Rose Cottage Ltd

Here is one from this morning’s front page at CNN:

“It doesn’t pay to remodel your home.”

Now, all those readers with ADD who just read headlines will have it locked in their brain that remodeling a home is not a good idea.

If you actually read the article, there are several things limiting the title’s accuracy.

#1 They are discussing remodeling in regard to resale value later. This is obviously not the only remodeling reason or purpose.

#2 The numbers they quote re: costs and ROI, are from the Board of Realtors…you know, the people who make money from your buying and selling of property, not from your remodeling.

#3 The article seems to think that everyone remodels just for resale.

#4 Most of the projects they discuss require a professional contractor.

None of the above is really accurate.

Remodeling can certainly be done to help a resale. Almost everyone knows that kitchens and bathrooms, and curb appeal, are the three main areas to work on if you want (or in this economy), need to sell your home. Watch even one episode of HGTV’s House Hunters” or House Hunters International and watch people as they view the homes for sale.

At the same time, look at the same shows with a remodeling focus. How many of those homes are fairly new, with nice kitchens and baths, and great landscaping, but someone STILL turns up their nose at a non-granite countertop, or a non-pedestal sink? Quite a few. So remodeling for the sake of resale means you must have a crystal ball to predict exactly what and with what to renovate.

So, if I drop $20,000 into a bathroom renovation in 2010 and I decide to sell in 2015, how much of the new “latest and greatest” am I still going to have to add? What will the big selling point be for bathrooms in 2015? Pre-heated bathtubs maybe? I’m not playing this game. The risks are too expensive.

Instead, I am remodeling my home to make it what I want – and I am quite happy to do so as long as my health and wallet permit. If I was a gourmet chef I might need or want a $100,000 kitchen, but I’m certainly not going to build one for some potential culinary-focused buyer. If I need a new stove, I’ll buy what suits my lifestyle. If I want a certain shade of paint that matches my color preferences, I’m going to have it. Chances are, if I did ever end up selling this place, I will paint it before showing anyway.

Meanwhile, I live in the house I want and I remodel within reason to make it better – for me and my family.

I’ve flipped houses in the past and there are certain unwritten “rules” of making a house presentable to buyers…muted paint colors, updating lower-cost things like faucets and lighting, sprucing up the yard and landscaping. My advice though is to not live your life, and manage any remodeling projects, with just return-on-investment in mind. Remodeling can enhance indoor and outdoor living spaces – for you, now. Worry about resale if and when it happens.

Who knows? You might just remodel yourself into a home you never want to leave….