Free guide // 2026 Edition
The house that needs work is the one you can actually get.
Everyone else is bidding on the updated house. Renovation financing lets you buy the one nobody wants and fix it with the same loan. Here is exactly how it works.
- All six renovation products compared on one page
- Updated for the $75,000 Limited 203(k) cap and the June 2026 draw rule
- Six real scenarios with the actual numbers
- Two tear-out checklists you can take to a contractor
Send me the guide
No cost, no credit pull, no obligation. Just the guide.
What is inside
Written for the person looking at a house that needs work
Not a brochure. Thirty-seven pages of how these loans actually function, including the parts most people find out about too late.
The six products, compared
FHA 203(k) Limited and Standard, HomeStyle, CHOICERenovation, CHOICEReno eXPress and VA Renovation, side by side on a single page. Credit, down payment, maximum renovation amount, occupancy, timeline.
How the money actually moves
The renovation funds do not land in your bank account at closing. Draws, escrow, inspections and holdbacks, explained the way I explain them on the phone.
The exit plan nobody mentions
FHA mortgage insurance does not come off above 90% loan to value. A renovation loan builds equity fast. Put those two facts together and there is a strategy in it.
Six real scenarios
A first-time buyer in Everett, an investor in Sacramento, a veteran needing accessibility work, a post-divorce purchase. Purchase price, renovation budget, down payment and how each one came together.
Twelve questions for your contractor
A tear-out page you can take with you. The answers to the first two tell you whether this contractor will get you to closing or stall you at it.
What can go wrong
An honest chapter on cost overruns, permits, delays and the six things that actually cause renovation files to fall apart. All of them avoidable if you see them coming.
Why this edition matters
Most of what you will read online about renovation loans is out of date
The rules changed in late 2024 and changed again in June 2026. Articles, calculators and plenty of lenders are still quoting the old numbers, and those old numbers talk people out of projects that would work fine today.
The cap more than doubled
The FHA Limited 203(k) used to stop at $35,000. It is now $75,000, and energy efficiency improvements can be financed on top of that rather than counted inside it.
Four draws instead of two
As of June 2026 a Limited 203(k) allows four draw requests per contractor. Two draws on a $70,000 job meant your contractor floating a fortune, which is exactly how projects stall.
Small jobs got simple
Total repairs of $15,000 or less on a Limited 203(k) need no completion inspection at all. Receipts or a signed letter of completion is enough.
Contents
All 37 pages
- A note from KyleWhy the house nobody wants is usually the opportunity
- What changed in 2026The five updates that make this edition different
- 1. Understanding renovation loansHow they work, and the six products worth knowing
- The six products at a glanceOne page, side by side
- 2. Benefits of renovation loansValue, equity, flexibility, and the exit plan
- 3. Eligibility and requirementsCredit, income, property, contractors, appraisals
- 4. The application processEleven steps from first call to first draw
- 5. Managing your renovationPlan, budget, timeline, communication
- 6. Common challengesWhat goes wrong, and how to get ahead of it
- 7. Real scenariosSix situations and how the financing came together
- Checklist: 12 questions for your contractorTear out and take it with you
- Checklist: documents to have readyWhat to gather before you apply
Who wrote it
Kyle Butterfield
I am a loan officer at Dwell Mortgage. Most of the houses I see people fall in love with have something wrong with them, and most buyers walk away from those houses and spend another nine months losing bidding wars on the one place on the street that has already been updated.
Almost nobody knows these programs exist, and the people who have heard of them usually have out of date information. So I wrote the current version down, in plain English, with the parts I actually say on the phone written into the margins.
Kyle Butterfield
Loan Officer, Dwell Mortgage | NMLS # 2717196
Get the guide
Thirty-seven pages, free, no credit pull. Or skip the reading and just call me about the house you are looking at.
Send me the guideBook a call