Home Depot Project Loan

[CreditInspired]

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@coreysw12 wrote:

Something I learned about buying a home - you really don't need to do (and pay for) every single thing all at once immediately after you move in.

Just take it in stages. Write everything in a list, and prioritize it based on necessity and cost. After you move in, start at the top and work your way down. It's much better to do that than to buy everything all at once, most of which will sit in the garage for months before you have time to do anything with it.

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Excellent suggestion

[Anonymous]

The reason I am considering a loan instead of paying cash is because I want to keep my reserve savings somewhat intact. There are some exterior repairs that absolutely need to be done to prevent damage to the structure such as the fascia, the soffit, the three windows, and the gutter system. The necessity of these repairs is per a licensed inspector that is a relative. If I am going to do all that work, it only makes sense to do the siding at the same time since I will be installing it myself and total cost will relatively cheap (about $1800). I also have no choice but to puchase the appliances since the house doesn't come with them. All total, I am looking at about $7k for just those things since all the labor will be done by me. If I pay cash, I will have less than $1k left in savings to fall back on. If the furnace, which is about 30 years old, stops working or the well runs dry or any other major expense pops up in the next few months I'll be in trouble. My thinking is that I would rather have a $150/month payment and pay a couple extra thousand in interest rather than take a chance on paying cash, have a major emergency pop up and not be able to cover the expense. 

[coreysw12]

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@Anonymous wrote:

The reason I am considering a loan instead of paying cash is because I want to keep my reserve savings somewhat intact. There are some exterior repairs that absolutely need to be done to prevent damage to the structure such as the fascia, the soffit, the three windows, and the gutter system. The necessity of these repairs is per a licensed inspector that is a relative. If I am going to do all that work, it only makes sense to do the siding at the same time since I will be installing it myself and total cost will relatively cheap (about $1800). I also have no choice but to puchase the appliances since the house doesn't come with them. All total, I am looking at about $7k for just those things since all the labor will be done by me. If I pay cash, I will have less than $1k left in savings to fall back on. If the furnace, which is about 30 years old, stops working or the well runs dry or any other major expense pops up in the next few months I'll be in trouble. My thinking is that I would rather have a $150/month payment and pay a couple extra thousand in interest rather than take a chance on paying cash, have a major emergency pop up and not be able to cover the expense. 

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It sounds like you have a good plan, then. The only other recommendation I want to make is, look into buying used appliances to hold you over for a while. You can probably find a washer and drier in great condition for under $300 on craigslist, for example. And a fridge for about the same.

That'll hold you over for a while... and when you finally decide to upgrade to new model appliances later, after your finances have settled down, you can sell the old ones for almost the same as what you paid. Craigslist is sort of like a free appliance rental service

[CreditInspired]

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@Anonymous wrote:

The reason I am considering a loan instead of paying cash is because I want to keep my reserve savings somewhat intact. There are some exterior repairs that absolutely need to be done to prevent damage to the structure such as the fascia, the soffit, the three windows, and the gutter system. The necessity of these repairs is per a licensed inspector that is a relative. If I am going to do all that work, it only makes sense to do the siding at the same time since I will be installing it myself and total cost will relatively cheap (about $1800). I also have no choice but to puchase the appliances since the house doesn't come with them. All total, I am looking at about $7k for just those things since all the labor will be done by me. If I pay cash, I will have less than $1k left in savings to fall back on. If the furnace, which is about 30 years old, stops working or the well runs dry or any other major expense pops up in the next few months I'll be in trouble. My thinking is that I would rather have a $150/month payment and pay a couple extra thousand in interest rather than take a chance on paying cash, have a major emergency pop up and not be able to cover the expense. 

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Was this home appraised or is it an investment property? I didnt realize one could get a mortgage for a property in this condition unless it was with a 203K loan or am I missing something? 

[Anonymous]

It was appraised and came in at about 30% above the purchase price. It's not in bad shape at all with the exception of the three windows. All the windows were replaced about five years ago and for some reason the owner never got around to replacing three of the back windows. Being old wooden windows the glazing has deteriorated and some of the wood has begun rotting. The fascia needs to be replaced because it was poorly installed and has allowed water intrusion. There is very minimal to no damage to the fascia board itself so far, but it needs replacing or at the very least to be taken down and reinstalled. Since fascia is so inexpensive and the current fascia is aluminum, it was recommended to replace it rather than trying to remove the old without denting or bending it. A gutter system needs to be installed since the home doesn't currently have one. The one that had been previously installed was removed this past winter due to it being damaged by snow and ice build up. The siding being replaced is my choice due to my dislike of aluminum siding and the color.