Also, use your list as a sort of inventory of all the work you do, including the unexpected repairs that are bound to come up.

Tracking your projects is also useful when it comes time to sell. It's a good idea for everyone to have money set aside for home repairs, but especially those not living in a brand-new home.

Adding an extra cushion can help pay for surprise home repairs without touching your primary safety net. When a repair pops up, tend to it. What begins as a minor issue can turn into a very expensive disaster if you put it off. A leaky pipe under the sink could eventually lead to a rotten subfloor, for example, boosting the cost of your problem exponentially.

Have a plan in place should your home need major work or a big renovation project — things that your emergency fund or savings may not cover. Home equity loans and home equity lines of credit HELOCs are also solid financing options.

Homeowners under age 35 DIY their home repairs and improvements more than they hire professionals, and more than all other age groups, according to the NerdWallet report.

Make sure to choose DIY projects within your skill set or those that can be easily learned and easily fixed, should they go wrong. On a similar note How to Keep Home Improvements From Demolishing Your Budget. Follow the writer. MORE LIKE THIS Home Improvement Homeownership Mortgages. Always have a plan.

For more than half a century, the National Kitchen and Bath Association NKBA has been the world's leading trade association for the kitchen and bath industry. So, imagine our excitement when NKBA leaders asked to use the Wray Ward office for its first chapter meeting of — and lean into our Insights and Brand Strategy team for member education.

The National Association of Realtors predicts 4. Furthermore in , single-family starts saw an annual decline for the first time since Without question, current economic conditions are challenging the housing market.

We analyzed the current state of the market and projections for the home and building industries as well as the outlook for home remodeling. According to the National Association of Realtors, all of the top 10 markets to watch in are in the South.

We took a close look at our home market. Compared to the national average across key housing metrics, Charlotte is outpacing home price appreciation and growth in home values since the last housing market peak.

Charlotte has smaller declines in single-family permit growth, with a quarter of its homes sold to investors instead of homeowners.

Zillow predicts Charlotte will be the hottest real estate market nationally in based on its forecasted annual home price growth. In the s, homeownership symbolized the realization of the American dream.

By the s and s, homes had become a little bigger, with plush yards and white picket fences as a mark of status. The COVID pandemic ushered in the next evolution, with Americans placing a high value on flow.

Accordingly, the ideal home became a productive, efficient hub, designed to help manage and maintain hybrid lifestyles.

Today more than ever, a majority of homeowners are prioritizing home improvement in line with lifestyle considerations. They have clearer ideas of how they want to use and enjoy their homes and prioritize functional additions such as home offices, outdoor areas and natural light that best support their lifestyle.

Homeowners will be willing to spend more on a kitchen remodel in than in previous years, with a focus on functionality, adequate space, layout, storage and flexibility.

Countertops, backsplashes and sinks are among the most popular features to upgrade but are likely to be renovated by a smaller share of homeowners this year versus Maintenance will be a top priority along with bathroom remodels.

However, larger renovation and remodeling projects, including upgrading the HVAC system, refinishing a basement or adding solar panels are on the horizon in the next five years. A desire for connection and community, paired with the continued need for privacy, function and sanctuary in the home, will lead to evolved ways of thinking about living spaces.

Investments in smart, healthy and flexible homes are expected to prevail and extend into kitchen and bath designs. Smart home technology: In the kitchen and bath, smart faucets are the most popular investment, offering significant value via water efficiency, touch or touch-free activation and a fingerprint-resistant finish.

The bottom line? Homeowners get a lot of value from a pretty minimal investment. Flexibility and connection: The future will include integrated environments that create the possibility for transformation.

Shifts toward connection and community can be big or small, from co-living spaces to greater utilization of the front porch. Millennials and Gen Z share some behaviors and will respond better to specific communication strategies.

Among those who still intend to buy, there is currently not enough housing stock to meet demand. This imbalance has driven housing costs to record highs: John Burns Real Estate Consulting calculates Charlotte as the most overpriced market in the U.

Despite these challenges, millennials are driving the homebuying and home improvement market, accounting for both the highest spending and highest number of projects as compared to other generations. Gen Z born — is on the cusp of their prime homebuying years.

