Originally published in Heartbeat Magazine Spring 2025.
Your go-to resource for navigating agriculture’s financial landscape where our knowledgeable FCS Financial staff addresses some common questions from our members.
We are building a home on our acreage, and I heard FCS Financial has a single-close construction loan. I am not sure what that means exactly or what the benefit is. Can you explain?
Beth Bruckerhoff, Assistant Vice President, Ag & Rural Lending, O’Fallon
Most lenders will provide a short-term loan, often called a construction loan, during the building phase of your home. Once the home is complete, you’ll need to start the loan application process over again, this time applying for a long-term home mortgage. The mortgage will then pay off the construction loan, and you will begin making monthly payments.
At FCS Financial, we offer a single-close construction loan that simplifies this process. Our loan starts as a construction loan and transitions to a monthly-pay, long-term mortgage at a set time. This saves our member-owners time by avoiding the need for a second application, appraisal, and closing process. It also reduces worry, because members know from day one exactly what their long-term loan will look like. This also allows them to lock in long-term rates, eliminating rate uncertainty during the construction period.
