Did you know that nearly a third of American homeowners can’t afford to cover even small emergency home expenses with cash?
When an appliance fails or you discover structural issues with your home, you need to take care of the problem immediately, whether you have the cash on hand to pay for the repairs or not.
What can you do when you don’t have emergency cash available to cover these expenses? Take a look through these options to pay for your home repairs.
Credit Cards
What’s the first stop for most people who find themselves with an expense that they can’t afford to pay with cash? Put it on a credit card.
While it may seem like this is the best choice for accessing fast cash, you may want to think twice. If you charge your emergency repairs to a card that you’ve already had for a while, you may end up with high interest rates that unnecessarily inflate the expenses of your repairs.
If it’s available to you, it might be a good idea to apply for a new credit card to use specifically for this repair. That way, you can take advantage of an introductory low or no interest rate by paying off the balance before interest accrues.
Home Equity Line of Credit
A similar option to a credit card is a home equity line of credit or HELOC. With this plan, you would still charge the emergency expenses to a line of credit, with the intention of paying it off over time. Unlike a credit card, though, the limit on this line of credit is based on how much equity you have in your home.
This is a great choice if you expect to have several rounds of expenses over the lifetime of your repairs. It also affords you flexibility in your repayments, as you can pay some of the balance back and charge more expenses to the line of credit later.
Government Assistance Programs
Depending on the circumstances of your emergency, you may qualify for government aid to help you cover the costs of repairs. Potential government agencies to look to for help include:
- Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
- Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
- Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA)
All of these options come with specific eligibility criteria and will likely only cover expenses for basic home care and repairs. However, they can be a crucial source of support if you don’t have much equity in your home yet or if the damage to your home was caused by a natural disaster in your area.
Get a Quick Loan
If none of the other items on this list work for you, it may be best to get a personal loan to cover your home expenses. While the timeline to pay off loan balances varies depending on the kind of loan you receive, you should be able to find an option out there to meet your needs.
Get Your Emergency Home Repairs Covered
Never worry about how you’ll pay for emergency home maintenance again. From loans to government aid, you have many options when you find yourself stuck with emergency home repairs.
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