Chinese New Year is almost upon us, and Singaporeans love a well-renovated, well-furnished home just for the occasion. 

Yes, we’re especially looking at you, recent home owners – the ones who are so excited about your first home purchase that you find yourself trying to cram two IKEA stores worth of fittings into the bathroom alone. But that excitement might very well turn into dread when those inevitable renovation bills start arriving in the mail.

Here are loan mistakes to avoid:

1. Not using up the renovation loan first

A common mistake is to start using personal loans, credit cards, or other such facilities before using the renovation loan. That’s a bad idea.

A renovation loan has a typical interest rate of five percent per annum, and can go as low as under three percent. By comparison, personal loans are around six to nine percent, and credit cards are around 26 percent.

The kicker is that renovation loans are capped at S$30,000 or six months of your income (whichever is lower). This may not be enough if your contractor / designer busts the budget – an event that seems to happen about as often as the sun rising tomorrow.

To read more : https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/trending/5-renovation-and-furnishing-loan-mistakes-to-avoid-this-cny-11166526

Source: CNA Lifestyle

This article first appeared in 99.co

Credit to 99.co, Adapted from CNA Lifestyle January 27 2019