Financing Your Remodel

Contractors Advice

At a recent team meeting we all discussed different things that we’re learning related to the building and remodeling world. One thing that Peter Jacobson brought to our attention is that it’s important for all of us to start informing would be clients about the delay in appraisals for their homes. He went on to explain that if homeowners are looking into refinancing their home or mortgage for a home remodel, on average it could take up to 8 weeks just to get an appraisal scheduled. Couple that with the additional steps you need to take through the financing application and you could be looking at a much longer wait to start your project.

The financing for home purchases, building or remodeling is all new to me. With that said, I thought this is a good opportunity for me to learn some more about the process and hopefully pass along some tips I find along the way.

First Things First

Here at Lake Country Builders we have some excellent resources and financial associates that we partner with for financing remodeling projects. Please reach out to us for more information if you are looking for professional assistance with this process.

Starting things off in my search, I tried to find some informative sources on the internet to get a better idea of the steps needed when looking into financing a remodel.

The first is this article provided by This Old House that makes note of several different options that can be considered when looking for a loan to finance your remodel. Give it a read and see if any of these options fit your home and the project you are thinking to do.

Another good read I found is this article by The Spruce where they provide a variety of different options including “sweat equity” to help you get your pocket book ready for your remodeling project. In this article it’s interesting to learn more about alternative ways that you can choose to finance your project or to reduce the overall cost before seeking a loan.

Finally, since we are all going through the COVID pandemic, I found this article by Intuit Mint Life to be an interesting read. Given our current situation, it points some similar paths to financing your remodel but it also makes you more aware that the economy and financing options have changed and could change more in the coming months or years. It’s great to be aware of what we are able to do now but it is also smart to learn about what may happen in the future and how it could play into when you start your remodeling project.

Sum It Up

These are just a few examples that I found to be helpful about the financing process when considering a home remodel. I’m going to reach out to our financing partners and to my financial planner friends to learn more about how they set up their clients to be financially ready for a remodeling project.

Until I report back on this in another blog post, don’t forget to start on your financing path earlier or at the same time you start your remodeling conversation with your contractor and designers.

Stay safe and stay healthy!