What is a Home Improvement Loan and How You Can Avail It

Renovating or remodelling your house is a common phenomenon and sometimes a necessity. You may want to make your dining area more spacious, or remodel your kitchen, build a small pool, make your house more energy efficient, or maybe even create a partition between rooms. Besides, you never know when you might need to spend money for urgent repairs or for some structural changes and so on. Increasing the safety and security of your home by installing advanced security systems may also be a pressing need for you. And at times, you may just want to make your house look prettier and glamorise it a bit.

All these repairs, renovations and remodelling exercises obviously require a moderate to heavy investment. And while some of you may have saved some money for such an eventuality, most people are rather financially unprepared to brace this situation. Also, the expenditure involved may not always be offset by your savings. So what do you do then? How do you finance this home improvement procedure? Well, this is where a Home Improvement Loan comes handy.

What is a Home Improvement Loan?

It is essentially a Personal Loan provided to the borrower by a bank or an NBFC (Non-Banking Financial Company) for the purpose of making an improvement or enhancement to the borrower’s home in the form of repairs, renovations, remodelling, and so forth. In rare cases (say for example, if the borrowed amount is huge or if the borrower’s credit score is not up to the mark or a combination of both) the lender demands a collateral security or a mortgage, in which case it ceases to be a Personal Loan. But more often than not, it doesn’t necessitate the provision of any security and is just a Type of Personal Loan at its core. Its features and basic structure are thus the same as those of any other Personal Loan types and the same can be observed through the following points:

No Security Required

Like with all types of Personal Loans, the borrower need not provide security to the lender for borrowing a home improvement loan.

Interest Rates

Being a type of Personal Loan, a home improvement loan bears a higher interest rate than a Home Loan or other types of secured loan. The interest rates usually vary depending upon your creditworthiness. Good credit history and a sound and steady flow of income should ensure that you avail of the loan at minimal interest rates.

Tenure & EMI Options

A home improvement loan is generally granted for a period of 1 to 5 years and you could repay it through easy instalments. This gives you enough time to make the repayments without imposing a major burden on you; a facility all the more important if you are already repaying another loan (Home Loan for example) and have corresponding EMI (Equated Monthly Instalment) payments to take care of.

How to Avail a Home Improvement Loan?

Like the features and benefits, the process of availing a home improvement loan is also quite similar to that of a Personal Loan. You could apply for such a loan by visiting your bank and submitting an application with the requisite documents including an ID proof, Proof of ownership of the property to be renovated and the income documents (salary slips, Income Tax Returns, and also the financial statements if you’re a business owner or a self-employed professional). The lender then scrutinizes and verifies your application and grants you approval if you satisfy their eligibility criteria and assure them of your ability to repay the loan on time. This process though is quite lengthy, time-consuming and also involves heavy documentation.

Alternatively, you could avail a Personal Loan online through financial service providers such as www.mymoneymantra.com. The upside of making an online application is that the length of the whole process is trimmed down to make it hassle-free and convenient for both the borrower and lender. The documentation required is strictly minimal. Moreover, you do not need to wait for approval as they usually provide you with pre- approved loan offers from the country’s premier lenders. The disbursal too is speedy and to put the icing on the cake, the interest rates are hugely attractive. Having been in business for over 28 years now, MyMoneyMantra has built a team of service-oriented professionals who are always at your service and help you make the best financial decisions. Improving your home’s condition increases its longevity and aesthetic appeal; both of which make life a lot more comfortable and pleasurable. And a Home Improvement Loan makes sure that a lack of funds doesn’t stop you from doing that!