Is a Home Renovation Loan Right For You? Return to Articles
Disclaimer: This blog may contain affiliate links .
I love Seattle. Growing up in neighboring Portland, the city to the north has always captured my heart. I relocated to Colorado for my first job, where I met my husband and we settled down. Fast forward twenty-one years and I am counting the days until our daughter graduates high school. While I love the sun and the outdoor lifestyle, I am hell bent on moving back to lush tress, fresh air and water….lots and lots of water.
My husband and I are A-type, control-freak planners, so of course we started perusing the housing inventory blissfully ignoring the headlines about Seattle’s hot housing market. Then reality set in. Here are our current options…
1) Pay over $1M USD
2) Buy a relatively modern condo, but don’t even think of finding anything bigger than 900 sqft
3) Go the “fixer upper” route which means renovating a 1960’s dump that hasn’t been touched since it was built.
Despair was starting to set in as we loosened our “must have” list and expanded our search radius. But then I came across this article by Michele Lerner in the Washington Post, Freddie Mac introduced ChoiceRenovation , a renovation loan program allowing buyers to wrap both the purchase price and the financing of home renovation projects into one loan. Current homeowners who are interested in doing home improvements can also refinance with a renovation loan. In addition to Freddie Mac’s new product, the FHA and Fannie Mae already had the following products on the market: FHA’s 203K and Fannie Mae’s HomeStyle.
Now that I know these options exist, they are definitely worth exploring and also help bring a bit more optimism to our home search. When it comes time, we will discuss the nuances of each program with a mortgage expert as each product comes with its own set of rules and restrictions. For instance if you use FHA’s 203K program, you will be required to work with a HUD-approved 203k consultant.
Assuming documentation and reporting are also requirements, this is where you will need RezDox to help digitize your home improvement details. Not only will RezDox help you manage contractors and product information, but also more importantly you will be able to track the equity you have gained with each project. If you are in the midst of major renovations or simply want a better way to digitize your regular maintenance, I encourage you to create a FREE RezDox account.
RezDox is a social networking website focused on the residential real estate industry, helping homeowners manage their home's history, contacts and investments. Our mission is to encourage homeowners to connect, document, report and understand the equity built into their greatest asset. Contact us so we can help you create a FREE home history report for your property.
Trachelle Spencer
Co-Founder CEO, RezDox
720.722.2887
Join our bi-monthly newsletter.
Get all of the latest insights and our exclusive content!