Homeowner Shares Benefits of NFC Home Improvement Program

"An NFC Loan Helped Me Renovate My Home Without Using My 401K!"

Jerry Coppess has owned his 1955 ranch-style home for ten years. He had planned to make some improvements a few years down the road using his 401k, being careful to maintain the original charm of his home. While thumbing through the paper late last summer, he read about the Neighborhood Finance Corporation (NFC) revitalizing neighborhoods in Des Moines. A few weeks later, he saw another story, this time with a map, announcing that NFC would be revitalizing local neighborhoods in Cedar Rapids in the near future, and he realized that his Wilson Avenue home just might fall inside of our lending area.  

Jerry wasn’t looking for a loan right now, but he did have a to-do list of remodeling projects, so he kept watching the paper, planning to find out if this program could help. NFC soon announced it would begin taking applications. He contacted NFC via email and received a confirmation immediately.  After submitting his application in December, Jerry closed on his NFC refinance loan in January. 

Jerry appreciates that his appointments with Lynn Barrett, NFC’s Mortgage Loan Officer, were flexible and planned around his work schedule. He met with local contractors and submitted multiple bids for the planned improvements. Work began on his home within a few weeks. “The bid process was probably the slowest, but these guys work very quickly. I just had to make them wait on me!”  

While he wasn’t planning on remodeling his home just yet, the NFC home improvement program has allowed Jerry to speed up his time table and have more satisfaction out of his home right now. The electrical work is already complete, and the plumber is scheduled to come in next week. Jerry expects the interior work on his kitchen, bathroom and basement to be complete this month, depending on when the carpet and countertops come in. He is waiting until spring to have his roof replaced. 

One of the most important factors that made Jerry decide to apply for the program was the funding. Jerry did his homework and was pleased to learn that Farmers State Bank is one of the eleven financial institutions participating with NFC Cedar Rapids, which earned his confidence.  

The NFC application process went smoothly overall, and Jerry says the people he worked with were very nice and very accommodating, especially with his schedule. “I’d recommend this program. I think it’s a good program...I was planning on doing this work anyhow, a few years down the road. Now, I have it all done. And it didn’t have to come out of my 401k.”