If you cannot afford to pay for new appliances in full, using a 0% intro APR credit card can help you finance your purchases interest-free during the promotional period. Once the 0% interest period expires, any balance remaining will be subject to the card’s ongoing APR. Or, if you don’t have the cash on hand for your project and need to finance the costs over a year or more, you may want to consider applying for a new card offering a 0% intro APR.
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Summary of the Best Credit Cards for Home Improvement
Keep in mind, though, that while store cards tend to pay solid rewards for in-store shopping, they tend not to offer sign-up bonuses and they rarely come with a 0% interest period. Some of them may offer interest-deferred "special financing" on larger purchases, but be careful with these. Many credit cards offer sign-up bonuses of $150 to $200 or more when you spend a certain amount of money in the first few months after opening your account. Get a new card for your project, and you may be able to hit the requirement easily. Then you can put that “free money” toward the project and lower your overall costs even more. The best credit card for home improvement varies since many homeowners have different goals and spending habits.
How to choose a card for home improvement
If you don’t, you’ll be charged interest on the original purchase amount that’s been accruing throughout the promo period. Alternatively, someone doing a significant home makeover could see if any Synchrony HOME retail partners are offering longer term promotional financing. This would allow the homeowner to get what they need today while paying off the purchase over time. Taking it a step further, you can get a card that offers bonus cash back in relevant categories, like one of the cards described above. A card that offers 5% on home improvement, for example, generates a more-or-less-instant $50 in savings on a $1,000 project.
NerdWallet's Best Credit Cards for Home Improvement and New Homeowners of May 2024
However, you’ll be assessed interest on any unpaid balance unless the card offers an intro APR deal for a specified period of time. For example, many cash-back credit cards offer a welcome bonus of a couple hundred dollars after you meet a required minimum spend in a certain time period. If you are looking at buying a new $1,500 refrigerator for your kitchen, you could consider a card offering a $200 cash-back welcome bonus with a $1,500 minimum spend requirement.
Where can I use my Synchrony Home Credit Card?
The Wells Fargo Reflect® Card has one of the longest 0% intro APR periods on the market — approaching almost two years. You'll be hard-pressed to find a longer interest-free promotion, and it applies to both purchases and balance transfers. If you don't mind putting some work into your rewards, check out the U.S. You pick which categories earn the most cash back — you get two 5% categories and a 2% category — and you can change those options every quarter. The promotional summary box on your monthly statement will clearly show the balance for each promotional financing purchase and corresponding expiration date.
We have partners in home categories including furniture, mattresses, electronics & appliances and more. To find Synchrony HOME Partners, check out Synchrony HOME retailers or visit our store locator to find locations near you. The Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards credit card in this post was last updated on April 3, 2023.
Best for choosing your home improvement store
Of those plans, 55% of homeowners wanted to renovate parts of their homes, 46% planned to redecorate, 35% planned on making repairs and 3% focused on home building. While 76% of homeowners relied on cash from savings to fund their projects, 35% said they would be using credit cards and only 14% would turn to a secured home loan. Our team of experts evaluates hundreds of credit cards and analyzes thousands of data points to help you find the best card for your situation.
Consumers who want to save money on interest can also opt for cards that offer 0 percent APR on purchases for a limited time. Although these offers can easily lead to significant interest savings, it’s important to remember that they don’t last forever. Make sure you pay down your balances beforehand because once the 0 percent intro APR timeframe is up, your card’s APR will reset to a much higher variable interest rate.
Just know that you’ll likely have to pay a 3% to 5% balance transfer fee, which will be added to the amount you transfer. The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a travel rewards credit card with a low $95 annual fee and a decent welcome bonus. You can earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, which is worth up to $750 when redeemed for travel via Chase Travel℠. All that spending on your new renovation can help you earn rewards to use to cover the cost of a quick getaway. Make sure to choose a credit card that offers generous rewards on home improvement purchases or at stores where you are likely to shop.
Cardholders must select their category choice online or via the mobile banking app. When your home improvement project is done, simply switch to another category and earn high rewards on that spending. If you'll need to spread the cost of a project over several months, consider applying for a card with a 0% intro APR period, which can save you money on interest. Some of the best rewards credit cards — including those that offer high rates on home improvement — come with 0% periods of well over a year.
Just know that once the promotional time period expires, any unpaid balance will be subject to the card’s ongoing APR. Notably, the card earns elevated rewards (on up to $1,500 in combined purchases) in categories that rotate every quarter, for which you have to opt into every three months. While these spending categories are only revealed a few weeks prior to the new quarter, national home improvement chain Lowe’s was an elevated-earning category in the second quarter of 2023. Like every promotional financing period, in order to reap the full benefits of this card you must be diligent with your repayment plan.
The simplest way to use credit cards to save on home improvement is to earmark your rewards for home purchases. For example, use a flat-rate cash-back card to earn 1.5% or 2% cash back on every purchase everywhere, then redeem those rewards for statement credit against purchases made for your project. Even though store credit cards have limited acceptance, they can still be a good deal for brand-loyal customers. The Synchrony Home Credit Card offers accountholders deferred-interest financing deals. So, it might be worth getting for people who shop at the card’s affiliated retailers often. At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions.
Synchrony Home cardholders have access to card-linked offers, which are digital coupons that can be added to your credit card. When you make a qualifying purchase, the coupon is automatically applied. As of this writing, most offers were for deferred interest of varying lengths. But despite those thousands of Synchrony Home partners, this credit card isn’t a true "open-loop" card that can be used anywhere the card’s payment network is accepted. Deferred interest can save you money on interest charges, but only if you are able to pay off the entire balance before the promotional period ends.
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