James paid off his renovation loans with his home equity

James had no plans of moving out of his Medfield, Massachusetts home any time soon, so when he chose to renovate, he went big. He added a 1,000-square-foot addition onto his four-bedroom home, plus a new three-car garage, a farmer’s porch, and he refreshed the yard, renovated the kitchen, repaired the driveway, and replaced all of the original windows in the house.

It was a massive undertaking, with an equally massive price tag. James used a loan to fund a chunk of the renovations, and other costs and materials were put onto credit cards.

James knew he wanted to put a dent in the renovation debt before interest payments started adding up, but with an already low interest rate mortgage, a refinance wasn’t an ideal option.

“A refinance could have me moving from two percent to three, three and a half. A line of credit from a bank would mean more fees up front, and then you have to worry about where your interest rate is going,” James explained. “The Hometap solution was far more inline with how I wanted to address paying off the outstanding debt.”

He was already familiar with home equity investments after receiving mail about an investment company in the past, so he started searching the internet to learn more. That’s when he discovered Hometap.

“When I looked at what Hometap offered, it was more stable, more predictable, and if there was a downturn in the market, Hometap would ride that wave with me,” he said. “I liked that I was partnering with someone rather than owing someone and just saying ‘I’ll pay you back.’ The fact that the Hometap Investment is not a hit on credit* and that it’s based on the long-term value of the home is a tremendous relief.”

Considering the renovations were already complete prior to requesting a Hometap Investment, the appraisal of the property included the new upgrades, giving James more equity from which to borrow.

“I’m able to pay off all outstanding debts related to the renovation and addition project, as well as some additional credit card debt.”

*Hometap performs a soft-credit review of all applicants, which does not affect their credit, but in some cases, a hard credit check is required. We will not perform a hard credit pull without the applicant’s permission.