With historic low interest rates in the country, this is a great time to apply for a personal bank loan to help consolidate credit card debt, help with those long overdue home improvements, or have that addition to your home you have been dreaming about.
What to Look for when Borrowing Money From a Bank
Applying for a home improvement loan with good credit should not be very difficult during these times. Some bank lenders are offering rates as low as 3.66% for small and big home improvement loans. Depending on the amount you are looking to borrow, the terms and conditions for a loan have to be carefully reviewed. An unsecured loan limits the amount you can borrow and the interest rate is higher than a secured loan. An unsecured loan limits the power to negotiate a better rate or the amount, but it is easier to obtain. Regardless of the loan, you have to review the terms and conditions and talk to an advisor before committing to one.
After securing a loan, you need to decide what home improvements need to be tackled first. Every homeowner is different, and they have different needs, likes, and dislikes. But, if you are procuring a loan, it means you are serious about doing the home improvements you need and not the ones you want.
Best ROI Home improvements
Depending on which website you like or visit, the best ROI for home improvements vary widely. As of July 2020, the best home renovation for 2020 on some of those pages is replacing the vinyl siding of a home. Remodeling a kitchen is considered a very good home renovation as well, but they don’t tell you something very important. Even if you have a gorgeous kitchen, if the foundation of the home is unstable, or the basement has leaks, humidity issues, bowed walls due to constant water seeping, the house won’t sell no matter how pretty the kitchen is. Furthermore, those foundation and basement issues decrease the value of the home if you ignore them, and the more you ignore them, the greater the damage and the cost of fixing them.
Don’t look for the ROI of home improvements on websites. You know the issues you have in your home, fix those issues and then you can explore other home projects you want to do.
How Do you Know if you Have Basement issues?
Many families in the United States have fully functioning finished basements they enjoy with families and friends. From recreational rooms to office space for the parents, fully functioning basements are a great addition to their homes and provide the much-needed space they need. If you need to finish the basement of your home, and would like to do it properly, waterproofing it beforehand needs to take priority.
Before you call a basement waterproofing company or basement finishing company, look for easy to spot signs of water damage or seepage in the basement of your home.
- Dark spots on the walls or ceiling
- condensation on the walls, ceiling, or doors
- Rust in appliances you have in the basement
- musty smell
- Water sitting on the floor of the basement
- cracks where the wall meets the floor
These easy to spot signs can easily be done by the homeowner without having to call an expert. If you have problems with old pipes, and there is water sitting on the floor because of them, replacing them before they damage the basement or the foundation of the home is financially sound and will save you a lot of headaches in the future.
If on the other hand, the water is coming from the outside, there may be different causes and solutions. Some of the problems can be:
- Having gutters clogged by debris and blocking the water passage
- Spouting that has come undone
- Unleveled ground that allows the water to sit by the foundation and seep to the basement of the home
- Drainage problems that keep the ground around the foundation flooded.
These problems can have easy solutions and prompt fixes. But, if the basement issues you have are more serious, you need to consult an expert right away to find a solution to the problem.
Finishing a basement by yourself is a project worth doing, and one you may know how to tackle, but having a professional handling a basement project may the right answer for you.
Contact us for a hassle-free consultation. At Pioneer Basement Waterproofing, we have a long history of excellent customer service since 1979.
