How to Finance a Home Renovation in NC: What Fuquay-Varina Homeowners Need to Know
Last week we published something most contractors won’t — an honest guide to what home renovation projects actually cost in the Fuquay-Varina and Wake County market. Kitchen remodels starting at $35,000. Bathroom renovations starting at $15,000 to $25,000 depending on the scope. Home additions starting at $90,000.
For a lot of homeowners, seeing those numbers clearly for the first time raises an immediate follow-up question: how do people actually pay for this?
It’s a fair question — and one that deserves a straight answer. Most homeowners across Fuquay-Varina, Holly Springs, Angier, Lillington, Garner, and Willow Spring are not writing a check for $60,000 out of savings. They are using one of several financing strategies that make a significant renovation investment manageable over time — and in many cases, using the equity they have already built in their home to fund improvements that add even more value to it.
This week we are walking through the most common home renovation financing options available to homeowners in North Carolina — including financing we offer directly through our project platform. We are not financial advisors and this is not financial advice — we always recommend speaking with a licensed financial professional or your lender before making any financing decisions. But understanding the landscape before that conversation will help you walk in prepared.
Financing Through McLeod Contracting Group — Powered by HFS Financial
Before we walk through the broader landscape of renovation financing options, we want to highlight something we offer directly to our clients that most contractors don’t: access to home improvement financing through HFS Financial, integrated directly into our project process through JobTread.
HFS Financial is a home improvement lending specialist — and the financing they offer is specifically designed for renovation projects like the ones McLeod Contracting Group completes every day across Fuquay-Varina, Holly Springs, and Wake, Harnett, and Johnston Counties.
Here’s what makes HFS financing worth knowing about before you explore other options:
Fixed rates — so your payment never changes over the life of the loan. No prepayment penalty — pay it off early whenever you are ready. No equity required and no appraisal needed — which means homeowners who haven’t built significant equity don’t need to wait to move forward with their renovation. Quick funding for home improvements. 100% direct-to-consumer funded. And the prequalification process does not affect your credit score — so you can check your options without any risk to your credit.
You can prequalify directly through our partner link in just a few minutes:
👉 Check Your Financing Options Through HFS Financial
If you prequalify and move forward with McLeod Contracting Group, the financing integrates cleanly with our JobTread project management process — so your project financing and your project management live in the same ecosystem from day one.
We are not lenders and this is not financial advice — we always recommend reviewing all of your options and speaking with a financial professional before making any financing decisions. But for many of our clients, HFS financing is the most straightforward and most accessible path to funding the renovation they want.
Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)
A HELOC is one of the most commonly used financing tools for home renovation projects — and for homeowners across the Fuquay-Varina and Wake County area who have built meaningful equity in their homes, it is often the most flexible and most cost-effective option available.
A HELOC works similarly to a credit card secured against your home’s equity. Your lender establishes a credit limit based on the difference between your home’s current appraised value and your outstanding mortgage balance — typically up to 80–85% of that equity. You draw from the line as needed during a draw period, usually five to ten years, and pay interest only on what you have actually drawn, although some HELOCs require principal payments during this period. After the draw period ends, the outstanding balance converts to a repayment period where you pay both principal and interest.
For renovation projects, the draw structure of a HELOC is particularly useful. Rather than receiving a lump sum upfront, you draw funds as the project progresses — which aligns well with the milestone-based payment schedule that a professional contractor like McLeod Contracting Group uses. You are not paying interest on money you have not yet needed.
HELOC interest rates are typically variable — meaning they can move with market conditions — and the line is secured against your home, which means defaulting carries real consequences. These are important considerations to discuss with your lender before proceeding.
Best for: Homeowners with significant equity who want flexibility and are comfortable with variable rates. Works particularly well for phased renovations or projects where the final scope may evolve.
Home Equity Loan
A home equity loan — sometimes called a second mortgage — is similar to a HELOC in that it uses your home’s equity as collateral, but it works differently in structure. Rather than a revolving line of credit, a home equity loan delivers a lump sum at closing with a fixed interest rate and a fixed repayment schedule over a set term — typically five to thirty years.
For homeowners across Wake, Harnett, and Johnston Counties who have a clearly defined renovation scope with a known cost — a full kitchen remodel, a primary suite renovation, a home addition — a home equity loan offers the predictability of a fixed monthly payment for the life of the loan. You know exactly what the renovation will cost, you borrow exactly that amount, and your monthly payment does not change.
The tradeoff relative to a HELOC is flexibility. If your renovation scope changes mid-project or you need additional funds, you cannot simply draw more from an existing line — you would need to pursue additional financing.
Best for: Homeowners with strong equity and a clearly defined renovation scope who prefer the predictability of a fixed rate and fixed payment.
Cash-Out Refinance
A cash-out refinance replaces your existing mortgage with a new, larger mortgage — with the difference between the two paid to you in cash at closing. For example, if your home is worth $450,000 and your outstanding mortgage balance is $250,000, a cash-out refinance might allow you to take out a new $330,000 mortgage and receive $80,000 in cash to fund your renovation.
