Haunted By Repairs? How to Finance Your Fixer-Upper

Did you know? In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the Count decides to ditch his crumbling castle and hires a solicitor to help him buy a run-down London mansion. See, even vampires know that a good fixer-upper can hide incredible potential! And here’s the good news. With renovation loans like Fannie Mae’s HomeStyle® Renovation Loan, you can finance both the purchase and the upgrades with one convenient mortgage.

“We kept on ascending, with occasional periods of quick descent, but in the main always ascending. Suddenly, I became conscious of the fact that the driver was in the act of pulling up the horses in the courtyard of a vast ruined castle, from whose tall black windows came no ray of light, and whose broken battlements showed a jagged line against the sky.” – Bram Stoker

Even Dracula Needed a Renovation Loan…

Don’t let yourself be spooked by a home in need of a few repairs! Even “Dracula’s Castle” (known as Bran Castle and the setting inspiration for Bram Stoker’s famous novel) had to undergo renovations before it could be spruced up and sold off in 2016. The good news is that you don’t need to bleed your bank account dry to afford renovations — unlike an $80 million Romanian castle. With the Fannie Mae HomeStyle® Renovation Loan, you can brush the dust from an older home and renovate it into the home of your dreams, NOT nightmares!

Here's why it’s a treat (not a trick):

• Bundle the purchase price and renovation costs into one single mortgage
• Flexible improvements can be made to kitchens, roofs, landscaping (or even a vampire sanctuary, if that’s your style)
• Start with as little as 3% down with the HomeReady® financing combination
• Pair with HomeStyle® Energy for eco-friendly upgrades

If the Fannie Mae HomeStyle® Renovation Loan isn’t the right fit, we also offer additional options, including the Freddie Mac CHOICERenovation and the FHA 203(k) for qualifying home buyers. Freddie Mac offers the ability to fund home resilience projects, and the FHA 203(k) provides flexible renovation financing for FHA buyers. And for VA buyers, our VA Renovation Loan is a newer option for Veterans looked to remodel their home.

“The castle is on the very edge of a terrible precipice. A stone falling from the window would fall a thousand feet without touching anything! As far as the eye can reach is a sea of green tree tops, with occasionally a deep rift where there is a chasm. Here and there are silver threads where the rivers wind in deep gorges through the forests.” – Bram Stoker

Don’t let a creaky, cobwebbed house scare you off of homeownership. With the right loan and a little TLC, you can unlock its hidden value and move into something truly timeless. Ready to transform your haunted house into a dream home? Let’s talk and discuss options that won’t drain your savings away like a greedy vampire.

Source: The Mortgage Reports, Nerdwallet, Business Insider