Why so many homeowners are planning home improvements in 2022

You’re here because you’re considering a home renovation. And you’re not alone. In fact, you’re now part of the majority. According to a Harvard University study, there is an expected 8.6% rise in home renovation and maintenance spending all through 2022.

With 59% of homeowners planning to stay in their current residence for 10+ years - or never move at all - here are two main reasons:

1. Homes have never been older

The median age of owner-occupied homes in Pennsylvania is between 48-57 years old, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). And in some of the Philadelphia area’s most desired neighborhoods, there is no escaping an old home. So now, many homeowners purchasing in these areas are seeing the clear need to update with more contemporary aesthetics and efficiencies in a layout that works for their family.

2. Inventory is at an all-time low

This shortage is true on a national level, and it’s more than just a cycle in the ever-changing housing market, it’s been like this for a while. And when housing inventory is low, prices are unthinkable.

So instead of getting stuck in a bidding war for a new “move-in ready” home, owners are renovating the existing home they’ve outgrown or purchasing a fixer-upper because it often makes the most sense economically.

“This lack of suitable housing inventory has led to a substantial increase in buyers purchasing workable properties or staying in their current homes and adapting by renovating to meet their specific needs,” Eric J. Miller, Re/Max Circle of Legends Agent, explains.

And the Home Improvement Surge is Just Getting Started

In the midst of the unprecedented COVID pandemic, families were forced to not only stay home more but to use their homes in all-new ways. Necessity has been a big factor in why homeowners are choosing to redo their kitchen and living areas, add home office spaces, add outdoor living, square footage, and more.

Now, as we enter the tail end of 2021, we’re seeing the highest level of home improvements ever. This doesn’t come as too much of a surprise based on the long steady rise in home improvement spending that we’ve seen over the years, and it gives us even more reason to believe that the surge is just getting started.

From January-March 2020, 330 million U.S. Google searches for home improvement work have been tracked by Porch.com, an online home services platform, which is almost 50% higher than the same time period last year.

And with a huge shift from cities to suburbs as a result of the changing workplaces due to the pandemic, these stats are likely to not just be trends, but new long-term habits among many homeowners many analysts predict.

Borrow More With RenoFi

So now with homeowners renovating more than ever before and no end in sight for the trend, the question remains, are they financing these renovations in the smartest way possible? That’s where RenoFi comes in.

Working with RenoFi offers a third reason to tackle that renovation project this year. RenoFi Loans have been helping homeowners borrow up to 3x more than with a traditional construction loan with the lowest rate & lowest monthly payment possible. We know it sounds too good to be true, but lucky for you — it isn’t. You just haven’t heard about us.

How RenoFi Loans Work

When you do home improvements, typically your house goes up in value. Obviously, how much it increases will vary based on each individual homeowner situation (don’t, worry, we can help you with that too), but on average, for every $100k invested, the homeowners we’ve worked with see about $75k in increased home value — which is awesome. So just imagine if you could access this increased value upfront, alongside any existing equity you already have in the property? You know, instead of just getting a loan based on the current value of your home. That’s what RenoFi Loans do!! They are renovation-specific versions of a Home Equity Loan or Cash-Out Refinance with one major difference: the appraisal is based on the after-renovation value (ARV) of your home, not the current. That increases the homeowner’s borrowing power — often by 3x or more — AND ensures they get the lowest rate possible. Total win, win.

There is one alternative option that many homeowners have resorted to in the past: Construction Loan. And that’s because it offers this same ARV feature. But what you may not know is that this loan was originally designed for buying a plot of land and building a house from scratch. And when you talk to most people in the primary residence home renovation industry, you’ll quickly learn that just about everyone hates Construction Loans — both homeowners and builders alike! And many contractors even refuse to work with them. These loans make sense for the most extreme renovations, but for 9 out of 10 home renovations, the excessive and cumbersome controls are overkill (ie. money draws, inspections, paperwork). And they are expensive!! In many cases, they require homeowners to refinance into mortgages with above-market rates and significantly higher closing costs than a typical mortgage.

So we designed RenoFi Loans to provide the ease of a home equity loan with the borrowing power of a construction loan. Homeowners like you can get the best of both worlds, plus a bunch of helpful insight to make the right decisions before construction ever starts.

It’s Your Turn to Renovate & Create Your Dream Home

It’s time to get more for your home so you can get more from your home. Try out our awesome loan calculator to see how much you can borrow with a RenoFi Loan and the estimated cost of your monthly payments, and contact us today to learn more about your options, so you can feel more confident every step of the process.