Home ownership can be more of a money pit than most admit. There are constant costs, many of which are larger than new homeowners expect. Unfortunately, the cost of an emergency home repair can be above and beyond what some homeowners can reasonably afford. Unless you’re able to work out a payment plan ahead of time, you’ll need to find a way to get access to a significant amount of money up front. Below are eight of the ways you can pay for your home repairs even if you do not have much cash on hand.
Save and Try for Triage
Triage is a medical term that refers to the assigning of priority to certain wounds or illnesses over the others. Simply put, it’s the idea of fixing what needs to be fixed now and leaving the rest for later. If you have several home repairs that need to be done, it’s a good idea to set priorities and then start saving for the repairs.
The problem with saving, of course, is that the issues can get worse as time goes on. When it comes to major repairs, it may also prove impossible to save up enough money in a reasonable amount of time. If you’re looking for basic repairs, though, you should always consider saving up to take care of them when possible.
Use the Card
One of the best reasons to use a credit card is for emergency home repair. It’s always good to be smart with your credit accounts, of course, and you never want to put yourself in a position where you’d go over your limit. Doing so will contribute to a poor credit score and make it harder for you to pay off the card in the future. If you’ve got an emergency repair, though, your card might be the lifeline that you so desperately need.
Check to see if you can get your repair done under the limit of your card. If you can’t, you might want to see if you can get your limit raised. Most card companies will at least consider raising your limit if you have made your payments on time for a year or more in a row. While having enough available isn’t a given, it’s one of the best ways to get your repairs done without having to look for new sources of funding.
Check Your Insurance
If you own a home, you probably have homeowner’s insurance. While insurance policies don’t always cover the types of repairs that you might need to have done, you might be surprised by what’s in your policy. Dig out the paperwork to see if your current needs are covered and, if necessary, call up your agent to figure out if insurance will foot at least part of the bill. This will almost certainly cause your insurance rates to go up, but it will also take a huge burden off ofyour shoulders.
Note that you should check any warranty or insurance policies that you might have on the part of your home that was damaged. You might have a warranty on your HVAC system, for example, or your roof might have a lifetime guarantee. Use your warranties whenever you can to avoid having to pay out massive amounts of cash.
Take Out a Home Equity Loan
One of the best parts of owning a home for a long time is getting equity. As you pay down your mortgage, you will have more and more value against which you can draw in the future. While new homeowners might not have much equity, those who have had a home for a decade or more could legitimately have tens of thousands of dollars against which they can draw. If you haveequity, you might want to take out a home equity loan to get the cash for your repairs.
Be careful with home equity loans, though. They can definitely set you back in your attempts to pay off your home. If you have a repair that you can’t otherwise cover, though, your home equity loan might be easy and fast enough to make sure that you can solve your problem.
Go DIY
If you’ve got at least a little bit of home-repair knowledge and access to the internet, you can save quite a bit of money by doing the work yourself. There are tutorials for virtually every type of home repair on the internet, and you might be amazed how little you have to spend on materials versus what you have to spend on labor. If you are willing to put in some hard work, you might be able to repair your home for a fraction of the price that you’d thought that you would spend.
DIY isn’t always a good idea, though. If there is a major problem or a specialized system, you do run the risk of making the problem worse by doing the job yourself. You will also be putting yourself in a situation in which you are relying on an amateur’s work to fix your house, so be careful with this choice. Try to balance your need for saving money with your desire to get the job done correctly.
Find a Handyman
There are many emergency home repairs that might not really need the help of a licensed and bonded professional. For those minor problems, you might want to call on a local handyman to get the job done. Handymen tend to charge a fraction of the price of contractors, but they do much of the same work. They’re not going to be able to help you with major structural problems or with major electrical issues, but these individuals might be able to help you patch a wall or fix a leak.
As you might expect, there are always risks when working with a handyman. You aren’t guaranteed the same type of service, and these individuals rarely offer any type of guarantee on their work. If you are very low on cash and you absolutely can’t get help otherwise, though, these are the people with whom you want to work. Ask around and find someone reliable so that you can feel comfortable having that person work on your home.
Get a Personal Loan
Taking out a personal loan is one of the easiest ways to get money for home repairs. Personal loans tend to be designed for those who have good credit with the means to pay back the money over a reasonable amount of time. These loans are given out by companies who specialize in providing funding to individuals.
While personal loans are very useful, it’s important to remember that these are still loans. You should always consider if you can afford to make your payments every month. You should not enter into any financial agreement that you cannot pay off. If you do enough shopping around, though, you might be able to find a company that can help you get the money you need at a pricethat is reasonable for your situation.
If for ever reason you have bad credit and still need a loan, you can request for a online payday loan through this website. However remember Payday Loans are designed for a shorter duration loan.
Emergency Home Repair When Low on Cash
Your final option for affording home repairs might be to look for discounts or freebie programs. Most cities and suburbs have charity organizations that donate time or labor to those in need, so you can check with those organizations to see if you qualify. You might not get your repairs done for free, but you might get them done in a way that allows for you to pay the organization back over time.
As you might imagine, there is plenty of demand for this type of program. As such, you’ll probably have to wait even if you do qualify. If you have a true emergency, you may have to find a stopgap measure to temporarily solve the problem while you wait for your repairs to be started. This is, however, one of the best options for those who have no reasonable way to pay for their repairs.
If you need to make a home repair, there are probably ways for you to pay for the process. Whether you need to save money, take out a personal loan, or do the job yourself, you can bring your home back to a livable state. You may have to get creative to get the funding that you need, but there are always options available for those who look hard enough.