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It’s Spring, which means it’s time for cleaning and home improvement. Everyone around us is fixing up their homes – new siding, new windows, new decks, etc. It’s making me crazy anxious to make some decisions on things we need to do around our home.
The truth is that large home improvement loans and purchases, no matter how necessary they are, scare me. Do you feel the same?
We need new windows and doors.
This is something that’s been on our radar since the day we moved in. The windows in our home function, but were not well installed or taken care of. As much as I was hoping the time would never come, I think it has.
Out of curiosity, I had a reputable company quote the job a few years back. I did NOT expect the number I was given – $21,000. TWENTY ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS to replace all the windows in our home. What? How? Impossible.
I’m now aware that this is not outrageous for 11 windows and 2 doors that require a full frame replacement. Either way, 21k is a lot of money to spend on anything. Not even the two vehicles we own are worth this much, which is why it’s such a big deal to me.
The whole idea of spending this much money makes me incredibly anxious. What if I make a mistake!?
In the next little while, I have plans to have a few more companies quote the project as well as work out the financing. The biggest question I have is how do I know who to trust?
Obviously, my plan is to consult as many places as I can, including online reviews, word of mouth, and the Better Business Bureau. Beyond that, I need to make myself aware of the actual product. Watching YouTube videos and finding sites like this one that explain how to choose windows are helpful, but there’s only so much the internet can teach me.
You know when you do extensive research on a business? They have a 4.8 star google reviews rating, but the ONE 1 star review you find makes you feel uneasy about even calling them? Or how about when you ask people you know for their experiences and one friend says a specific company is the best, while another says the same company did a horrible job? The whole process is impossible, I swear.
Large home improvement loans are scary, but being unhappy in the end is even scarier.
Basically, my entire fear is this – what if we go through the entire process of getting of a loan, researching and picking a reliable company, getting the project done, and wind up with something we hate? I will do my very best to be diligent along the way, but the unfortunate truth is that this does happen.
Doing the research and taking the time to do things the right way seem to be the best way to make sure this doesn’t happen, but the small chance of failure is always in the back of my mind.
How do you deal with making large home improvement loan and purchase decisions?