Financing Home Improvements

Ruby_Hepburn

Hi all,

Not sure if this is in the right section.

Completed on our first home last week. It has taken 6months to get to this point and we have managed to save nearly £10k towards home improvements. We had planned what needed spending and where. Unfortunately when we got the keys and my dad (who is a builder) have it a proper once over, we have come to realise it's unlikely we can afford all the essentials (even with my dad working for free and pulling in favours from his friends in the industry)

Getting to my point....myself and my other half have been discussing ways to fund things (if at all) and possibly borrowing £6k (we have around £500 a month spare cash)

1. Loan. Over maybe 5 years. Having to pay interest is off putting!

2. 0% Credit card. Over maybe 2 years. Cost £250 a month. Possibility some of the trades won't take credit card payment

3. Credit card money transfer. Over 2 years. Same as above but with a fee of maybe £100 but means we have the cash needed

4. Nothing. Keep saving (which is difficult as we now pay a mortgage and rent to live with the in laws)

Question then becomes which job don't we do. Boiler and heating is essential. if we do the rewire whilst we don't live there it will (apparently) save us a couple of thousand. Bathroom doesn't work properly. property isn't secure and needs a new front door.

I can see both sides to the argument. My other half doesn't want us to burden ourselves with debt but of we can get it as cheap as possible, it makes more sense to do it before we move in.

Is borrowing for home improvements an MSE way of doing things?

DRP

Does the work need doing, or is it something you want to do?

If the former, then get saving, do the work in phases, or lower your ambitions a bit (i.e. budget kitchen rather than the super-deluxe).

If the latter then I would loan - it will be fixed payments that you can budget for, and you get the sum in cash (as you say, CC will be difficult with some/all tradesmen).

Ruby_Hepburn

Everything is being done on the cheap anyway. Well as cheap as it can be sourced. My dad being a builder helps there too. My other half is helping with the building works so that cuts the cost of external labour.

My thinking is, we do the work now, and when we come to remortgage our LTV will be better. We will have to pay off the debts before remortgaging though. Shouldn't be an issue for that.

Someone I know has mentioned a potential issue with getting credit at a new address. I'm not sure how it all works (or whether I would better posting in a different part of the forum) but as we aren't living there, everything (bar mortgage etc) is still registered where we currently live

dominoman

Ruby_Hepburn wrote: »

My thinking is, we do the work now, and when we come to remortgage our LTV will be better. We will have to pay off the debts before remortgaging though. Shouldn't be an issue for that.

If house prices rise then you'll have a better LTV when you remortgage. If house prices fall you've have a lower LTV. Works you do will make sod all difference to the assessor, who probably will do a drive-by valuation at best.

Decide what you most need to do. If you are sure you want a rewire then that is worth doing first, but needs to be planned with other work like replastering.

Once you've done the "disruptive" work like wiring, then you can relax and take time with the rest - finishing one room at a time.