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With a housing market going down in the States and a slowing growth in Canada, banks are becoming stricter everyday when it comes down to lend money. They want to stop bad credit and they all hope to be back in black next semester. Therefore, they don’t want to lend money if they are not 100% to see their money back. This may come to a problem for people who would like to renovate their property and they need financing. |
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Most people are stuck in a catch-22. They want to increase their mortgage in order to finance their renovation and the bank won’t do it unless the property shows a higher value than at the time of the first mortgage. However, in order to increase the property value, you must do the renovation and you won’t get the money first.
Therefore, several people will use their credit cards and will also apply for the “Home Depot pay-in-one-year-no-interest” credit cards. After two months, the renovations are done but their credit score is hurt since they maxed out all their credit cards and they requested new one. Keep in mind that the credit reporting agencies are not aware of your project; they only see an individual maxing out all their revolving credit and requesting for more. This sounds more like somebody that lost his job than someone renovating their kitchen!
So when you go back to the bank requesting more money to pay off your credit cards; this look like you are doing a consolidation instead of creating wealth within your property. Depending on your overall situation, this still may go through, but in all cases, your banker will ask you more questions than usual. If you had the bad luck of missing a payment because you were overloaded with the renovations, then your credit score will drop seriously.
Then what is the solution?
There is an easy solution to this problem and it is to play the system. In order to play it, you must understand it
The key is to not start the renovation at all and go see your banker right away. Explain him the project and tell him how much your house should worth after renovations are completed. Ask him to submit the application with your new house value and as the renovation has been done already.
Therefore, the credit department will qualify your application according to your present situation but with the future value of the house. They will most likely approve your request but they are not dumb, they will request for an appraisal of your property as well.
However, your credit decision is usually good up to 6 months in a case of a mortgage. So you can now go and max out all your credit cards and do your renovations knowing that you will get the required amount through your mortgage at the end.
Once the renovations are completed, you ask your banker to request the appraisal, you get the new upgraded value of your property and you get your financing to pay off all your credit cards!
By doing your mortgage request this way, you will save a lot of questions, time and you will make sure you get approved in the first place.
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If I remember correctly, this was the same accounting method used by Enron and how some of the mess we are in now got started.
Granted in this case, by the time they look at the house the work has been done, but there is no guarantee that the house will be worth what you say it will be.
. . . and when they decide that your house really isn’t worth what you declared up front and deny your loan application you’ll be sitting with 30,000 on credit cards at 19% interest costing you over 5 grand a year. Why not just start saving instead?
Richard, Traciatim,
You are right; I should have mentioned that you must not over estimate the added value to your house and technically calculate less added value than what it will actually cost.
Traciatim, you are right saying that you are always best saving than borrowing for renovations.
Richard, Enron was also hiding debts through satellite companies that didn’t need to be reported in their balance sheet according to the accounting rules back then.
True. But if you watch the beggining of ‘Maxed Out’ (It is on Google Video) there is a real estate agent that admits that because the bank is loaning her the money based on what it would sell for when completed instead of actual value, she would not be able to get it. Also, if they raised the rates, she would have to foreclose (she says couldn’t afford, but same difference).
In my opinion, if you are going to renovate, do it in manageable stages and with saved money.
There is still a difference between requesting 10K – 15K for renovation and thinking that your house value will increase by 25% in the upcoming months just be doing nothing. I heard that some banks were financing up to 125% of the property value simply thinking it would go higher up in the next 2 years. It would be like borrowing 70K to renovate your property. On the other side, you won’t get financing until you do the renovation. Therefore, you better be sure that your house will increase in value
True. I remember several years back we were going to get a loan for 200% LTV with no down payment.
That was before I knew what I know now…and being laid off.
Live and learn.
Recently tried going through Home Marketing Services (a Texas lender that specializes in helping people fix their credit and afford a loan), they offered a Sub Prime mortgage AFTER we get our scores up by getting MORE debt than we already had. Needless to say, we politely said no and never talked to them again. This was actually right after the mortgage down turn started.
[...] in November, I started some home renovations in order to have a daycare at home. At the same time, I spent more money and finish a bathroom with [...]
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