It’s not cheap to work on your house. The costs for purchasing construction supplies, hiring a qualified work force and paying the various fees for permits can quickly add up.

Banks lend money all the time to individuals who want to improve their homes, but most banks require you to have some sort of equity before you can get a loan. Even if you do have equity built up in your house some banks may charge additional loan fees and higher interest rates than normal based on your credit score and a number of other factors. Credit cards from home improvement stores have some unique advantages.

Zero Interest for a Limited Time: Many of those home improvement store credit cards give you a period of 6 to 12 months with no interest charges as long as you use the credit card in their store. Those savings could add up to big money if you are able to pay back all of the amount you borrowed on the credit card. Even more importantly, big stores like Lowe’s Home Centers may have different credit cards available for your own personal situation.

In-Store Discounts: When you initially use hardware store credit cards you will often get a small discount as well. You might save 3% – 10% on the total cost of the project, which could be a pretty good chunk of change at the end of the day.

Home Improvement Convenience: These large home improvement stores now offer just about everything you could need to upgrade your home and most offer lots of contractor services to actually do the work for you. They’re no longer just for the do-it-yourself handyman and handywoman. Now they are large outlets designed to offer everything you could possibly need for your house projects. With one store credit card you can purchase the materials you need as well as hire someone to do all the work for you!

Why do home improvement stores offer these cards with such great rates? Normal banks make their money by giving you a loan and charging you interest. These home improvement stores don’t have to make money on interest because they will make a profit on you buying items from their store for retail price. These hardware stores are essentially giving you a no-interest loan for a short period of time so that you can buy more of their items!

Need to repair your home but have a low credit score? You should learn more about some bad credit home improvement loan options and learn how you can still get the money you need.