 TITLE: How to Finance Your Next Home Improvement Project CONTENT: What Do I Need for a Home Improvement Loan?\n-------------------------------------------\nIt's ideal to have at least good credit when applying for a home improvement loan, so the first thing you'll need to do is to check your credit score. To give you an idea of where you want your score to be, here's how FICO breaks down its credit score ranges:\n*   **Exceptional**: 800 to 850\n*   **Very good**: 740 to 799\n*   **Good**: 670 to 739\n*   **Fair**: 580 to 669\n*   **Poor**: 300 to 579\nYou'll also need to make sure you have documents that verify your income, such as pay stubs or a W-2, or bank statements and recent tax returns if you're self-employed.\nIf you're planning to get a loan based on your home's equity, you'll also typically need to get an appraisal done on the home to determine its value and the amount of equity you have based on what the home is worth and what you have left on your mortgage loan. END