Overall, this can improve their experience and satisfaction levels. The stress of limited cash flow can cause customers to put off projects and cancel appointments. However, contractor financing can help reduce job cancellations. Customers may feel more committed at the time of making the appointment and arranging financing.

They may also feel more excited and less stressed about the financial portion of the project. Customers shopping for expensive products or services may seek out a company that offers contractor financing. By offering contractor financing your company can become a more valuable option.

Contractor financing can simplify financing for customers. Going through the motions together can simplify the financing process for your customer and your business. Customers can experience easier decision making knowing they are not responsible for paying cash upfront.

This can provide them more flexibility during the design and shopping phases. In addition, when it comes time to finalize the deal they should have less to think about. All they have to do is sign and keep up with their affordable monthly payments. Lenders that partner with Acorn Finance must deliver funds within hours of approval.

This can speed up your job start date while increasing customer satisfaction. Often times you may struggle to make a project fit within your customers budget.

Contractor financing can remove these struggles and allow you to do better quality work. More time spent with customers can be viewed as a positive or negative. While it can improve customer relationships it can also take away from helping new customers.

However, at the end of the day if contractor financing increases revenues then it should be worth the time. In order to increase sales you should have a well-trained employee s to consult customers on financing options. Acorn Finance provides specialized regular training to help keep your staff up-to-date.

In addition, they provide monthly data analytics. The training and analytics costs you zero dollars. Acorn Finance offers financing options for good and bad credit borrowers and has a high approval rate.

However, in most cases some kind of credit is needed to qualify. Customers will be taking on debt by financing renovations or repairs. The good news is that Acorn Finance offers very competitive interest rates and terms. This can help keep monthly payments down.

Some lenders do not have prepayment penalties so customers can pay their loan off faster. Offering contractor financing is quick and easy using AcornFinance. To get started, simply apply online to register your company.

Acorn Finance offers straightforward and competitive financing options while partnering with reliable lenders. Your business can be offering contractor financing within 24 hours using Acorn Finance. Acorn Finance partners with reliable lenders that can offer competitive financing offers to good and bad credit borrowers.

Lenders that partner with Acorn Finance are required to meet certain requirements to improve customer satisfaction. Lenders must be able to pre-approve borrowers in under 10 seconds.

Your customer will receive multiple pre-approval offers allowing them to choose the one that is best for them. In most cases, lenders are required to deposit funds within hours of approval.

Prior financial issues such as bankruptcy can interrupt this process. Acorn Finance does not charge customers for financing. The lender that funds the loan typically pays a small percentage to Acorn Finance. However, this does not affect the customers loan or terms.

AcornFinance charges lenders a small fee to make money. Acorn Finance is a leading provider for contractor financing that is committed to satisfying you and your customers.

Instead of charging dealer fees they charge lenders a small fee. Acorn Finance partners with multiple lenders to increase the competitiveness of their offers. Customers can apply online and receive pre-qualified offers without affecting their credit score.

Acorn Finance provides specialized training on a regular basis and monthly data analytics. The data analytics can help you identify weaknesses or insufficiencies in your sales and marketing practices.

Acorn Finance will provide training to help rectify any issues. If you own a business, you can receive advanced funding on a contract you already have so that your contract can be complete.

You are basically getting a loan to help you pay for the rest of the contracted work. Before you can receive contractor financing, the lender will usually analyze the terms of the contract.

They will probably also look at the credit score of the person who is requesting the financing. The lender might also require that you pay the loan back in milestones or on a certain timeline. This can be very different than traditional monthly payments that you might have experienced with other loans in the past.

Contractor financing can also be when a customer takes advantage of financing offered by a contractor. Most contractors gain financing by working with third-party lenders. If contractors want to offer financing for customers, they can partner with lending network companies such as Acorn Finance.

Acorn Finance provides contractors with a platform that allows customers to check offers quickly, without impacting their credit score. The contractor can close more deals by offering affordable financing options and the customer can now afford the project they need or want done.

If contractors need financing for business purposes or a specific project, they can visit their local bank or credit union. They may also consider using a personal loan. Just like their customer can secure a personal loan through Acorn Finance, so can the contractor.

