A Walk Through a Typical Home Repair Loan
We get asked frequently: how much time does a home repair loan usually take? While no loan and repair work process is the same for every household, a typical repair loan for a single-family house usually takes about 60 days from start (submitting information to the Department of City Development) to finish (closing on all loan contract). Home repair loans usually follow this process:
- When a homeowner submits interest in a repair loan either through a phone call to City Development or through the website’s Get Started form, they can expect a follow-up call from a City staff member within a week. The staff member will ask questions regarding finances, the property, and the makeup of the household to determine if the homeowner might qualify for any of the City’s repair loans. If the homeowner likely qualifies, they will be sent a full loan application.
- When the homeowner is finished filling out the full application and has all the required supporting documentation like mortgage statements, proof of homeowner’s insurance, and bank statements, they make an appointment with the City’s Consumer Lending Specialist.
- At the appointment, the homeowner and Consumer Lending Specialist go over the application and look for any missing information. If everything looks complete, income is verified for all adult household members and a credit report ordered.
- At this time, an appointment is scheduled with the City’s Housing Technician to look at the repair work needed at the house. The Housing Technician visits the property and looks at condition of the house, the types of repairs needed, and if our loan (with a maximum amount of $24,999) could pay for work to bring the house up to code.
- If the household is income-eligible and the repairs are possible with the loan amount, the loan is presented for approval at the City of Racine’s Loan Board of Review. All personal information besides the homeowner’s name and address are taken up by the board in closed session and not made available to the public. The Loan Board will vote to approve or deny the loan.
- If the loan is approved by the Loan Board of Review, the Housing Technician will order a Lead Risk Assessment for the house and write up work specs for the repairs needed including any lead-based paint hazards.
- The homeowner is given bid packets by the Housing Technician for all repair work and a list of Qualified Contractors who are eligible to bid on the work. The homeowner sends the bid packets to any or all of the Qualified Contractors to get work bids. The Contractors, if interested in bidding, will schedule visits with the homeowner to inspect the work needed and make a bid.
- After receiving bids back from contractors, the homeowner and the Housing Technician review all bids submitted to help the homeowner choose which bids to accept. The homeowner ultimately chooses the contractor(s) to perform their home repairs and the total repair budget is calculated.
- The homeowner and City then close on the Home Repair Loan to finalize the loan documents. Repair work on the house can begin at the time agreed upon by the homeowner and contractors.