Surveys have shown that more than half of all homes in the United States are need of repairs and updates, and thankfully making home repairs has never been easier.
When it comes to making home repairs, the sky is the limit. Want to put a new roof on your home? Pick the type of roof you want, hire the contractor, and get to put up your new roof. Want to build a new backyard fence? Pick the material you want, hire a fence builder, and off you go.
Yes, doing repairs on your home has never been easier. But the biggest question you probably have when it comes to making home repairs is about paying for home repairs. You might want to completely redo your kitchen, but you’re probably wondering how the heck you’re going to pay for it.
But don’t fret. Whether you want to go big and redo a bedroom or you want to go small and put up a backyard fence or just make some small repairs, there are many ways you can go about paying for home repairs. They don’t have to break the bank and some of them you can even do on a budget.
With that in mind, here are some ways you can finance future home repair projects:
Sell Your Jewelry
If you’re wondering how to pay for home repairs and you’re in need of some cash fast, one thing you can do is sell your gold. The price of gold is always fluctuating, but gold is something that is always in demand and if you’ve got some jewelry that you don’t wear, you can easily take it to a cash for gold shop or pawn shop and get a fair price for it.
If you’re going to sell gold, be sure to clean it before you take it anywhere. This makes it more attractive to buyers and helps restore its luster. You can clean it very easily with some warm water, some dish soap, and a toothbrush.
One thing to keep in mind about selling gold is that the price you’re going to get for it is based on the current market value and not what you might have paid for it. You might have paid a couple of thousand dollars for a really expensive necklace, bracelet, or pendant, but if your jewelry is very old, it’s obviously not going to draw as much as it would have if it was brand new.
If you’re not sure about whether or not you want to sell your jewelry, determine the purity of your gold, call a pawn shop, and ask what they might take for what you have to offer. If you like what you’re told, then you can take it in, sell it, and put the money toward paying for home repairs.
Have An Estate Sale
Another way of paying for home repairs is to have an estate sale. This is different than a yard sale because what usually happens is a professional real estate company oversees the sale of your items and then keeps a portion of the profits. If you think this is the way to go, a real estate attorney can help you set everything up so that it goes smoothly.
A real estate attorney knows all about residential real estate like yours and can give you some idea of how much you can expect to make from a sale, especially in the event that you inherit property.If you’re planning on moving, and planning on getting all new stuff, then an estate sale may be a good idea. Otherwise, if you just are trying to do some home repairs, it might be a better idea to have a yard sale.
Have A Yard Sale
You may think that no one wants what you have, but if you have a yard sale you just might surprise yourself. Given the right location, the right date, and the right items, you can make plenty of money which will go a long way toward paying for home repairs.
If you’re planning on having a yard sale, here are some tips for really making it worth your while:
- Location: if you live in the middle of the country, or you don’t have much room to park on your property, then you might want to look for a better spot. Ultimately you want to make sure people see what you have to offer.
- Timing: if you’re planning a yard sale, you might want to start early. There are plenty of people who love to go yard sale shopping and have no problem showing up at your property at 8 a.m., ready to look over what you have.
- Signage: Even if you’re trying to save money for paying for home repairs, good signage can go a long way toward a successful yard sale. You need to make your information as clear as possible, listing where you live and the date and time of the sale. You might even consider listing some big items that you have for sale.
- Set fair prices: Obviously you’re having a yard sale to make a lot of money, but you need to price everything so that it feels like a deal to the customer. If you’re having trouble with that a good idea is that new and unused items get priced at 50% of the original price, slightly used items are priced at 30% of the original price, and used items will go for 10% of the original price. If you’ve got some bulk items such as movies, CDs, or dishes, you can even make some of those items buy one, get one deals.
By staging a good yard sale, you’ll have plenty of money to work with after the fact and you’ll be able to make that long put off chimney repair to fix a pesky chimney leak in no time. Before you have yard sale though, make sure you have plenty of cash on hand so you can make change for customers and put all the good stuff that you have to offer in plain sight so that nobody overlooks it.
Consider Other Options
You might be thinking to yourself, “I want to do some much-needed home repairs, but I don’t want to sell all my stuff to do it.”