If the contractor of your choice does not offer financing, you can still obtain financing for your project and work with the contractor of your choice.

Some homeowners will use a personal loan for home improvement projects while others may use a secured loan such as HELOC or home equity loan. You should evaluate project costs and your financial situation to choose the type of loan that is best for you. In some cases, lenders may evaluate the legitimacy of the contractor as well as the creditworthiness of the borrower.

Whether the lender does or does not check out the contractor, you should do your due diligence. You will want to work with a contractor that is experienced and reputable to ensure work is done properly.

If you are using financing offered through the contractor, their legitimacy will be even more important. The last thing you want is to be scammed out of any money or left with an incomplete project.

Contractor funding is how a contractor can receive funding to build the project before the customer might pay for them. Sometimes the contractor will ask you to go through a third party to gain funding, and sometimes they will have their own way of funding or giving you a loan and then you will pay them back in installments.

Some contractors might use a line of credit which is considered more flexible funding. This allows the contractor to purchase things on the credit card and then pay it back when you give them your monthly payment. Some contractors also use business credit cards that give them rewards and incentives for making certain purchases.

Larger contractors are more likely to offer financing, but that does not mean that small contractors cannot offer financing too. You should ask the contractor of your choice if they offer financing options.

However, you should also compare financing options. Assuming that the contractor has the best options available may be a mistake.

As we mentioned earlier, if a contractor does not offer financing, you can still finance the project. You will just need to go in search of a personal loan or a secured loan.

There may be other financing options available too, it really just depends on your situation. If you are a contractor that wants to offer financing, consider partnering with Acorn Finance.

In most cases, contractors that need to borrow money to complete a project will use contractor financing. However, if the contractor has to pay workers or buy materials, and they have not been paid in full for the project, they may need to use financing.

Finding contractor financing can be difficult and time-consuming, so many people choose to start the process early to speed up the funding.

Requesting proof of funds to ensure that your customer can pay for the project is important. You will also want to have a binding agreement that outlines payment s , work, and anything else that is agreed upon. Lenders will likely want to see your contract and the clients ability to pay for the project.

Contractors that offer financing can offer more affordable services for customers while closing more deals. Homeowners often want to know what home improvement projects costs. The contractor can go out and provide an estimate.

When they give the customer the estimate, the customer may express that they are unable to move forward right away, but perhaps down the road they can.

This is a common objective that can be overcome with the ability offer financing. Customers can get home improvement projects done while enjoying the flexibility of making monthly payments over time.

Alternatively, if a contractor is using financing to cover project costs, they can ensure their business has healthier cash flow and that they do not lose out on a project due to a lack of funds.

Both customers and contractors may need to use financing. Luckily, Acorn Finance can help both customers and contractors secure financing for home improvement projects. In conclusion, contractor financing has more pros than cons. Partnering with a reliable company such as Acorn Finance can make all the difference for you and your customers.

They strive to go the extra mile providing support and training while partnering with top-rated lenders. If you are a contractor who wants to offer financing or a homeowner looking for a contractor that offers financing near you, keep reading.

Below we will explain what contractor financing is, how contractors can offer financing, why contractors should offer financing, and more. Financing offered by contractors can benefit the contractor and the customer.

For the contractor, offering financing options can improve customer satisfaction, access guaranteed payment, increase revenue and job size.

Customers can benefit from reduced stress, access to larger projects, and faster start and completion dates. Needing something and being unable to afford it can be a frustrating feeling.

Especially, when it comes to home repairs or improvements. In some cases, you may need an emergency repair forcing you to find a way to afford it. Contractor financing can provide customers an affordable solution that allows them to make home improvements or repairs.

In addition, good and bad credit borrowers can qualify for financing. Acorn Finance offers contractors a user-friendly and convenient way to offer customers financing. The service is free for the contractor and the borrower.

Customers can apply quickly and receive same-day funding. Contractors can visit Acorn Finance to sign up and learn more about what they can offer. Contractors can offer financing for customers allowing customers to pay over time while the contractor still gets paid in full upfront.

