Looking for some options for home improvement loan under $50k. Anyone know a good provider in the DFW area?

I have a guy in Houston, but can likely still take care of you. Tell him the Mazzella's referred you.

Gary Roney
Vice President
Frost Bank
Consumer Residential Lending Group
NMLS #539143
E-Mail: gary.roney@frostbank.com
Phone: 713-388-7848 / Fax: 713-388-1302
[url=tel:%28713%29%20388-1302][/url]
[url=tel:%28713%29%20388-1302][/url]

I just got a HELOC for that same amount through my credit union. Rate is really good and HELOCs are very flexible. If your own bank isn't an option, Jay @ Agsreward told me that many of the big banks will do a HELOC at a good rate as a loss leader to get people in the door. Jay does not do these types of loans.

FYI, at least at Wells Fargo, they will not do any type of home equity loan (or HELOC) if you have already started construction.

We originally planned to pay for our remodel out of savings. The initial outlay required for all the trades was putting a hurt on our cash flow, so I tried to get a HELOC. WF claimed that they had no way of appraising a house that was currently under construction. Nevermind the fact that I have over $200k in equity in the house and was only asking for a $50k HELOC, they wouldn't budge.

YellAg2004 said:

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FYI, at least at Wells Fargo, they will not do any type of home equity loan (or HELOC) if you have already started construction.

We originally planned to pay for our remodel out of savings. The initial outlay required for all the trades was putting a hurt on our cash flow, so I tried to get a HELOC. WF claimed that they had no way of appraising a house that was currently under construction. Nevermind the fact that I have over $200k in equity in the house and was only asking for a $50k HELOC, they wouldn't budge.

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That's fairly common for home improvement loans but the HELOC is a head scratcher. I worked for Amegy and Capital One back in the day. If you disclosed that fact they would be very suspicious on a general home improvement loan. Generally for actual true home improvement loans they want plans, bids, and such from licensed contractor to make sure that everything was good to go.

The HELOC almost never (I never had one that was done that way) run with an appraiser going inside the property. Wells Fargo does do a ton of these loans though and it's not the dumbest thing ever from their point of view certainly.

Edited for proper use of the English language.

I just recently got a home improvement loan through Frost Bank in Ft. Worth for $70k. It was pretty straight forward, but they needed pretty much the same things they would need for a full mortgage, including contractor plans and bids. The process is troublesome, but went fairly smoothly once the appraisal was done.

Looking at Frost as an option. Did you have to have certain percent equity to get Home Improvement Loan?

Home equity loans can only be up to 80% of appraised value. Outstanding first lien and second lien included.
Do you have an existing lien on your house?

Yes, I have a mortgage. Not looking at home equity loans necessarily. Looking at home improvement loans also which are different based on my understanding.

I did a cash out refinance for our pool. Those require you to have a lot of equity though.

The amount of equity you have basically determins the top loan amount that you can get. They will finance 100% of your project, but you have to have enough equity.

Basically, if you add the cost of the project (100% if the renovations are inside the home, 50% if they are outside) to what you currently owe, they'll give you the loan as long as that number is less than 90% of the current value (based on a new appraisal or the current taxable value).

Thanks for the info, very helpful.