Fortunately, you don’t have to. It doesn’t matter what kind of home repairs you might be paying for, but there are plenty of other options that you can use that don’t involve getting rid of all your prized possessions.
Take Out A Home Equity Loan
Maybe you need to do an essential Maytag repair on your washer or dryer. Maybe you’re in need of some new patio furniture and you’ve been searching where to buy Amish furniture online for several months. Whatever kind of work you need to do, a home equity loan is a good tool for paying for home repairs.
Home equity loans work by paying you a lump sum of money that is readily available. Once everything is all set, then you can select an option of how many years you’d like to repay the loan with fixed monthly payments. The good news is you can go any number of places to get a home equity loan, but you may find some of the best rates at one of your local credit unions.
Refinancing Your Mortgage
By refinancing your mortgage, you get a totally new one and replace the one that you currently have on your home, but this also comes with a new interest rate.
On the plus side, by refinancing your mortgage you’ll get to cash in on the difference between the two loans. So, for example, if your new loan is greater than your current mortgage, then the extra money from the refinancing is yours to do what you want with. By refinancing, you’ll have plenty of extra money that will go toward paying for home repairs and essential ones at that.
Look Into Government Loans
If you’re looking to get your hands on some money and want to avoid the trouble of interest insurance payments, then government loans are the way to go.
When it comes to home renovations, there are two types of government loans you can use. The FHA Title 1 loan entitles you to borrow up to 25,000 without having to own any equity. The second option is a VA Cash out refinance loan. Essentially this works by guaranteeing that the loan amount you get is equal to the value of your home. The catch here is that you have to pay insurance and interest on this type of loan.
Use Social Media
If you don’t want to go through the physical process of having a yard sale, it’s never been easier to have a virtual one. How is this possible? Everyone sells things via social media these days, whether you’re selling on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, or some other way.
All you have to do is take some pictures of the item you’re selling, post it online with a little bit of information, and wait for people to respond. If you got a big-ticket item, you’ll be hearing from people faster than you can keep up with them.
What’s also great about selling your belongings via social media is that you can post information that includes the buyer coming and hauling the item away. Let’s say for example that you’re selling a washer and dryer. As long as you can get the washer and dryer to an easily accessible area in your house, then all you have to do is stand back and watch them carry it out before they give you the money.
If you’re moving across the country for a new job and you got brand new furniture, then you can hire a reputable moving and storage service to come and truck your belongings where you need to go. But if you’re in the market for new appliances and you’ve got some used ones that you’re trying to get rid of, then posting them for sale on Facebook Marketplace or on Craigslist is a way to get rid of them fast. Heck, you might even get rid of them within a few hours of posting them.
Do The Repairs Yourself
One way that’s guaranteed to help you avoid paying for home repairs is very simple: make the repairs yourself.
Even if you don’t consider yourself very handy, it’s never been easier to learn new skills, especially when it comes to renovation projects. These days you can go on YouTube and watch videos for hours on just about any type of home repair. You can also visit your local home improvement store where employees can give you all the information you need on specific repairs and might even offer classes for the type of repairs that you’re looking to make.
By making repairs yourself, you’ll not only save yourself a lot of money, but you’ll learn some valuable skills that you can use in the future. Let’s say for example that you want to renovate your guest bedroom. By taking the time to learn how to renovate, whether that’s putting up new wallpaper, or installing new flooring or working on wood flooring refinishing, you’ll be able to take those skills and apply them in the future if you should ever want to renovate another room like your master bedroom.
Wait
It’s been said that patience is a virtue and that’s especially true when it comes to home renovations and repairs. If you’re a little short on money and want to avoid paying for home repairs, another thing you can do is simply wait.
As badly as you might want to do some home repairs, waiting might be the best thing for you. Why? For one thing, this gives you time to figure out just how much your project might cost, what materials you’ll need, how everything is going to come together, and whether or not you might want to hire a contractor to do the job.
A good idea might be to wait until after tax season. A local tax CPA can go through your taxes, tell you what you’ll expect to pay, and what you might get in terms of a refund. If you know you’ve got a sizeable refund check on the way, you can plan your project knowing that you’ll already have some funds to work with.
Paying for home repairs doesn’t have to break the bank. With a little planning, you can pull off the perfect home improvement project at a price you can afford.