It’s only natural for homes to slowly acquire damage as the years go by, and you may soon notice your castle of dreams has begun to lose the charm it once had.
Of course, you’d want to prevent this, but with the funds you’ve got, you simply can’t afford all the repairs it needs for you to restore its former glory.
Thankfully, keeping your home in good condition is something that the government can actually help you with, and this is particularly true if you’re looking to attract potential buyers for the property, as no one is keen on buying a home with damage all over it.
In fact, the government can award you grants that you can use to repair your home, and you won’t even have to pay them back, so long as you can prove the money was spent on the repairs the home was in desperate need of.
As a low-income household, you may just have access to a vast number of these assistance options without even knowing it, and it’d be a shame to let some of them go to waste by not trying them out.
Naturally, the grants offered by the government each come with their own set of requirements and eligibility criteria, and it’s not uncommon for someone to be interested in one of these options, only to find out later they’re not even qualified to receive assistance.
However, a great number of these assistance options are easily obtainable, and if your first pick doesn’t work for you, it’s for the best to move on to the next and work on getting the funds you need to have your home shining as bright as ever.
By looking through the options available to you, you may also get a firmer grasp on how the assistance actually works and what types of grants generally won’t be applicable to you.
Despite all this, you’ll still have to dedicate a lot of time to finding the right option for you, and the sooner you start the sooner your search will also end.
It’s impossible to overstate how important it is to look through all the options at your disposal, as you never know when you may just run into the right one.
The government grants you can apply for
Among the grants you’ll find, you may run into grants focused on home renovation or home maintenance, and the choice between the two will depend greatly on the overall condition of your home.
Typically, the money you receive doesn’t have to be repaid, and the HUD has banded together with the USDA to provide the funds necessary to make home improvement and renovation much easier on the average American.
Additionally, if your home’s been damaged due to a natural disaster like a storm or an earthquake, you may also be able to apply for a grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
On the other hand, if you’re merely struggling to pay your utility bills due to the low efficacy of your home’s heating and cooling systems, the LIHEAP program may be able to help you somewhat, as they offer assistance with the monthly utilities as well as improving the systems in one’s home.
We’ll go over many of these, and it’ll be up to you to find the one that is the most suitable choice for your circumstance, so read carefully and thoroughly.
Section 504 Home Renovation Grant
The US Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is behind this program, and they developed it to offer assistance to low-income households with the necessary repairs and improvements on their home.
The grants the USDA offers to qualified Americans can go up to $7k, whereas the loans they provide can go up to $20k at times.
The program focuses on the elderly, providing them with help regarding the expenses related to preserving and repairing their living arrangement, which is commendable, to say the least.
You should remember, though, that you can only obtain a Section 504 grant once, and from that point on you won’t be able to receive any money from the USDA, so make sure that the one time you apply was really worth it.
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
Even though this program doesn’t offer grants, it’s a terrific option for anyone looking to make improvements on their home, or if a household generally has trouble paying their energy bills.
Through the program, eligible households are offered assistance in the form of coverage of their energy services and bills, with the primary focus being reducing the risks associated with faulty cooling and heating systems that tend to exist in older, run-down homes.
Even though it’s federally funded, the budget for it is distributed among local and state governments, which manage the program.
If your house is in desperate need of repairs, you should certainly consider LIHEAP, and if you’re already eligible for another assistance option, such as SNAP or SSI, you immediately gain eligibility for this program as well.
Finding government grants
In order to actually find all of the assistance options in your area all by yourself, you’d have to set aside an entire month of your time, but fortunately, that’s not the case.
Instead, you should begin your search at grants.gov as well as the HUD’s official website.
These two will offer you access to a vast resource of information on government grants, how to utilize them, and where you can apply for one, so do your research thoroughly and get started right away.