If you’re a veteran looking for a home improvement loan to make some upgrades to your home, I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is the VA doesn’t offer any loans for this purpose. The good news is the Texas Veterans Land Board does, and they recently doubled the amount they’re willing to loan to a veteran—$50,000.

There are a couple very favorable terms to this loan. Not only will they go up to 20 years on the loan at below market rate, but you don’t have to provide a down payment either.

“You don’t even need a down payment with this loan.”

To apply for this loan, just go online at www.texasveterans.com. From there, they’ll contact you to get the ball rolling.

One of the requirements for this loan is you need to gather two bids for the work you want to be done—they won’t allow you to do it yourself. After they underwrite and approve the loan, the work will begin. Typically, they’ll send the money to a local title company in your area. As soon as the work is done, they’ll send an inspector to your home to ensure the work has been done satisfactorily and you’re happy with it. After that, they’ll fund the work and make sure the suppliers get paid.

There are home improvement loans available for non-veterans too. They’re typically done by most banks or federal credit unions, and most of them are underwritten by HUD. If you’d like to know more about these, ask your local bank or credit union.

If you have any more questions about home improvement loans, don’t hesitate to give me a call. As always, it doesn’t cost a penny to talk, and I’d love to help you.