Best Home Improvement Loans to Tackle That 2021 Renovation

Overview — LightStream is the online service of Truist Bank, the “superbank” formed when BB&T joined forces with SunTrust. It has an exceptional reputation, as does its parent company, for providing both great service and favorable terms.

The LightStream home improvement loan is our overall top pick, whether you’re just looking to make a small addition or working on larger projects.

Whole-project funding — With a loan limit of $100,000, LightStream’s home improvement loans are flexible enough for most projects. And although you can qualify for up to 12 years to repay the loan, there are no prepayment penalties.

Same-day funding — If you need to make emergency repairs, LightStream is an excellent option. You can get funds deposited to your account the same day you apply if need be.

Rate Beat Program — LightStream is so confident that it has the best home improvement loan rates, it will offer you a lower rate than any competing lender. If another lender approves the same terms at a lower rate than LightStream, the company will beat the competitor’s rate by .10 percentage points.

#1 in customer satisfaction — J.D. Power ranked LightStream first place for customer satisfaction in the personal loans category in its 2020 US Consumer Lending Satisfaction Study.

Overview — SoFi is something of an elite club. It offers a lot of great loan options and wants to help borrowers achieve financial goals responsibly.

But, it’s not for everyone.

SoFi has relatively high credit score requirements, to begin with. But, it will also look at your cash flow, income after expenses, and other factors to determine your creditworthiness.

Wide range of payment options — In addition to having some of the most flexible payment options on this list, a SoFi home improvement loan allows borrowers to change the payment due dates once a year on fixed-rate loans.

Zero fees — Another great advantage of SoFi is that you won’t have to calculate additional fees for your home improvement project. SoFi’s loans include no origination fee, no late fees, and there are no prepayment fees if you want to pay off your loan early.

Unemployment protection program — SoFi will work with borrowers who lose their jobs to offer forbearance on loan payments. It’s capped at 12 months over the life of the loan and the loan will continue to accrue interest over the period, but you can choose to continue to make interest-only payments.

Overview — Avant is a fintech company that markets its services primarily to middle-class borrowers. To that end, it has relatively lax credit scores that may appeal to subprime borrowers.

Avant doesn’t disclose requirements and states that most Avant customers who receive loans are in the 600–700 range. However, numerous sources have found that Avant considers scores as low as 580. So it’s a superb source of bad credit home improvement loans.

But, if you have a higher credit score, there’s a good chance you can get a more favorable loan somewhere else.

Credit-builder loans — Seeing how it caters to subprime borrowers, Avant can also double as a credit repair resource. Avant doesn’t charge prepayment penalties, so you can use its loan to help build positive credit history and avoid long-term interest buildup.

Fast funding — Avant can fund loans as quickly as the next business day after approval. However, loans take a few days to approve.

Fees — Avant charges late fees so even if you qualify for the best rate for a home improvement loan, you still might pay more than with another lender.

What’s more, Avant is anything but lenient when it comes to fees. Loans incur a 4.75% “administrative fee” that the company keeps before it funds your loan.

Overview — Upstart is a unique type of lending platform whose goal is to move away from credit score as the primary determiner of creditworthiness. Instead, Upstart takes into account things like education, job history, bankruptcies, and other such factors.

While that creates a great opportunity to get home improvement loans with bad credit, it does come at a cost. Upstart loans generate origination fees of up to 8% of the loan amount.

Accepts applicants without FICO score — You can apply for a loan from Upstart even if you don’t have enough credit history to generate a FICO score.

Lower average APR rates — According to data from Upstart, its proprietary underwriting model provides home improvement loan interest rates up to 16% lower than traditional models. However, that’s from a hypothetical data set and may not be true for you.

Allows concurrent loans — You can apply for a second loan from Upstart even if you already have a loan. The option is available if you make timely payments on your first loan and have no more than $50,000 of outstanding principal when the second loan is approved.

Small project loans — You can apply for loans as small as $1,000 from Upstart. That and an absence of prepayment fees make Upstart the best way to get a home improvement loan for small repairs around the house.

Overview — While Upgrade stands out most for its debt consolidation incentives, it’s also an excellent choice for personal loans of all kinds. It has a wide range of options that make it quite appealing for most home improvement projects.

However, it has a few drawbacks as well. For instance, borrowers with excellent credit scores could potentially find better rates with a standard loan.

Best for fair credit scores — Upgrade doesn’t disclose a minimum credit score for applicants, but third-party sources place it at around 620. Nevertheless, that probably won’t qualify you for the best rates for home improvement loans. A score closer to 680 is recommended for a reasonable rate with Upgrade.

Co-signed loans — Another option to qualify for better rates or a higher amount is with a joint application. When you apply with a co-signer, Upgrade uses both credit scores to determine eligibility for APR rates and amounts.

Flexible payment date — Upgrade allows borrowers to change their payment date if necessary, to account for income fluctuations.

COVID-19 assistance program — Upgrade borrowers who suffer hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic have access to options that can help them manage their debt.

Upgrade’s most striking drawback is a hefty origination fee of 2.9%–8% of the loan’s total amount.

