgage on your house or you can take out a home equity loan when you refinance so that you can fix your house up.

If you're looking to do some home improvement, before you start, take a look around and see what you want to do. Is what you're going to do going to make your home more valuable? How much is the remodel going to cost you -- or the addition, or the energy efficiency improvement, and so on? Once you figure out what you want, find reputable contractors in your area and get quotes from them. You could also be looking at having to repair your home because it's experienced some damage and your insurance company is going to foot the bill for it, such as if your roof has been damaged, and you want to be doing some home improvement while it's being fixed. That's a pretty big job to take on, so make sure everything is in order.

A home improvement loan is like borrowing money for a time from your house to fix it up so that in time it might be worth more in the long run and then you make your money back and the investment is worth more to you and to the bank as collateral for your mortgage. This type of loan can be looked at from a business perspective or a personal one either way the job gets done and your house is improved. The work should be done on the home so that the value increases, this is the key. If the value does not increase than the loan was not worth it, and the improvements did not "improve" your house. Lenders often look at this in terms of market trends and economic conditions before a home improvement loan is authorized. One thing to keep in mind though is that if the loan is taken out and then the work is not done and the money not used for the purpose it was intended, than the possibility of refinancing in the future is less of an option.

First look at this question: is a home improvement loan and there are refinancing solutions for that. If you are fixing up your home, a home equity line of credit may be available also from a lender. You do not always need to get a refi package for just your home needs, perhaps it is a personal loan which can be used for a variety of valid purposes, whether to aid in going back to school, whether it is that you need to pay off hospital bills or are getting married or so on, personal loans are also available at the bank and through various lenders and are options to consider.

When you're looking to refinance, state what you want to do clearly, whether it be for home improvement loans or something else. Be completely clear and up front with your lenders so that they can tell you what your options are based upon the right information. You can talk to a loan officer or representative to find the right solution for you and make sure you've done the proper homework before you start so that the interest rate you find is the lowest possible; you may even want to compare interest rate quotes with other lenders to see if the lender you want will match an offer from another lender. Oftentimes, this will get you a very good deal, since lenders will compete with each other to get your business.

Home improvement loans are an option in a refinancing package, they give you the option to take money out on your home's value or equity in order to make repairs and improvements, or to large scale things such as additions and remodel jobs to your home that may increase its value long term. But you need to consider the investment and make sure your home improvements increase home value, during a recession the deflation of home values and inflation of interest rates can sometimes throw this off or if you live in an location that is not growing as fast as it was a few years ago, home improvement loans do not always get approved for the fact that the home may not be worth more after doing the work and a home improvement loan should only be done if the remodel projects that you are going to conduct end up increasing the value of the home.

What does all this mean? You need to find the solution that best fits your needs and then refinance so that you can start your home improvements. To do this, talk to a lender (or several), find yourself a reputable contractor, and also seek advice from friends and family and how they have gotten home improvement loans if this is appropriate. Once you've done your homework, you may be on your way to refinancing so that you can make the improvements to your home you want and need.

About the Author:

No comments:

Post a Comment