Are Landscaping Loans the Best Solution for Financing Outdoor Projects?

Written by Christy Rakoczy

July 2, 2018October 3, 2019LoansFeatured, Personal Finance1091Christy RakoczyJamie YoungSEO

Updated on July 2, 2018

Editorial Note: This content is not provided or commissioned by any financial institution. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and may not have been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the financial institution.

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When I moved into my house, my backyard was a mess of weeds and not much else. Because our house was a new build, we didn’t even have grass.

I love to spend time outside, so I knew I needed to prioritize landscaping projects, but I quickly discovered creating an awesome backyard was expensive.

The good news is there are plenty of financing options for outdoor projects, including landscaping loans. The bad news is not all these options are smart choices.

If outdoor projects are your top priority, it’s important to make good choices about how you pay for your new backyard. Here are all your options so you can find the right source of financing.

Landscaping loans and financing for outdoor projects

Options for homeowners financing outdoor projects include paying with savings, landscaping loans, personal loans, and home equity loans. There are pros and cons to each approach.

Use your savings

Paying with savings is often the best way to finance a backyard because you won’t have to pay interest on your upgrades. But there are some downsides.

First, the money you put into upgrading your yard won’t be available for other goals (or emergencies), such as repaying debt or investing for retirement. While investing in backyard upgrades can increase the value of your home, only some outdoor projects have a positive rate of return.

Putting in a fire pit, for example, costs around $4,500, according to the National Association of Realtors’ Remodeling Impact Report, but you’ll recover only about $3,500 when it comes time to sell.

Second, it can take a long time to save up enough for big projects. For example, our goal was to put in a swimming pool. We paid cash for it, but we didn’t get it installed until we’d been in our house for five years.

It’s frustrating to wait when you want to enjoy your dream backyard, but if you can be patient, you can enjoy outdoor amenities without worrying about having bills (or interest) to pay.

Try a landscaping loan

Some landscaping companies offer in-house financing for big projects such as swimming pools. One company in our area will even finance the installation of a pond or waterfall. There are also local and online lenders that offer dedicated home improvement loans.

If you can find a landscaping company offering in-house financing, it streamlines the process since you won’t have to work with a separate lender.

Lenders offering landscaping or swimming pool loans also know what these projects cost and are more likely to loan enough money to pay for the work to be done. A general personal loan lender may have lower loan limits.

The big downside to landscaping loans is the fact that you’ll often pay a lot in interest — with APRs around 5% to 10% for creditworthy borrowers — which makes your project more expensive.

You can use our personal loan calculator to estimate how much your project will cost based on how much you borrow, the interest rate, and the length of your term. You also can check out some of the best lenders for home improvement projects to find financing at competitive rates.

Consider a personal loan

If you’re financing an outdoor project, you don’t have to take a specialized home improvement or landscaping loan.

Personal loans can be used for any purpose, and there are many more lenders offering general personal loans than dedicated landscaping loans. You can shop for personal loans with online lenders, credit unions and community banks, and peer-to-peer lenders such as LendingClub.

The downside of using personal loans to fund a backyard project is that, again, you’re paying interest and the project will be much more expensive because of it.

If you’ve decided to borrow anyway, take the smallest loan possible and compare lenders carefully. Start your search by checking out some of the best personal loan lenders.

Get a home equity loan

If you have equity in your home, you can borrow against your house to pay for your backyard. But taking a home equity loan is risky because your home is in jeopardy if you can’t make payments.

Still, home equity loan rates are lower than most other types of unsecured debt because these loans are secured. There are also some tax deductions available for home equity loans if you itemize.

Despite the risk of potential foreclosure, many homeowners decide a home equity loan is better than a personal loan because of these benefits.

If you’re taking a home equity loan, be aware you may have to pay certain costs associated with getting the loan, such as paying for an appraisal to make sure you have enough equity.

Many lenders won’t lend to you if the combined value of your primary mortgage and home equity loan equals more than 80% of what your house is worth.

Comparing financing options for outdoor projects

As you consider options for financing outdoor projects, some key things to think about include:

Return on investment: If you won’t get the money back that you put into the project, borrowing is a bad idea unless you have extra cash to spare and plan to stay in your home for a long time.
Total cost of the project: How much you’ll pay in total. Add up the interest cost if you’re borrowing to make sure the landscaping upgrade is worth the total you’ll have to spend.
Most affordable financing: Don’t just look at the monthly payment because if a loan has a longer repayment term, the monthly cost may be lower — although total costs are higher. Also, pay attention to whether lenders are offering fixed-rate loans, which stay the same the whole time you have the loan, or variable-rate loans. A variable-rate loan may have a lower starting rate, but interest costs and monthly payments could rise or fall.
Approval for the necessary loan amount: Lenders have different minimum and maximum amounts they’ll lend. Select a lender that will approve you for the amount you need so you can complete your project but not borrow more than necessary.

