Construction Loans Alabama

Construction Loans are a welcome boon for funding your dream home. If you are in the process of building your home in Alabama, you may need financial help for a significant part of the building process. Your construction loan is an ideal source of financing to fund the building of your home so that the construction work goes on smoothly.

Construction Loans may or may not comprise the cost of the land used to build your home on. These loans are such that they set up a line of credit which will help pay the suppliers and subcontractors throughout the building process. This is beneficial for construction workers and laborers who do not have to wait until the building is completed to be compensated for their services.

Put yourself in this position. Your construction work is going fine at a normal pace when all of a sudden you are faced with depleting financial resources. As a result there is a curtailment of the construction activity. Since there is a disruption in the building process, the cost of construction increases. In such a situation, you have got to get hold of a financial source which helps the momentum going. Arranging for finance at such a short notice can be tough, unless you take the help of a construction loan which steps in to aid your building process.

Construction Loans are short-term, unlike home loans and mortgages that have long-drawn-out repayment duration. Unlike a regular mortgage, which usually has a term of 15, 30 or even 40 years, a construction loan is short-term in nature. Generally, the loan duration ranges from six months to a year, and the money is utilized to finance the building of the home. The loan provider offers the loans and waits till the borrower recovers the occupancy right to the home. Once the borrower has the construction work completed and has the building up and ready to take ownership, the loan is due for repayment.

Unlike mortgages, where the guidelines are based on the rules governed by the Financial Standards Association (FSA), there are no standardized guidelines to state the terms of construction loans. As per the case by case specification and the degree of consideration a borrower enjoys from the lender, the former can get Construction Loans at different terms. The rate of interest is dependent on the level at which the construction process is in and also in accordance with all parties like the lender, the borrower and the contractor (if any), agreeing to the contract. It goes without saying that since a construction loan is a short-term loan, the borrower should be ready to shell out a higher rate of interest compared to a home loan or a mortgage. The rate of interest is charged on an adjustable or flexible basis.

Another interesting aspect to know about the construction loan is that it is usually repayable through small interest-only payments. This is quite easy for borrowers since the repayable installment money becomes relatively less. In case of most mortgages, you pay off a part of the loan amount in the form of monthly payments. With construction loans, however, the entire balance or the principal money is typically due at the end of the loan term once the house is built. This may be tough however on people who may find it hard to arrange for the entire amount to be paid immediately after the construction of the home.

Home Construction Loans have the option to convert into permanent financing program or a take-out loan where your loan is converted into a mortgage once you get the certificate of occupancy for your home. The benefit is that you do not have two loans to concentrate on; there is only one application with one closing.

Converting a construction loan to a mortgage has its share of drawbacks. Firstly the borrower is locked in the loan agreement and is at the mercy of lenders. Secondly, he has limited options. He has to either abide by the terms of the lender or make an instant repayment. Most of the borrowers accept the terms of the lender and abide by the deal offered by the loan provider.

It does not mean that it is a trapping situation for the borrower who goes for a take-out loan. He can choose the “rate lock” which is an important method by which borrowers can avoid being cornered by a high interest rate. The rate lock method prevents the rate of interest from rising beyond a certain stage. In fact, the number of days the borrowers wants the rate lock to be in effect will be a deciding factor for its price. Rate locks are normally for a period ranging from 30 to 60 days.