By Susan Melony
If you move into a new house, you will likely spend some time getting to know it. You will fit your life into that house, determining which furniture goes where and what rooms you should use for which activities. It’s an exciting moment, but it’s also a time when you will probably notice some things that your home lacks.
Presumably, you noticed these deficiencies before you moved in. Once you’re living in that house, though, they may sink in a bit more. For instance, you might observe that your house does not come with a shed in the backyard, a carport, or a garage.
You can look for a carport or garage manufacturer with excellent reviews if you feel like you need one. You can purchase a prefabricated shed if you want one and have Home Depot or Lowes deliver it. You can also build the shed yourself from a kit if you’d like to save a little money.
How can you pay for your new garage, carport, or shed, though? That’s worth talking about, so let’s do so right now.
You’ll notice very different price tags for sheds, carports, and garages
First, we should make the point that you can expect to pay much different prices for sheds, carports, and garages. Usually, you will pay the least amount of money for the shed.
Sheds can command higher or lower price tags depending on their size, features, and material. Often, though, you might pay anywhere from $2K to $8K. You will also pay less if you install it yourself and more if you pay someone to do it.
A carport might cost you anywhere from a few hundred dollars to $6K or more. You can often find significantly cheaper ones on places like Amazon, but they’re usually of poor quality.
As for a brand-new garage, that will often cost you much more than you’d pay for either a carport or shed. You can pay anywhere from $15K to as much as $40K in some instances.
All this means you can probably more easily install a carport or shed than a garage.
Save up the money
As for how you can pay for any of these home improvements, saving up the money and paying for the project all at once makes the most sense, if you can manage it. You might start a savings account with the idea of buying a carport, garage, or shed when you have enough money.
Depending on how much you make and how much you can afford to put away each month, you might have your new home addition quite soon. It also might take months or even years.
Wait till you get a major windfall
Maybe you do not want to wait that long. You’re impatient to get your shed, carport, or garage sooner rather than later.
If so, you might think about times when you’re most likely to get a major windfall. You can’t always predict when that may happen. For instance, you can’t predict when a relative might die and leave you an inheritance.
However, you can usually predict that you’ll get an income tax refund or a holiday bonus from your job. If those feel like valid options, then you might wait till that time of year. You can get your refund or bonus and know that you will spend the money to get the shed, garage, or carport that you’ve wanted.
Get a home improvement loan
Maybe you don’t think you have any major windfalls coming in soon, but you still want your garage, carport, or shed. If so, then you might approach a credit union or bank and ask them about getting a home improvement loan.
Such loans can pay for any of the options we’ve discussed. If you can show the lending entity that you have a strong credit history, then they will more likely give you favorable terms. Ideally, you’ll want plenty of time to pay back the loan, and you won’t want to pay much interest on it.
Set up a favorable payment plan with the installer
You can consider one additional factor when determining how you’ll pay for your new garage, carport, or shed. You might ask the builders if you can pay them according to an installment plan.
That way, you won’t have to pay the whole price upfront. You can pay in installments over the next few years, which might appeal a lot more.
