How To Invest In Those Much-Needed Home Improvements Without Breaking The Bank

Did you know that around 85% of U.S. homes built prior to 1980 are in need of home improvements? Whether they need new floors, appliances, or a variety of repairs, such an investment can leave a serious mark on your financial health and history; if you’re not prepared to handle the costs, you can end up with a tanked credit score and sky-high interest fees. Let’s take a look at a few of the ways you can avoid this nightmare scenario and ensure that your home improvements actually improve your life.

Save, save, and save some more.

The bottom line is: home improvements aren’t cheap. Whether you’re looking to put your house on the market or are simply trying to make it more liveable, you’re going to need to have some capital tucked away to pull from. Although everyone should have a nest egg for emergency costs, it isn’t a bad idea to have designated savings accounts for specific purposes; when your money is physically removed from your checking account, you’ll be less likely to spend it and more likely to let it grow to a sizeable amount. Consider what needs to be fixed or improved and figure out how much it’s going to run you. The following examples can give you a rough estimate of some of the more major home improvement costs.

• New roof — $18,488
• New vinyl siding — $11,192
• Basement remodel — $61,303
• Deck addition — $9,327
• Attic bedroom — $47,919

Once you know what your savings goal is, you can start pulling money from other areas of your life until it is reached.

Know when to splurge and when to save.

Not all home improvement projects are created equal; there are times when splurging is well worth it and times when penny-pinching is more ideal. The easiest and most common way to do this is by performing as much of the labor as possible; painting and hanging wallpaper and the more basic projects, but setting tile and laying floors isn’t out of the question.

When it comes to options, sometimes you’ll have to sacrifice what you want for what you can afford; as beautiful and durable as cedar siding is (if properly maintained, it can last up to 75 years), quality vinyl siding costs, on average, two dollars less per square foot. When you add in the thousands of additional dollars it takes to maintain cedar siding throughout its lifespan, the cheaper option might be more suited to your budget.

Even this rule is flexible depending on your ultimate goals. If you’re putting your home on the market, investing in the extra costs of professional landscaping can actually make you more money in the long run; landscaping can add as much as 14% to the resale value of your home, which ends up easily recouping those initial costs. And even a minor kitchen remodel can have an average ROI of 82.7%. Before you decide to change or upgrade anything, consider your motivations (and maybe do a little research) to decide if it’s worth the higher costs.

If you need a home improvement loan, do your research.

It’s not always possible to save enough money ahead of time. In such situations, you’ll need to take out a home improvement loan. Just as with any other type of loan, you shouldn’t leap at the first one you find; there is a multitude of options available from a multitude of lenders, some of which will be better suited to your needs and lifestyle. That being said, most require a credit score of at least 620; the average FICO score in the U.S. was 699 as of April 2016, so you should be able to get approved as long as you’re above that. However, it’s important to remember that higher credit scores are always better!

As long as you take your time and do your research before investing in any major home improvement projects, you’ll find that you’re easily able to afford their associated costs. Before you know it, you’ll be living in a home perfectly suited to your interests and style.