It’s also a good idea to consider doing part of the project yourself if it’ll save you money.

While we paid a professional to install our pool, we planted flowers and mulched ourselves, saving thousands by doing this work on our own.

Sweat equity helps make projects cost less, which means you’re more likely to recoup your investment — and you’re likely to enjoy the yard more when you know all the effort you put into it.

Interested in a personal loan?

LendingTree allows you to compare rates from multiple lenders by filling out one easy form.

Lender	RATES (APR)	loan amount
	4.99% – 19.63%¹	$5,000 to $100,000
	4.37% – 35.99%	$1,000 to $50,000
	5.94% – 35.97%^*	$1,000 to $50,000
	99.00% – 199.00%²	$500 to $4,000
	5.99% – 24.99%³	$5,000 to $40,000
	9.99% – 35.99%⁴	$2,000 to $36,500
compare rates on Lendingtree now NMLS #1136: Terms & Conditions Apply
¹ Includes AutoPay discount. Important Disclosures for SoFi. SoFi Disclosures For when we advertise static headline rates w/ all discount (i.e. autopay and money bundle) (NON PQ RATE): Fixed rates from 4.99% APR to 19.63% APR include a 0.25% autopay discount and a 0.25% direct deposit discount. SoFi rate ranges are current as of 11/2/2021 and are subject to change based on market conditions and borrower eligibility. SoFi Personal Loans are not available to residents of MS. Additional state restrictions may apply. Your actual rate will be within the range of rates listed and will depend on the term you select, evaluation of your creditworthiness, income, and a variety of other factors. Lowest rates reserved for the most creditworthy borrowers. Autopay Discount: The SoFi 0.25% autopay interest rate reduction requires you to agree to make monthly principal and interest payments by an automatic monthly deduction from a savings, checking, or other account. The benefit will discontinue and be lost for periods in which you do not pay by automatic deduction from a savings, checking, or SoFi Money account. Autopay is not required to receive a loan from SoFi. Direct Deposit Discount: To qualify for an additional 0.25% APR direct deposit discount you must: (1) set up autopay with SoFi Money within 20 days of the funding of your loan, AND (2) setup payroll direct deposits of at least $1,000/mo to SoFi Money within 35 days of the funding of your loan. If you do not set up autopay with SoFi Money within 20 days of the funding of your loan, AND set up payroll direct deposits to SoFi Money within 35 days of the funding of your loan you will not be qualified for this additional 0.25% direct deposit discount. Once qualified, you will receive this additional 0.25% direct deposit discount during periods in which you have direct deposits of at least $1,000/mo turned on with your SoFi Money account. This additional direct deposit discount will be lost during periods in which you have turned off direct deposits for your SoFi Money account. You are not required to enroll in autopay or direct deposits to receive a loan from SoFi. The Direct Deposit Rate Reduction excludes members from receiving the $100 SoFi Money® direct deposit promotional program. SoFi Money® is a cash management account, which is a brokerage product, offered by SoFi Securities LLC. Member FINRA/SIPC. Neither SoFi nor its affiliates are a bank. SoFi Money Debit Card issued by The Bancorp Bank. For API partners when we return pre-qual offers only with all discounts (i.e. autopay and money bundle) plus direct payoff discount for those borrowers who select credit card payoff: Fixed rates from 4.99% APR to 19.63% APR include a 0.25% autopay discount and a 0.25% direct deposit discount. SoFi rate ranges are current as of 11/2/2021 and are subject to change based on market conditions and borrower eligibility. SoFi Personal Loans are not available to residents of MS. Additional state restrictions may apply. Your actual rate will be within the range of rates listed and will depend on the term you select, evaluation of your creditworthiness, income, and a variety of other factors. Lowest rates reserved for the most creditworthy borrowers. The SoFi 0.25% autopay interest rate reduction requires you to agree to make monthly principal and interest payments by an automatic monthly deduction from a savings, checking, or SoFi Money account. The benefit will discontinue and be lost for periods in which you do not pay by automatic deduction from a savings or checking account. Autopay is not required to receive a loan from SoFi. Direct Deposit Discount: To qualify for an additional 0.25% APR direct deposit discount you must: (1) set up autopay with SoFi Money within 20 days of the funding of your loan, AND (2) setup payroll direct deposits of at least $1,000/mo to SoFi Money within 35 days of the funding of your loan. If you do not set up autopay with SoFi Money within 20 days of the funding of your loan, AND set up payroll direct deposits to SoFi Money within 35 days of the funding of your loan you will not be qualified for this additional 0.25% direct deposit discount. Once qualified, you will receive this additional 0.25% direct deposit discount during periods in which you have direct deposits of at least $1,000/mo turned on with your