Fixing your home and how to finance it

Protect Your Housing Investment

Your home is an investment in living as well as in savings. If neglected, it will pay no dividends. If properly maintained and improved, it will pay a high yield in comfort and usefulness for your family and in avoidance of costly repair bills.

Home improvements also tend to raise neighborhood standards and, as a result, property values. From an economic standpoint, home improvements mean higher employment, increased markets for materials and home products-and therefore a more flourishing community.

If You Do It Yourself

If you are handy with tools and have the experience, you can save money by doing many jobs yourself. But unless you are skilled in roofing, wiring, plumbing, heat systems and such, you should rely on professionals for this work.

When you buy the required materials, it pays not to skimp. Good materials are not necessarily the most expensive. What you need are products that look good, are easy to maintain, and last a long time. Buy only from reliable dealers.

Financing Improvements

As a rule, the thriftiest way to finance improvements is to pay cash. But if you lack the funds even for immediate repairs such as replacing a worn-out roof or a broken-down furnace, you should weigh the cost of borrowing against the cost of delaying the work. If you have to borrow, you want to do it in the least expensive way. Use caution when using credit card borrowing because of interest rates.

If you borrow money for the improvements, you should go to your bank or other lender and apply for a loan. After checking to see if your credit is satisfactory, the lender defines the terms of the loan and you must agree to them before signing the note. Do not proceed with home improvement plans until you understand all of the costs involved.

Today there are a number of good plans for financing home improvements on reasonable terms. What kind of loan is best for you depends primarily on the amount of money you need to borrow.

The Title I Property Improvement Loan Program

If the equity in your home is limited, the answer may be an FHA Title I loan. Banks and other qualified lenders make these loans from their own funds, and FHA insures the lender against a possible loss. This loan insurance program is authorized by Title I of the National Housing Act.

Finding a Title I Lender

To find an FHA-approved lender in your area, call HUD’s Customer Service Center toll-free: (800) 767-7468 (TTY: (800) 877-8339) for a list of lenders in your state.

Complaints about contractor fraud under the Title I program can be made by calling toll-free: (800) 347-3735 .

Equal Opportunity in Housing

The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing and related transactions–including mortgages and home improvement loans. Lenders may not deny funds or offer less favorable terms and conditions in lending on the basis of the borrower’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status (i.e., the presence or number of children in a household) or disability. In addition, lending decisions may not be based on the race, color, sex, religion, national origin, familial status or disabilities of persons associated with the borrower or with the area surrounding the property. If you believe you have been the victim of discrimination in mortgage lending on one of the prohibited bases, you may file a fair housing complaint by contacting a local fair housing advocacy group, the Office of Human Rights for your state or local government, or by calling the national Fair Housing Hotline at (800) 669-9777 (TTY: (800) 927-9275.