Over the past few years, a growing trend among homeowners has been the addition of a media room or home theater. For quite some time, the higher-end theaters were available almost exclusively to the wealthy (or to those who were willing to load up their credit cards to the maximum). But then someone got smart.
If this purchase was going to improve the home, why not add it to the home mortgage?
And so, the idea of mortgageable electronics began to grow in popularity.
Paul Nevins, the CEO of Home Theater Depot in Sevierville, Tenn., helps homeowners realize their dreams of having a movie theater right in their homes. "We offer advice to the homeowner on how to include the cost of the theater in their mortgage," Paul says. "Usually, the homeowner already has a lender they can work with, but we also have a lender that we can use. In most cases we can set up the purchase as part of a home refinance or as part of the original purchase."
Paul adds that there are some restrictions on what can qualify for mortgageable electronics. You can't simply go down to the electronics store and send the bill to your bank. "In order for a home theater to qualify, it has to be a dedicated room," he says. "The components have to be integrated, so that they'll still be a part of the house when you're ready to sell it."
With the rapid changes in audio and video equipment over the last few years, some people might question the idea of paying 30 years on a piece of equipment that will soon be obsolete. But Paul says that's not exactly how it works. "We tell people up front that their equipment will probably be outdated before it breaks down, but it's all completely upgradeable," he says. "Once it's installed, you can upgrade the individual parts without going through a completely new installation. The main expense will be for the overall theater."
Paul often works with homeowners to add home theaters to newly built homes. "We work with the builders, but we have our own installers," he says. "Obviously, the best time for us to come in is in the framing process before the drywall goes up, but we can also install theater systems in a finished room. In most cases we have dedicated wiring for the theaters; however, we can also use structured wiring for multi-room systems."
If a homeowner wants to add a theater to an existing house, Paul has a solution for that as well. "We offer a modular unit -- a soundproof metal building -- that can be attached to an existing home," he says. "The exterior of the unit can be modified to match the look of the house."
For more information on mortgageable home theaters, visit www.hometheaterdepot.net.
