
No Equity? Consider A Hardware Store Credit Cards
Posted on May 31st, 2009 in Finance | No Comments »
It’s not cheap to upgrade your home. The costs for buying construction supplies, hiring a qualified contractor and paying the various fees for permits can quickly add up.
Banks lend money all the time to individuals who want to improve their houses, but most banks require you to have some sort of equity before you can get a loan. Even if you do have equity built up in your house some banks may charge additional loan fees and higher interest rates than normal based on your credit score and a number of other factors. Credit cards from home improvement stores have some unique advantages.
Zero Percent Credit Card Offers: Many of those hardware stores offer you a period of time in which you can pay off your loan with zero interest. Those savings could add up to big money if you are able to pay back part of the amount you borrowed on the credit card. Using these cards is actually a like getting home improvement financing for your project with no equity.
Store Discounts: Hardware store credit cards often give you lower prices on building supplies and even service jobs you may order from the store. Sometimes these discounts are for a limited time, but they can add up to big cost savings if you purchase what you need at the right moment.
All-In-One-Solution: There is something to be said for buying all your home improvement materials for a specific project from one store. Instead of visiting a dozen stores to find a refrigerator you can go to one store and buy a faucet, a sink, a refrigerator, all the other appliances and even hire and schedule the installers all at one time. You don’t need a big hardware store credit card to necessarily do this, but things do seem to go much smoother this way.
These hardware credit cards can end up being a win-win for both the customer and the store. The store sells more inventory and makes more profit while the customer is able to “borrow” more money to make home improvements without having to pay any interest for a limited time! A limited time of no interest payments, possible discounts and the ease of ordering everything in one store makes those large hardware store credit cards a pretty good idea in many cases!

