I share real estate information on the website DaytonMostMetro.com, and my latest post discusses the benefits of using the FHA 203k Loan. I’ve spoken about these renovation loans before, you can read those here but this time I’ve included the lender’s perspective. Here’s a bit:

photo of fireplace after renovations

Sometimes buyers want to live in a specific community, but the price of a move-in condition home make that area off limits to them. The buyer may not have the cash on hand, or skills to do renovations on a distressed home themselves. 
The FHA 203k loan can help with that. This is going to be important factor for older cities like Dayton and the first-tier or inner ring suburbs, which have a tremendous stock of aging homes and distressed neighborhoods. What better way to get those homes updated and the neighborhood values stabilized than by renovating existing housing stock, like the homes you will see at Eco-Rehabarama. The photos used in this article are before-and-afters from the same home, pulled from the Dayton Area Board of Realtors. While the 203k loan wasn’t used to finance these updates, this is an example of the type of work the loan could cover. Jerry explains another way home values are improved through this loan:

The other factor is value. When bank foreclosures or REOs are placed for sale, if they do not meet the minimum home standards that conventional and government loans require, they can only be bought with cash. This severely limits the amount of potential buyers. Lowering the number of buyers in turn lowers the eventual sales price. This gives you a great advantage to come in and buy these homes at a substantial discount and finance the needed updates.

photo of kitchen before renovations

Think about the ramifications for older neighborhoods: this can increase the number of owner occupants and decrease the number of investors, absentee owners, and negligent landlords that can devastate communities. But a buyer’s financial stability is also increased when the renovations are financed through a renovation loan. Jerry explains it like this:

With upgrading the major mechanicals you provide a certain level of certainty for years to come. The majority of home buyers in our area are doing so for the first time. Finding a home is the first part of home ownership but staying in the home is the most difficult part. Why not renovate the major mechanicals at purchase, and make the process that much more enjoyable, not to mention the tax credits.

 

There’s more to the article, so if you are interested in finding out about the Lowe’s REBuildUSA program, or financing an FHA 203k renovation loan, you can read more at DaytonMostMetro.com