Getting the Best Out of Remodeling
Posted by Lee Cameron on Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 at 11:54am.Years ago, when the housing market was booming, the economy was healthy and the sky was filled with rainbows and flying unicorns, remodeling your home was considered a good investment. You were almost certain to get your money back - and then some - when you decided to sell. Unfortunately, those days are no more.
Though you're no longer guaranteed to earn your money back, remodeling can still pay off if you make wise choices about what you do. Here are a few tips:
- Fix What's Already There
Sure, it's tempting to add that extra game room, or that huge bathtub with the jets. Buyers may even thank you for it in the end (though don't expect them to raise their offers that much more). But what buyers won't thank you for are repairs. With a flooded market, home buyers can afford to be choosier than ever and most will not even bother to look at a home that needs major repairs done. If you want to make sure your remodeling expense pays off, skip the luxuries and put that money into repairing and refurbishing the essentials of your home.
-Go Green
It's been a growing trend for years and it's never been more true. Having a Green home saves you green cash in the long run thanks to lower energy costs and longer-lasting appliances. Not only will you see a difference in your electric bill within the first year or two, but many new environmentally-conscious buyers will appreciate it as well.
You don't have to go through an expensive, all-out overhaul of your home either. The easiest way to go green is to take it a step at a time as you make normal repairs and improvements. Need to replace an appliance? Get an energy saving model. Time to update the furniture? Get eco-friendly brands. Every new addition helps.
-You Won't Get Your Money Back on Electronics
It's just a simple fact now. You won't get your money back when you buy expensive electronics for your home. No matter how state-of-the-art that high definition television is, and how cutting edge that surround sound system is, in six months they will be surpassed. And by the time you're ready to sell your home, they'll be about as useful to a buyer as laserdiscs and 8-track players. No one is going to pay extra for an out-of-date home theater system.
But you know what they might be willing to pay extra for? Tech infrastructure. Offer a home with plenty of cable and ethernet ports, ready for the buyer to plug their own state-of-the-art (and soon to be obsolete) system into and you just may be rewarded for the convenience.
-Bigger Is Not Better
The McMansion trend has gone the way of the McLean sandwich (remember those?). Buyers are no longer looking for huge homes with plenty of additional rooms and space. These days, a bigger home just means a bigger electric bill. Instead of adding on to your home, find ways to remodel and renovate your existing floor space. Knocking down a wall to turn a separate kitchen and dining room into a single eat-in kitchen can be very attractive. Merging a small family room with an adjacent living room and making one large great room can make your home seem bigger, more open and more inviting without actually changing the square footage.
-Keep Up With the Joneses... But Don't Pass Them
It's more important than ever to try to make sure that your home compares well with other homes in your neighborhood. These days, you're likely to have many homes for sale in the same neighborhood and having a home that is either much more expensive or much lower quality than the rest of the homes in the area will get you exactly zero offers. Try to keep an eye out for how much your neighbors' homes sell for and what features they are offering and make sure that you can compete.
The hard truth of the matter is that, even with these tips in mind, you're not guaranteed any return on any improvements that you make in your home. This is especially true with the tricky housing market that we work in right now. The best tip of all is this - make improvements to your home for yourself. Aside from necessary repairs, don't improve your home just to get more money from your home sale, do something that you and your family will enjoy, especially if you don't plan to move again for another few years. You might get lucky and by the time you're ready to sell again, the market will have improved for you. And in the meantime, you'll be able to enjoy your upgraded home. Maybe even that big bathtub with the jets. And the 8-track player.
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