Home Repair Grants
If you’re here, you’ve probably heard about free home repair grants that can help you fix or replace things in your home.
Home improvement costs, whether for general upgrades or necessary repairs can be high. Heck, in most cases they ARE expensive.
Many of us put off projects, despite the desire to get them done. That means we’re putting off making our homes more comfortable to live in, run more efficiently, or more valuable as the biggest investment of our lives.
I don’t know about you, but “deferred maintenance” as they call it doesn’t do much for any of these things.
But how do we afford these fix-ups and improvements?
And what if the project is NOT easily put off, such as crucial damage from catastrophes or age-related problems.
Let’s face it, many of us are living in our homes longer as we fight against foreclosure threats and stay locked in our undervalued houses we simply can’t sell in the current market.
Government Grants for Home Repairs Can Help
Money from the federal government is accessible and is available as one solution to the above questions. You’re thinking, “money from the government, sign me up!”
But now comes the next big question: how to go about obtaining a home repair grant?
As with anything that involves getting funds, there is a process. And honestly, it can be a lengthy one…but not impossible.
Knowing where to start so you can begin the qualifying portion is your first goal.
As you begin, you also need to determine what kinds assistance you need in terms of: A) types of repair projects you have, and B) how much money you really need for them.
It then gets a easier to match your true requirements to the available home repair grant lists that are out there.
When you look at what you need, there is a general rule for getting the most assistance.
Think of it as a hierarchy of purposes that goes like this:
- Things that are broken and need attention in terms of maintenance
- Things that can replace outdated systems and parts to your house that otherwise reduce the energy efficiency of your house
- Safety, accessibility and lifestyle upgrades
Upgrades such as granite countertops would be nice, and you should consider those too.
But keep in mind that funding is not meant to give you that “million-dollar” dream home, but rather a refresh that increases the utility, safety, and comfort of your home in terms of modern standards.
So, getting a home repair grant for a state-of-the-art whirlpool tub in place of your 40-year-old, cracking poreceline tub ain’t gonna happen.
Think: new, comparable replacement.
Of course it’s important to consider the eligibility requirements when it comes to personal grants for home repairs.
This involves the financial side as well as the needs based on the age and condition of your dwelling.
Let’s look further…
- Define what a home repair grant is in detail
- Look at the types of federal grants available for homeowners
- Begin searching for home repair grants
What Is a Home Repair Grant?
A grant that is given to you for home repair is not considered to fall into categories such as benefits or entitlements.
Grants are purely an award of financial assistance from a federal agency.
Grants for home repair are issued to a recipient in support of a public charter or stimulation of some kind as authorized by federal law.
In that regard, you can’t think of a home repair grant as ordinary federal assistance or individual loans.
It’s important to know that federal grants for home improvement and repair should not be used to acquire property or services to benefit the federal government directly.
Types of Federal Home Repair Grants
While there are many benefits available for home repairs, you need to have an idea of what kind of home repair grant category you would fall into.
For instance, the Rural Housing Services (RHS) runs a Housing Preservation Grant (HPG) program.
This is a home repair grant program that provides qualified public organizations and other entities grant funds to assist very low- and low-income homeowners in repairing and rehabilitating their homes in rural areas.
In addition, the HPG program helps rental property owners and cooperative housing complexes in repairing and rehabilitating their units.
The only requirement is that they agree to make such units available to low- and very low-income persons.
Another type of home improvement grant may be offered when you make your home more accessible to someone with disabilities.
For example, money can be provided to fix a leaking roof, to replace a wood stove with central heating, or to build a front-door ramp for someone using a wheelchair.
Yet another type may have to do with home repair grants given to weatherize your home.
Where to Find Federal Home Repair Grants
It’s interesting to note that the government literally has billions of dollars in grant money available to us, its citizens.
Of course, this money gets spread over hundreds of programs. But be assured, there are plenty of grant opportunities available for you as a homeowner.
Unfortunately, the federal government doesn’t just provide a magic website where it lists each grant currently available, in a clean format complete with grant titles, descriptions, and dollar amount of the home repair grant.
That would be nice, then if all you had to do was click “apply” and wait to receive a check.
The reality?
What you will find though are plenty of sites online that will help guide you to appropriate places.
Keep in mind this is only a starting point. The reality is that even though home repair grants are out there (they do exist!), it’s up to you to do a little work to find them. Remember that phrase “there’s no such thing as a free lunch”?
Many grants originate at the state levels.
For instance, home repair grants in Ohio or in Michigan can be found on various groups’ websites that operate for that state.
Multiple entities within the U.S. government offer finding.
A great example of this are Pennsylvania home improvement grant resources. You’ll find numerous areas there offering assistance. The same is true for New York state and other states like Florida.
Feel free to click links to sites that tout government grants for home repair or free money for home improvements.
Most of these sites will not be government sites, and while they claim to be able to get you grants and similar loans, they are nothing more than a database of grants you may or may not have to pay for.
The full story?
In other words, it’s possible you’ll have to sign up for a subscription that is billed monthly.
In return, you’ll get a better organized way of searching through available grants. How current the grants are that are listed just depends on the site.
And just keep in mind, what you’re paying for is data someone else as tried to assimilate and organize better for you.
Use your common sense if you sign up with one of these programs and keep in mind you can always cancel within the first month after you’ve taken some time to research their data and hopefully found a home repair grant.
If you don’t want to pay money for so-called grant lists, you can check out sites that belong to your particular state as mentioned above.
For example Indiana Home Repair Grants might be associated with the state’s Department of Housing and Community Affairs.
If you call these agencies or visit their websites, you’ll be lead to more information, such as assistance providers, organizations that can provide home repair assistance in certain categories such as for aging homes or for low-income homeowners.
The point here is really just to get started somewhere. Again, there is no ideal place to go and get all your answers at once.
| government grants for home repair |