Thursday, 7 February 2019
By David Brown, Senior Product Manager – Home Loans & Deposits
Remodelling your home is the time to bring that dream kitchen, bathroom or extension to life. However the most asked question during this time is: how am I going to pay for it?
Here are the top 5 ways you could consider to pay for your dream renovation:
Cash
If you have savings this can be the simplest and cheapest way to fund a renovation. Savings are easily and quickly accessed and don’t incur any interest charges (unlike a loan). Another advantage of using your savings is that it ensures you stay within budget, because once the money is spent there is no more!
Use equity in your home
If you have paid off a large amount of your home, or it has significantly increased in value you could leverage your equity to pay for your home reno. Accessing equity involves talking to your bank to refinance your home loan. By extending your home loan term, your interest rate will, in the majority of cases, be lower than taking out a personal loan.
The trade-off of refinancing is that you may incur fees and ultimately you are increasing your loan balance and potentially the number of years that it will take to pay off your home loan.
Redraw
If you are in advance on your home loan and your loan offers redraws, you could access these funds to put towards your renovation. Redrawing is essentially withdrawing the extra repayments you have made on your home loan, so it can be relatively easy and quick to get access to the funds. You should be aware that you can only redraw up to the amount of additional payments you’ve made and some lenders may charge a fee to use the redraw facility.
Credit card
Generally credit cards are an easy way to access funds for a renovation. However, a credit card is only suitable if you are able to pay off the balance within a period that minimises your interest costs, so it’s best to stick to smaller amounts that are within your means. Be careful of overloading your credit card with too much debt because the interest charges can quickly add up.
If you do find yourself using your credit card to pay for a small renovation, be sure to seek out a low rate credit card to ensure you are limiting the interest costs.
Personal loan
Personal loans are another alternative for making your dream renovation a reality. Personal loans generally have a shorter repayment period and a higher interest rate (when compared to refinancing a home loan), and may incur fees. There can also be restrictions on the type of renovations you can complete using a personal loan. Your local lender can help you with the right personal loan for your renovation.
This article is intended to provide general information of an educational nature only. It does not have regard to your objectives, financial situation or needs and must not be relied upon as financial product advice. Before you act on this information, you should consider whether it is appropriate for your circumstances. Information in this article is current as at the date of publication. Information in this article is current as at the date of publication. Applications subject to credit approval and fees and charges are payable. Terms and conditions apply and are available on request.