Lawn mowers can be pretty expensive can often require a large upfront financial investment . A good quality riding mower could set you back thousands of dollars, especially if you’re looking for something suitable to use in a lawn care business. Sure, you can find cheaper and more affordable lawn mowers at lower prices, but even those can be too expensive too.
This initial cost may not be feasible for you right so you might want to consider ways you can you get yourself a good quality mower without suffering that hit of that large upfront cost.
In this article, we’ll look at some of the ways you can finance a lawn mower.
What is Lawn Mower Financing?
You can finance your lawn mower the same way you would finance a car. Financing a purchase means borrowing money to buy an item. Financing involves singing a contract with your lender specific to requirements. You must return the borrowed money with interest to your finance, per your contract.
You have several options to finance your lawn mower purchase, some of which have zero interest charge.
1. Point-of-Sale
Many companies are selling lawn equipment by partnering with financing companies, offering point-of-sale loans for purchases. Generally, point-of-sale loans involve monthly instalments.
The ‘buy now, pay later’ companies break your lawn mower’s price into equal monthly instalments. You must comply with the financing contract and make the fixed rate payments on time each month.
While point-of-sale loans are generally hassle-free, this financing method often charges as interest so they are more expensive than in-store special fianncing or just paying in cash.
2. Leasing
Leasing should be your number one alternative if you’re looking for a cheaper alternative to taking out a loan. Like tractor leasing, many companies also offer leasing financing options for other lawn equipment like lawn mowers.
Usually, monthly leasing payments are much lower than payments with a loan so it might be an option to consider if you’re on a really tight budget.
It’s also an excellent choice if you only need a lawn mower for a limited amount of time. With leasing, you do not need to worry about maintaining expensive lawn equipment.
It’s important to stress that leasing is not a purchase and you will never own the lawn mower. Instead you get the lawn mower for a set period of time by making regular payments and once the lease is over, you return the equipment.
3. Special Financing Stores Cards
Typically in-store financing requires you to set up a new store credit card. Newly opened store credit cards often have special financing options that you can benefit from for most kinds of purchases.
With in-store special financing for a lawn mower, you will not need to pay interest fees unless you cannot return the money in time. It is an excellent option if you think you can pay the balance in full by the end of the financing period.
The store will charge you a deferred interest if you delay your payments.
4. Introductory APR Cards
Using a 0% introductory APR card is one of the best financing options for expensive lawn equipment like lawn mowers.
Many credit card companies give introductory offers to their newer customers upon opening an account. If it suits your needs, you can purchase a new credit card to get a 0% APR when financing your purchase.
An introductory offer of 0% APR tends to last up to 18 months giving you a good amount of time to pay off your balance. If you cannot repay your debit within the introductory period, the credit card company will charge an interest fee (likely very high) on your remaining balance.
If you’re planning to opt for this financing method, you should have a solid plan to pay off your purchase.
5. Personal Loans
Using a personal loan is an excellent choice if you do not want to sign an official financial contract with the financing company. However this does not mean that you can pay as per your convenience.
Personal loans also come with a set if rules that you must follow as you make a purchase.
A personal loan is a lump-sum loan that the borrower must repay in fixed monthly instalments over and greed time period.
Unlike credit cards, personal loans don’t have collateral so you will not lose an important asset if you cannot pay off the balance in time. The lender will need to asses your debt to income ratio and credit card history to determine whether they can trust you.
Typically, the borrowers with the highest credit score get the lowers APRs, so it may not be as good an option for individuals with bad credit.
The Bottom Line
Financing a lawn mower is entirely possible. People may struggle to make a large upfront investment and therefore financing a lawn mower maybe be a better option but let’s be clear, it’s generally better to avoid taking out a loan if at all possible.
Using a small loan to make a purchase will result in you paying way more for that item. Suppose you want to buy a top of the line mower for $8000 and you decide to get a small loan with 5.3% interest over 7 years. In the end, you would have spent around $2000 extra for that mower than the price you should have paid.