Can I get Home Improvement Loans with Bad Credit?

For those who are wondering how to get home improvement loans with bad credit, there’s good and bad news. The good news is that these kinds of loans are often available. The bad news is that they may come with higher interest rates or more cost over time.

The general answer to the question of loan approval for bad credit customers is that many lenders have tailored products to be available to those with less than exemplary credit. This reversal of some stringent lending standards comes at a time when many around the world need credit badly. It is part of a market response to the basic ideas of supply and demand.

In order to understand how to get home improvement loans with bad credit, potential borrowers should first know about general loan qualification and approval standards, as well as their own credit score. Lenders are often unwilling to lend to borrowers with a credit score below a certain benchmark, since this creates more lending risk on paper. Some lenders are willing to extend loans to these consumers, but attach much higher interest rates in order to cover their perceived higher risk.

Those with poor credit should first look at their score and understand that they can change it over time through appropriate credit repair efforts. Sometimes, taking out a new line of credit can help, but only if it is done according to strategies that will fit with the ways that credit agencies measure credit risk. Borrowers can also pay off old judgments or negotiate with creditors to get their credit score up before borrowing.

Another thing that potential home improvement borrowers can do is to look at available government programs. For instance, in the United States, something called an FHA Title 1 loan provides for some types of government-backed approval for home improvement loans tied to the purchase of a family home or residence. These programs can help those who would otherwise not be approved for a home improvement loan to get the money they need to repair their residential property.

Other options for those with poor credit include co-signing, where another party signs onto the debt in order to secure lower interest rates. This should be done cautiously, since some risks can apply for the cosigner. Another option is to look at informal lending such as peer to peer or micro lending, where small lenders can sometimes help borrowers to get around the more draconian rules on lending for home improvement. Borrowers can also seek more information from a local credit union or other small local lender. All of the above can help someone who needs to get a loan to fix up their house, and who may face challenges on the common lending market because of his or her poor credit score.