Overview — If your credit is in the Fair range (630–719), Best Egg is likely to be your best option for a home improvement loan. There’s also a good chance Best Egg will provide better rates than credit cards or a home equity line of credit.

Quick application — Even among today’s new breed of online lenders, Best Egg’s process is highly streamlined. You can complete the online applications in a few minutes and can receive funding in as little as one business day after approval.

Nested Loan — Best Egg offers a unique kind of secured loan that’s designed specifically to provide homeowners with the best rate for a home improvement loan. This Nested Loan is secured by fixtures in and on your property, such as chandeliers, water heaters, some appliances, etc.

Moreover, Nested Loans will likely have better rates than an unsecured loan, even if your credit is good.

Origination and late fee — Best Egg charges an origination fee on all loans, which is a clear drawback. But it caps the fee at 3.5%, which is a reasonable amount if you qualify for a favorable rate.

Moreover, Best Egg charges a late fee of $15 per occurrence. Again not too surprising, but some competitors with the best loan options for home improvement don’t have late fees at all.

Overview — LendingClub is one of the pioneers of the peer-to-peer lending space. However, starting in 2021, it’s switching to a traditional lending model. And that involves some exciting new options if you’re looking for the best place to get a home improvement loan.

The information here is accurate as of its writing, but keep an eye out for LendingClub. There’s every reason to expect changes as the company eases into its new business model.

Debt consolidation — LendingClub has a reputation for simplifying debt consolidation through balance transfer loans. You can use these loans to essentially “transfer” the balance from several other loans into one, thereby consolidating all your loans under one rate.

It’s a great option if you’ve been forced to take less-than-favorable terms on loans to deal with home improvement repairs and emergencies.

Joint applications — Like a few of the other best personal loans for home improvement, LendingClub allows co-signing for loans. Still, the two borrowers need to have a combined debt-to-income ratio no greater than 35%.

Wide range of credit scores — With a FICO requirement of only 600, LendingClub is one of the most accessible lenders on this list. Granted, higher scores will qualify you for better rates and terms, but it may be worth it if you’re consolidating a lot of bad debt.

Overview — Prosper is the only peer-to-peer lender to make it on this list and it’s mostly because of its competitive home equity line of credit options. However, it also has comparatively affordable loan options.

As a peer-to-peer network, your loan will originate from one of the lenders on the network rather than Prosper itself. To help lenders assess your application, Prosper assigns you a rating.

Prosper ratings look at how loans similar to yours perform and may give you an edge over traditional credit ratings.

HELOCs — Prosper offers home equity lines of credit to customers in Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, Alabama, Arizona, and Texas. A HELOC is likely to have better rates than even the best home improvement loans that are unsecured.

You can learn more about HELOCs further down, but you should know that you’ll be putting your home equity up as collateral for it.

Joint applications with a lower score — Prosper’s minimum accepted FICO score is 640 unless you’re applying for a joint loan. In that case, one of the applicants can have a FICO score as low as 600.

Overview — RISE can be a real lifesaver for small home repairs and improvements if you’re in a hurry and have poor credit.

RISE doesn’t disclose what the minimum credit score is to apply for a loan. However, it will do a soft credit inquiry, so the company definitely checks your credit.

High APR — RISE also offers significantly lower loans than payday loans and it reports to a major credit bureau. So it can help you build a positive credit history if that’s the goal.

Renovation loan — Given that RISE won’t offer you the best home improvement loan rate, you can judge the loan on the return it produces. If you use the loan to repair roof damage or get your house ready for sale, the loan could pay for itself.

Flexible payment schedule — RISE loans don’t have prepayment penalties. Additionally, RISE can extend your due date under some circumstances if you can’t make a payment.

Loan refinancing — If your creditworthiness improves, you can try to refinance your loan with RISE to receive a better rate.

Credit Score Plus — RISE offers a free service that lets users view their TransUnion score and includes credit alert notifications.

Overview — Like most other large banks, Wells Fargo offers a variety of unsecured personal loan options. But Wells Fargo gives exceptional loan terms and conditions compared to similar lenders.

And, those terms are even more competitive if you already have a Wells Fargo account. However, you don’t need to have one to apply for a loan.

Low credit requirements — Wells Fargo’s home improvement loan calculator suggests you may qualify for a loan with a credit score as low as 620. Compared to other unsecured loan options, that’s quite forgiving.

Customer relationship discount — If you possess a Wells Fargo checking account and if you enroll in autopay from a Wells Fargo deposit account, you may be entitled to better rates. According to Wells Fargo, those rates could net you a $10,000 loan with a 5.74% APR over three years.

Qualifying Wells Fargo customers can also apply for a loan secured by their Wells Fargo account for better rates.

Physical locations — All the other options on this list are online lenders. If you’re a fan of speaking with someone about loan options face-to-face, Wells Fargo has over 7,200 offices across the country.

Only late fees — A Wells Fargo home improvement loan has no origination fee and no prepayment fees. However, late payments do incur late fees of up to $39.