Best Ways to Get the Most from Your Home Improvement Loan

Everyday people secure a home improvement loan for a wide variety of reasons. Some feel they need to upgrade rooms or build an addition for resale value purposes. Others want to improve the quality of life experience of living in the space. The different goals make it nearly impossible for someone to say, definitively, that one way or another is the best way to utilize a home improvement loan. That’s because it really comes down to maximizing the benefit you want. But for argument’s sake, let’s consider two tracts about “best” uses — lifestyle and return on investment (ROI).

Top Lifestyle Home Improvements

Employing home improvement loans to augment your relaxed enjoyment of a space is not necessarily mutually exclusive from the increased value. The difference tends to be that these upgrades enhance your qualitative experience more than return value. That being said, these are upgrades that can deliver the subtle joys you desire.

• Quiet Closing Cabinets: The sound of kitchen cabinets and drawers banging shut can be something of an annoyance. This is particularly true if you have multiple family members and young children consistently going in and out of them. New soft-closing cabinets and drawers add to the home value, but the silence is priceless.
• Install a Jacuzzi: You are unlikely to get a substantial return on investment from a hot outdoor Jacuzzi, but the quality of life experience can be other-worldly. Coming home from work with body stiffness and slipping into that warm, pulsing water with a beverage of choice is pure luxury.
• Increase Natural Light: Skylights and larger windows are generally good home improvement investments when professionally installed. But the quality natural light that is infused into a space can improve your mood and allow you to grow plants in more central areas of rooms. Increased natural light can change the way you utilize space and enjoy it.

Top ROI Home Improvements

It’s important to keep in mind that purchasing a residential property is often the most substantial investment in many people’s lives. That makes utilizing the revenue from home improvement loans a business decision, just as much as a personal one. When families believe they will sell and relocate at some juncture, these are home improvements that generally support the ROI goal.  

• Outdoor Living Spaces: Adding a deck, patio, or veranda, increases the available living space. While the square footage may not be listed on the MLS sheet when you put the property on the market, defined outdoor living spaces tend to be a significant selling point. When home improvement loans are used to furnish these spaces with built-in gas grills and kitchen accessories, buyers tend to see this as a high-functioning space.
• Bathroom Remodels: Spacious bathrooms with tile flooring and deep tubs, among other amenities, are big ROI wins. The more impressive the toilet, fixtures, shower, counter space, lighting, etc., the more likely you are to increase the list price and enjoy a quick sale. Bathroom remodels are considered top ROI home improvements.
• Kitchen Remodels: It may come as something of a surprise, but the kitchen tends to be the most occupied room in any home. If you stop and think about it, meals are prepared there, and friends and family members tend to congregate in kitchens more than any other room. Creating breakfast bars, center islands, and outfitting your kitchen with the latest energy-efficient devices adds inherent value. Kitchen remodels consistently rank among the top ROI home improvements.

Getting the best value from home improvement loans can be a matter of dollars and cents, quality of life enhancement, or whatever your goals entail. What’s truly important is that you get the best rate possible and work with reputable contractors.

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