For homeowners who purchased or last refinanced when interest rates were higher than current rates, a cash-out refinance can accomplish two things simultaneously — lowering the interest rate on the overall mortgage and unlocking renovation capital at the same time. In a rate environment where refinancing makes sense, this can be an attractive option.
In a rate environment where current rates are higher than the rate on your existing mortgage — which has been the case for many homeowners in recent years — a cash-out refinance means giving up a favorable existing rate on your full mortgage balance in exchange for renovation capital. That tradeoff requires careful analysis with a licensed mortgage professional before proceeding.
Best for: Homeowners whose current mortgage rate is equal to or higher than available refinance rates, or those who want to consolidate renovation financing into a single mortgage payment.
Construction Loan
A construction loan is a short-term loan specifically designed to fund construction or major renovation projects. Unlike a traditional mortgage or home equity product, a construction loan typically disburses funds in stages — called draws — as specific phases of the project are completed and verified by an inspector.
Construction loans are more commonly used for ground-up construction or very large renovation scopes — significant home additions, whole-home renovations, or major structural projects — rather than for kitchen remodels or bathroom renovations. They typically carry higher interest rates than permanent mortgage products and require conversion to a permanent loan or refinance at the end of the construction period.
For homeowners across the Fuquay-Varina area planning a home addition starting at $90,000 or above, a construction loan may be worth discussing with a lender — particularly for larger addition scopes that approach or exceed $150,000.
Best for: Large-scope renovation and addition projects where a homeowner does not have sufficient existing equity to fund the project through a HELOC or home equity loan.
Personal Loan
A personal loan — an unsecured loan from a bank, credit union, or online lender — is an option for renovation projects when home equity financing is not available or not desirable. Because personal loans are unsecured — not backed by your home — they typically carry higher interest rates than equity-based products. Loan amounts and terms vary by lender and by the borrower’s credit profile.
For smaller renovation scopes — a crawl space repair, a powder room refresh, a McLeod Kitchen Refresh at the lower end of the starting range — a personal loan can be a practical path to funding a project without tapping home equity. For larger scopes, the higher interest rates relative to equity-based products can make personal loans a more expensive long-term choice.
Best for: Homeowners with limited home equity, smaller project scopes, or those who prefer not to use their home as collateral.
Savings and Cash
For homeowners who have been deliberately saving toward a renovation — or who have the financial capacity to fund a project from existing savings — paying cash eliminates interest costs entirely and simplifies the project financially. There are no lender requirements, no draw schedules to coordinate with a bank, and no monthly payments after the project is complete.
Cash payment does not change how McLeod Contracting Group prices or manages a project — our estimates are built from real vendor pricing regardless of how the client funds the work. But it does simplify the overall process and is worth considering for homeowners who have the capacity.
Best for: Homeowners with sufficient savings who prefer to avoid financing costs and lender requirements.
Using Financing as a Planning Tool
One of the most practical things homeowners across Fuquay-Varina, Holly Springs, and the surrounding areas of Wake, Harnett, and Johnston Counties can do before starting the contractor conversation is to speak with their lender or financial institution about what financing they qualify for — before they have a project scope or a contractor estimate in hand.
Knowing your financing capacity before the first site visit changes the conversation meaningfully. Instead of discussing a vague renovation vision and a hopeful budget, you walk into the discovery call knowing what you can realistically access — which allows for an honest, productive conversation about scope, phasing, and timeline from the very beginning.
It also allows you to plan a phased approach if the renovation vision exceeds what you want to finance in a single project. Many homeowners across our service area complete their kitchen renovation in year one, finance their primary bathroom renovation in year two, and add a deck or screened porch in year three — using their home’s appreciating value to fund each successive project. That is a smart, sustainable approach to a larger renovation vision.
What McLeod Contracting Group Can Tell You — and What We Can’t
We are a licensed general contractor. We are not mortgage professionals, financial advisors, or lenders — and we will never pretend to be. What we can tell you is what your project will cost, what the realistic timeline looks like, and how our payment schedule is structured so that your financing strategy and our project milestones align cleanly.
Our payment schedules are tied to project milestones — not arbitrary calendar dates or large upfront demands. That structure is designed to work well with draw-based financing products like HELOCs and construction loans, as well as with homeowners who are funding projects from savings or a lump-sum equity product. And for clients who want the simplest path to financing their project, our HFS Financial partnership is available from the moment you start the conversation with us.
What we recommend: have the financing conversation before you have the contractor conversation. Come to the site visit knowing your capacity. That conversation will be more productive, more honest, and more useful than one where the budget is a vague aspiration rather than a known number.
If you want to check your options with HFS Financial right now — before you’ve even had a site visit — the prequalification process takes just a few minutes and will not affect your credit score:
👉 Prequalify Through HFS Financial
And when you are ready to start the contractor conversation — we would love to hear what you are thinking about.
