As we all know, one of the biggest investments in life you will make is buying a home. You can consider your house an investment, and thus – you will want to make it even stronger. What Florida real estate offers is great grounds for this. Because of that, it would be quite a shame for such a huge investment to go to waste. One way in which you can build upon your initial investment is by renovating your home. This is the perfect time to look into some of the best home improvement loans in Florida. In this article, we take a look at different aspects of different loans. We share with you different types of loans, what to look out for, and which lenders to pick.
Types of home improvement loans in Florida
There are two types of loans you can pick from. There are the home equity loans, as well as the personal loans. Let’s look into both in greater detail.
The home equity loan can be a long-term process
First, let’s look into the home equity loans. This is a second mortgage that you get for a fixed amount of money. Your home secures it. You pay back the fixed amount to the lender on a monthly basis. If you fail to do so, they can foreclose your home.
There are many advantages to this type of loan. First, they usually have a lower interest rate than the credit card loans. The reason for this is simple – the lender has less risk. They have collateral to take if anything bad happens, and so they lower the interest rate because of it. Also, you can take more money than you would in the personal loans (which max out at $50,000). Of course, this depends on your home. You can borrow 85 percent of your home’s value, once you reduce the sum you owe to your current mortgage. Finally, this loan may be tax deductible if both your mortgages don’t exceed $750,000.
There are also a couple of drawbacks to this type of loan. First, once you draw on your home equity, it stops being one and becomes a second mortgage. Then, there is that risk of foreclosure that you might have in your mind at all times. Also, if you are using a long-term home equity for one of the short-term home improvement loans in Florida, then you will have to pay more interest than when using other loans. For example, home equity loans can go up to 30 years, while personal ones are no more than seven. Finally, if you decide to sell your home, then you will need to pay off all mortgages – including the home equity loan. So, you will have to deal with that along with the real estate closing procedure on top of it.
Personal loans are another type of home improvement loans in Florida you can consider
The personal loan can be looked at as quite an opposite of the home equity loan. Your house is not a guarantee here – so you will need to be creditworthy. However, they too have fixed monthly payments that you can plan for. The time in which you need to pay off your loan, however, is shorter. It is usually two to five years, instead of home equity’s thirty.
The good thing with this type of loans is that you do not need any equity. Even if you don’t have much in your home, you can qualify for the loan. Therefore, professional movers in Miami, as well as other experts, recommend you pick up on this type of loan if you don’t have significant equity sitting in your home. You can also use this for small home improvements. The bottom limit is as little as $1,000, whereas the least you can get with the home equity loan is $10,000.
Of course, these might be disadvantages for some people. Because they are usually short-term payments, the interest rate will be bigger. This means you will be paying more for the same amount of money you would get with the home equity loan. If you are getting a big loan, then the short-term payment period will not suit you. You will end up spending a lot of money each month paying off a huge debt. In cases such as this, it might be better to get the home equity loan.
Now, let’s take a look at some of the best home improvement loans in Florida that you can get.
LightStream
Light Steam, a division of SunTrust Bank, might be offering the best APRs that you can find. When it comes to home improvements, they start at 4.99% (with the AutoPay discount). This is close to what you would get to the home equity loan – which is pretty low. Their limit is $100,000 – which is great if you are going for a bigger home improvement. Finally, there are no other fees – only the interest.
However, their standards can get pretty high. You will need stellar credit, good income and a history of responsible saving. A disadvantage for some would be that the only aim of their loans is home improvements – but since that is what we are looking into, this will not be a problem.
Avant
Let`s imagine how a second that everything is ready for your home renovation. You have already found affordable storage South Florida and you are ready to start remodeling your home, but your credit is not the best. In such a situation, Avant might be the way to go. It is more versatile and available to more borrowers – because they focus on a lower minimum qualifying credit score. Their ARPs are from 9.95% up to 35.99%, and the money you can get is from $2,000 to $35,000.
You might not like Avant if you do not enjoy or are anxious about working with new companies. This startup is also wide-spread – but might not be available in your state.
There are other home improvement loans in Florida that you can look into, too. They might be worth a check – depending on what you are looking into.
