Personal loans for home furnishings

Personal loan feature	About
The loan amount.	Make sure what you are borrowing is something that you can realistically pay back, along with the interest. Work out a budget and don’t borrow more than you need. To cover yourself in case of unforeseen extra costs, there are loans available that have redraw facilities.
Secured or unsecured loans.	Whether you have a secured or an unsecured personal loan may largely affect your interest rate. Secured loans tend to have lower interest rates because the loan is secured against the borrowers’ asset(s).
Fees and charges.	Please note that loans with a lower interest rate might come with fees and charges that end up making it more expensive. Loans without fees and charges are out there, credit score willing. Don’t be caught out by hidden costs.
Flexibility	You might want to find a loan that lets you make extra repayments when you can and get it paid off quicker. The quicker you pay it back the less interest you pay. Keep an eye out for early exit fees – otherwise, you might feel trapped if you want to leave the loan early.
Service	Many people now opt for the convenience and speed of applying for a loan online. This can be a benefit as some financial institutions have online access only, and not having branches often allows them to offer their customers lower rates. However, some people prefer a personal touch and may want a lender with which they can speak to someone face-to-face.

Where can I get a personal loan for home furnishings?

There are many different lenders that, depending on your credit score and eligibility, are likely to be willing to provide you with a personal loan to finance your furnishings.

See the table above for a selection of lenders and their comparison rates. RateCity is dedicated to helping you find personal loans that best suit your personal circumstances.

Financing furniture after buying a house

It is extremely unlikely that you will have bought your home straight off the bat, looking like the pages of Vogue Living magazine, because you are not Kim Kardashian (no matter how many squats you do).

Buying a house is often the biggest expense in any person’s life, but the expense doesn’t stop once the purchase has gone through and the deal is closed. And unless you are a DIY wizard with an endless supply of materials, you will have to finance and buy the stuff that makes a house a home: the furniture.

Can you use your home loan to buy furniture?

While some people may choose to purchase their furniture with their home loan, there are reasons why this may not be your best option.

Rolling extra costs into your mortgage may well end up being much more expensive over time. Furnishing a home can cost up to 25% of the value of the property. So, if your home is worth $300,000, that could mean that kitting it out could cost as much as another $75,000.

Even though home loans tend to have the lowest interest rates, they also take the longest to pay back. If you were to borrow that on top of your mortgage, on an interest rate of 4.09%, you could be paying an extra $52,196 in interest over 30 years. And presumably, you won’t even be sleeping on that same mattress that you’re still paying for 30 years down the line.

If, however, you were to borrow the same amount in a secured or an unsecured personal loan that you intended to pay off over the course of 5 years, even at a higher rate, you would be paying a fraction in total interest.

How can I save money on furniture for my home?

Other things worth considering when furnishing your home is whether you can cut the costs on the furniture itself. There are plenty of options online for purchasing cheap second-hand furniture, like Gumtree and Craigslist. Or of course budget stores.

Building your furniture up over time, when you can afford to buy it, may save you cash, but you may also prefer to buy it at once for convenience. This is down to individual taste and circumstances.

The most important thing is that you compare and weigh up your options, seek professional financial advice where you can, and enjoy your fantastic furniture.