Remodeling, renovation and decorating projects are all ways to put your own distinctive stamp on your home so it reflects your own personal tastes and lifestyle. In many cases, it can add to the re-sell value of the property too. Unfortunately, many of us don’t have the money to pay for everything upfront. One solution, of course, is to save and make gradual changes to the property – perhaps tackling improvements in the order of their urgency or by doing the work systematically room by room. If you’re impatient to get started, however, an alternative might be to borrow money, but what are your options?
For smaller projects, the answer might be to borrow money online. Cashfloat UK offer fast and streamlined loans which can be enough to help finance a redecoration project. Another way to pay for the brightening up of a room is to use your credit card. This can be especially cost-effective if you have an introductory deal on its interest rate, but only if the outstanding balance is paid off in full during the introductory period. The extra advantage is that amounts of over £100 are protected by Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.
Neither of these possibilities makes good financial sense if you are intending to do major restructuring or are undertaking larger projects. In this case, you could take out a personal loan. Depending on their size, their term is usually 1-7 years which allows you to pay for the home improvements gradually over a longer period. Most mainstream lenders are prepared to offer sums for home improvements varying from £5,000-£50,000. Secured personal loans (usually using your property as collateral) have lower interest rates, but the property could be at risk if you default on the loan repayments.
Apart from these loans, you could also borrow money from your mortgage provider by refinancing your mortgage. This is only feasible if you have built up some equity in the property. A further advance (as it’s known) is treated as a new credit application so you’ll have to go through the whole procedure again – from arrangement fees to a credit check – even though you may have been a customer for years.
Instead of refinancing your mortgage from the same lender, the ideal solution might be to shop around for a new mortgage from a different provider. If you’ve built up equity in the property, this can also be a way to get a much cheaper deal on your mortgage agreement as well as to release some cash to pay for your home improvements.
Before you make arrangements to borrow any money, you should weigh up all your options extremely carefully. Drawing up a list of projected costs is also recommended. In this way, you’ll be able to estimate accurately how much you need to borrow. Borrowing too much will cost you more in interest while if you apply for an insufficient loan, you risk not being able to finish the project.