SoFi Money account. This additional direct deposit discount will be lost during periods in which you have turned off direct deposits for your SoFi Money account. You are not required to enroll in autopay or direct deposits to receive a loan. The Direct Deposit Rate Reduction excludes members from receiving the $100 SoFi Money® direct deposit promotional program. SoFi Money® is a cash management account, which is a brokerage product, offered by SoFi Securities LLC. Member FINRA/SIPC.Neither SoFi nor its affiliates are a bank. SoFi Money Debit Card issued by The Bancorp Bank. If you selected credit card payoff as your loan purpose then your pre-qualified rate also includes a potential additional 0.25% Direct Pay discount. To secure this discount, you will need to select Direct Pay as an option to pay off your credit card and apply 50% or more of your loan proceeds directly to your creditors. ² Includes AutoPay discount. Important Disclosures for Opploans. Opploans Disclosures Direct Deposit required for payroll. Opploans currently operates in these states: . Approval may take longer if additional verification documents are requested. Not all loan requests are approved. Approval and loan terms vary based on credit determination and state law. Applications processed and approved before 7:30 p.m. ET Monday-Friday are typically funded the next business day. To qualify, a borrower must (i) be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident; (ii) reside in a state where OppLoans operates; (iii) have direct deposit; (iv) meet income requirements; (v) be 18 years of age (19 in Alabama); and, (vi) meet verification standards. NV Residents: The use of high-interest loans services should be used for short-term financial needs only and not as a long-term financial solution. Customers with credit difficulties should seek credit counseling before entering into any loan transaction. OppLoans performs no credit checks through the three major credit bureaus Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion. Applicants’ credit scores are provided by Clarity Services, Inc., a credit reporting agency. Based on customer service ratings on Google and Facebook. Testimonials reflect the individual’s opinion and may not be illustrative of all individual experiences with OppLoans. Check loan reviews. Rates and terms vary by state. ³ Includes AutoPay discount. Important Disclosures for Payoff. Payoff Disclosures All loans are subject to credit review and approval. Your actual rate depends upon credit score, loan amount, loan term, credit usage and history. Currently loans are not offered in: MA, MS, NE, NV, OH, and WV. ⁴ Important Disclosures for LendingPoint. LendingPoint Disclosures Loan approval is not guaranteed. Actual loan offers and loan amounts, terms and annual percentage rates (“APR”) may vary based upon LendingPoint’s proprietary scoring and underwriting system’s review of your credit, financial condition, other factors, and supporting documents or information you provide. Origination or other fees from 0% to 6% may apply depending upon your state of residence. Upon LendingPoint’s final underwriting approval to fund a loan, said funds are often sent via ACH the next non-holiday business day. LendingPoint makes loan offers from $2,000 to $36,500, at rates ranging from a low of 9.99% APR to a high of 35.99% APR, with terms from 24 to 48 months. The loan offer(s) shown reflect a 28 day payment cycle which is being offered as a courtesy as many of our customers are paid on a biweekly schedule and thus this may better align the loan payment dates with your actual income receipt schedule. ^ Important Disclosures for Upgrade Bank. Upgrade Bank Disclosures Personal loans made through Upgrade feature APRs of 5.94%-35.97%. All personal loans have a 2.9% to 8% origination fee, which is deducted from the loan proceeds. Lowest rates require Autopay and paying off a portion of existing debt directly. For example, if you receive a $10,000 loan with a 36-month term and a 17.98% APR (which includes a 14.32% yearly interest rate and a 5% one-time origination fee), you would receive $9,500 in your account and would have a required monthly payment of $343.33. Over the life of the loan, your payments would total $12,359.97. The APR on your loan may be higher or lower and your loan offers may not have multiple term lengths available. Actual rate depends on credit score, credit usage history, loan term, and other factors. Late payments or subsequent charges and fees may increase the cost of your fixed rate loan. There is no fee or penalty for repaying a loan early. Accept your loan offer and your funds will be sent to your bank or designated account within one (1) business day of clearing necessary verifications. Availability of the funds is dependent on how quickly your bank processes the transaction. From the time of approval, funds should be available within four (4) business days. Funds sent directly to pay off your creditors may take up to 2 weeks to clear, depending on the creditor. Personal loans issued by Upgrade’s lending partners. Information on Upgrade’s lending partners can be found at https://www.upgrade.com/lending-partners/.