Contractors can provide services to connect customers to lenders who can loan money to homeowners. This means you as the contractor does not actually lend the money or assume any risk. The contractor can act as a bridge to provide customers financing. Acorn Finance is a top-rated option for contractors that want to offer competitive financing for customers.

Contractors wondering how to offer financing to customers should visit Acorn Finance. To get started, contractors can submit a quick and easy application. Once your application is approved Acorn Finance will provide the tools and resources you need to start offering financing.

The most common way for contractors to offer financing is to partner with third-party lenders. This means the contractor connects the homeowner with a lender that provides financing. Acorn Financing can help contractors connect homeowners to trustworthy lenders with competitive offers.

Contractors can help homeowners complete the application and approval process online and receive instant pre-qualification offers for customers. There are more reasons to offer financing than there are not to offer financing. In most cases, there is no reason for a contractor to not offer financing.

Studies prove that offering financing can increase revenue and job size and improve closing ratios. We have covered 5 reasons why contractors should offer financing.

However, there are many more reasons why you should offer financing. Offering financing is one of the best ways to expand your business and close more deals. Chances are once you start offering financing you will be in disbelief there was a time you did not offer financing.

A common scenario contractors experience is delivering a bid to a homeowner and receiving a shocked response due to the project cost. In some cases, they may have to delay the start or decide not to do the project at all.

None of these options are ideal for contractors. Being able to offer customers an affordable financing solution with easy qualification standards can put them at ease. Customers will be more likely to complete projects using financing. Contractors can offer financing options with terms up to 12 years, payment deferral, and no early pay-off penalty.

Homeowners can take advantage of flexible terms and payments. Some lenders that partner with Acorn Finance may offer payment deferral so that homeowners do not have to start repayment until the project is complete.

Contractors can increase sales and project size by offering financing options with affordable monthly payments. If homeowners have a budget and your estimate exceeds their budget, they can put some money down and finance the rest.

You can help homeowners estimate monthly payments to find a solution that fits their budget. Evidence states that offering better payment options encourages customers to pick better solutions.

Since offering financing through Acorn Finance costs contractors zero dollars, this is a big increase in revenue without additional expenses. If you have a well-established company with five-star reviews and a lot of repeat and referral business you may be able to charge more for your work.

In addition, offering affordable financing options can make customers less focused on the total cost. Providing customers a way to pay for your services can also reduce the chance of them shopping around for estimates.

It depends. What kind of financing are you offering? Are you financing a customer with your personal funds? Are you offering a customer a payment plan? Do you partner with a company like Acorn Finance?

In some cases, a contractor may want to offer in-house financing. If they do, they should seek legal advice so they can determine how to offer financing. In-house financing may be profitable but it can also be very risky. There really is no reason to take the risk with so many safe options available.

In some other cases, you may offer a payment plan. Say the customer has a project that will be completed in phases. If they can afford to pay for the project in cash as each phase is completed, you may be able to work with them.

Make sure you get a written agreement though, even if they are a close friend or family member. This eliminates any additional risk of financing or payment plans the contractor may assume.

If you partner with Acorn Finance, your customer can simply apply online or use a mobile application to check financing offers. If they feel the financing offers are fair and one can work for them, they can agree to have the work done. The customer will finalize the approval with the lender and receive funds.

While you showed them the best way to finance their project, they are essentially a cash customer in your eyes. In some cases, it may be normal to pay a deposit to your contractor before they have completed any work. However, you should be very careful when doing so. It depends what the State License Board allows.

In most cases, you can find contractors willing to provide free estimates. However, this does not mean you should call them all and invite them to your home.

There should be a serious due diligence process that goes into picking a contractor that will be working in or near your home. You will want to find a reliable, trustworthy, and experienced contractor with a superb reputation.

If you trust a contractor and have spoken to previous customers, or maybe you were even referred by one, you can give them a deposit with confidence.

Once you hire them, they are going to be investing their own time and money into your project, in hopes that you fulfill your end of the agreement. A deposit can give you both a little skin in the game. As we mentioned in the previous section, you should check State License Boards. NAR is widely considered one of the most effective advocacy organizations in the country.

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