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Making Your House into a Home<br />
This section has been prepared with the input from Leiman Mortgage Network and David<br />
Genuth of Builders R Us.<br />
Congratulations! Now that you’ve closed, you’re done, right? Although you’ve<br />
cleared many major hurdles, for many buyers there’s still work to be done to<br />
get the house into move-in condition.<br />
financing renovations<br />
A perennially popular way to finance home improvements<br />
is by tapping into the house’s equity,<br />
either through a home equity line of credit<br />
(HELOC) or home equity loan (HEL). In both cases,<br />
the house serves as collateral for the debt,<br />
so they should not be used without careful consideration.<br />
Small-scale<br />
improvements, like<br />
redoing a single<br />
bathroom, can often<br />
be financed most<br />
quickly and cheaply<br />
using an interest-free<br />
credit card.<br />
A HELOC is revolving credit, like a credit card,<br />
which can be tapped into as needed and repaid.<br />
Interest rates typically fluctuate over the life of the loan. In contrast, an HEL<br />
is a fixed-rate, fixed-term loan, paid back in monthly installments like your<br />
mortgage. Also like your mortgage, your ability to qualify will depend on your<br />
credit history, your outstanding debt, and your income.<br />
The FHA also offers insured loans for home improvements. Through the Title I<br />
program, you can borrow up to $25,000 for a single-family home.<br />
2017 Lakewood Home Buyer’s Guide | 79
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