When you’re applying for a home improvement loan or looking for some sort of a home improvement grant, don’t forget to check into your local government offices to see what they offer. Some small towns, cities and even states offer specialized home improvement financing programs for their constituents and citizens.

Like banks, local municipalities have a big interest in helping homeowners keeping their homes from falling into disrepair. The nicer the homes are in any given town or state, the higher the home value and the more people will want to move to that city or town. Lots of states offer home improvement loans and grants, but now more and more cities and even counties are doing the same, either with tax money collected from other constituents or with privately raised money. Here are a few good examples:

San Diego, CA - The San Diego Housing Enhancement Loan Programs (HELP) are city loans which are aimed at helping homeowners in San Diego improve their homes in order to make their neighborhoods more appealing destinations. Qualification is based on a number of criteria, but the home improvement loans can help residents pay for interior as well as exterior home improvements such as painting, replacement windows, new doors, roof replacement, plumbing upgrades and even drought-resistant yard and landscaping improvements.

Knoxville, TN - The Knoxville My Front Yard Program gives eligible residents up to $4,999 in home improvement loans which could be completely forgivable if certain restrictions are met. Knoxville gives out these home improvement loans, which often become home improvement grants, if the resident then stays in the home for an additional five years. The idea is to keep residents living in their neighborhoods by taking pride in where they live and increasing the community’s appeal to others at the same time.

Chicago, IL - Chicago has ever different home loan programs, one of which is through the Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) organization. They offer affordable fixed rate home improvement loans for residents in Chicago and Elgin to help home owners upgrade the efficiency, safety and desireability of their homes. They also offer some home and building rehabilitation loans as well as some forgivable home loans to help move more lower income residents into a home of their own.

New York City, NY - The massive New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) helps all sorts of people and organizations in New York City repair and update buildings and homes in the city. The HPD offers a number of different building rehabilitation loans that building and home owners can take advantage of.

For the same reason that many of these municipalities and cities are interested in giving its residents affordable home improvement loans, so are local banks. In fact, local neighborhood banks often approve home improvement loans that larger banks might not. Local banks have much more to gain by having their local communities and neighborhoods increase their home value with improvements and upgrades. The more desireable a neighborhood or city becomes, the more businesses and other residents will want to move to that city and more people means more customers for the local banks!