The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

15 Basic Ways To Landscape Your Homepage

Financing

IMPROVING YOUR HOME TODAY no longer demands ready cash in your pocket. Authorized savings and loan associations, commercial banks and government agencies are willing to finance home improvement loans on easy terms. Perhaps you've been considering a redwood fence out front to shade the living room and add decoration to your lawn. Or a barbecue in the backyard to make summer living happier and healthier. Such additions will afford your whole family enjoyment and pride of ownership as well as increase the value of your property.

Of course, a word of caution is never misplaced. Easy credit terms do not imply limitless and unnecessary spending. Listing the projected improvements, pricing the separate items and arranging them according to necessity should precede any actual loan negotiations, once you have decided what you are going to do, approximate costs as closely as possible. If you're building a fence, visit your neighborhood contractor, tell him what you have in mind and let him quote prices. Then present your total estimate to the lending agency.

Usually there are four ways of getting a loan. The first is a personal note whereby the loan company assumes all risks after receiving adequate security from you.

The second, or Title I plan of the Federal Housing Act, is the one you'll most likely choose if you have no mortgage, or if you do have one and your payments are current. Such loans have several advantage!: payments may be extended over a three-year period; the usual limit is as high as $2500; and no down payment is necessary.

Although three years is the maximum F.I LA. rime allowance, naturally you can arrange payments for a shorter period. For instance, if your home landscaping estimate amounts to fiooo and you choose to repay within a year, your monthly installments are $87.72 and the loan costs you $51-64. Or, if a lower sum is more in line with your current budget demands, take the two-year plan which reduces payments to $45.89; so that the loan costs you $101.36. The three-year plan drops monthly payments still further to $31.94 and you pay $149.84 on the note.