Making Your House Better
February 23, 2009
It is fun at open houses to listen to visitors speculating on the changes they would make to a property. Even before a prospect actually purchases a property, they have planned new paint, new appliances, new carpet and a variety of other alterations that would make the property "theirs". Then after one moves in, sometimes inertia or finances slow down the projects. I know that when we purchased a home that truly needed to be recarpeted, it took us 5 years to accomplish this renovation. In one house, we actually resold it before the carpet was replaced and put in an extra bath just a few months before we sold it. Wouldn't it have been nice to have enjoyed it for the 9 years that we lived in that house. In some ways the issue really was a question of wants versus needs.
Obviously one's budget will be a determining factor of what improvements will ultimately be completed. Paint is the single most cost effective improvement that a homeowner can do - especially if one does the painting oneself. Actually, since labor is a large portion of any project, if one is at all handy, doing the work oneself can more than half your costs.
So many folks fell into the trap of taking out loans to make major improvements. If you are thinking of going this route, check out some of the charts that show approximate value that a home improvement project might add to a home. It is still true that a home can be "over improved" and push what dollars the owner has put into the property past the value of other properties in the area.
To use a popular phraseology, "at the end of the day" whatever you choose to do should be within your financial means.
It is fun at open houses to listen to visitors speculating on the changes they would make to a property. Even before a prospect actually purchases a property, they have planned new paint, new appliances, new carpet and a variety of other alterations that would make the property "theirs". Then after one moves in, sometimes inertia or finances slow down the projects. I know that when we purchased a home that truly needed to be recarpeted, it took us 5 years to accomplish this renovation. In one house, we actually resold it before the carpet was replaced and put in an extra bath just a few months before we sold it. Wouldn't it have been nice to have enjoyed it for the 9 years that we lived in that house. In some ways the issue really was a question of wants versus needs.
Obviously one's budget will be a determining factor of what improvements will ultimately be completed. Paint is the single most cost effective improvement that a homeowner can do - especially if one does the painting oneself. Actually, since labor is a large portion of any project, if one is at all handy, doing the work oneself can more than half your costs.
So many folks fell into the trap of taking out loans to make major improvements. If you are thinking of going this route, check out some of the charts that show approximate value that a home improvement project might add to a home. It is still true that a home can be "over improved" and push what dollars the owner has put into the property past the value of other properties in the area.
To use a popular phraseology, "at the end of the day" whatever you choose to do should be within your financial means.
posted by shirley harry at 8:05 AM
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