If you’ve been thinking about purchasing a home and have done your homework, you know there are a lot of extra costs involved in addition to monthly mortgage payments. As a new homeowner you will be responsible for paying monthly home insurance, as well as annual property taxes. In addition to this there are numerous one time fees that are part of the closing costs and can add a significant amount to your down payment.

One area that many people seem to underestimate, however, is maintenance. Unfortunately, homes do break down and require repairs from time to time. You never know when a toilet will leak, a stove will grow old and die, or when a severe thunderstorm will bring hail damage to your roof.

Of course, there are also optional improvements such as painting, new carpeting or floors, and new furniture. Fortunately, these kinds of improvements are not mandatory and can be put off until you can afford them. We’re more concerned here about the necessary but unforeseen problems that inevitably pop up over the years.

So exactly how much do you have to spend on your home’s maintenance each year? Well, the numbers will obviously vary from house to house and from year-to-year. Just to give you an idea, you might want to estimate that you will need to spend about 1% of your home’s purchase price each year. Obviously this would not be the exact amount you will spend every year, but it will give you a good idea of what you need to be prepared for. Some years may go by without much maintenance, while other years may involve bigger problems like a damaged roof.

If you happen to live in a condominium, your obligations will be a little bit different. You will be responsible for maintaining the interior of your condo, but the fees you pay your homeowner’s association should take care of the exterior of your home and the rest of the complex.

When you decide to become a homeowner, you are achieving a great and wonderful goal, but there are also many obligations and pitfalls along the way. Part of the financial (and perhaps emotional) burden of owning a home is the continual maintenance you will need to perform. Our point is not to discourage you from purchasing a home, but you simply need to know what you’re getting into. You especially need to be prepared financially for the inevitable costs that come your way above and beyond your monthly mortgage payments.

One last word on home improvements. We know that many families wish to improve their residences by purchasing additional furniture, adding new floors, or doing any number of projects around the house. These are considered elective improvements, but they obviously can add to the beauty and financial value of the home. Just be careful not to overdo it and not to go into debt when trying to accomplish your goals.

Be sure to establish a home expense budget to help you from going over board and spending way too much on optional improvements.

You should make improvements works on your home through a loan that comes with lower rate of interest and low costs attached with it. Only such a loan will be less burden some for enhancing your home value. And if you are looking for a smaller amount then opt for unsecured home improvement loans, which you can find in plenty in the loan market place. Through these loans you are able to do variety of works like buying a set of furniture, equipping your kitchen with latest technology, enlarging space of the rooms etc.

Under these loans, you can borrow smaller funds ranging from £ 5000 to £25000, depending on your income and repayment ability. Prior to approving the loan, the lender will check your monthly earnings and the amount you can repay easily towards the loan installments.

These are short term loans, involving repayment duration of 5 to 15 years. so, while you complete home improvement works and enhance your home value, you are out of the loan within few years.

But a disadvantage is that you shall have to pay interest at higher rate on these loans as lenders want to cover the risks. But thanks to growing competition in the loan business you have the options of finding a loan with comparatively lower rate, especially if your credit history is excellent or good.

Those homeowners, whose credit history is blemished one with late payments, arrears, defaults, CCJs, they are also able to borrow money under these loans as per their repayment ability. But interest rate will be hiked for them.

For taking unsecured home improvement loans at competitive rate of interest and less additional costs, prefer taking it from online lenders. But take their rate quotes for a fruitful comparison. Repay the loan in time for repairing your credit rating and for avoiding any debts.