SayEducate

Undertaking any renovation project means considering all aspects of the work to be done before getting started. Cost, hiring contractors, possible temporary displacement from your home, and the like must all be weighed. Yet, if a renovation is desired, now is the best time to get it done.

Reasons Why Renovating Should Not Be Delayed

If you delay your renovation project, you’ll soon learn that:

Project costs most certainly will increase — higher fuel prices are pushing the cost of housing materials ever higher. Products that are petroleum based, such as shingles, rise when gas prices go up. Wait a few months and you could be adding hundreds, perhaps thousands of dollars to the cost of the work.

Interest rates may rise — if you are taking out a loan for your home renovation, interest rates are expected to begin rising later this year. Right now, mortgage rates are low, but a shaky economy means that future rates will be higher. Lock in the lowest rate while you can!

Contractor availability — with the housing slump in full force, plenty of contractors are looking for work. This can work to your advantage too — get at least three quotes and compare services offered and prices to find the best deal today.

Of course, when renovating you’ll want to choose your renovations wisely especially if you plan to eventually sell your home. Kitchens and bathroom renovations almost always offer a full return on your investment while most other rooms do not. However, don’t discount the enjoyment a particular room has to offer you as return on investment shouldn’t be allowed to trump your personal satisfaction ever.

Resources

Planning Your Home Expansion Project

All About Spec Planning

Home Equity Lending

Review House Plans

Homeowners who are preparing to put their houses on the market are understandably nervous these days. Will a buyer be found? Will they be approved for a mortgage?

This sort of uncertainty has some owners thinking about spending extra money to make repairs in a bid to improve the marketability of their homes. While major repairs should be handled before the home is offered for sale, most sellers can make minor repairs and still sell their homes.

Before you sell, you need to assess how your home looks to potential buyers. A skilled real estate agent can suggest what repairs you should make before marketing your home; those tips are likely to include the following:

Clean up your landscaping — your front lawn could make or break a sale; if your home doesn’t have curb appeal, then buyers may not be able to “look past” the front door. Trim bushes, put grass seed down to fill in patches, plant flowers, and lay down mulch. Trim trees which are obviously diseased too.

Refreshen your front door — does the entranceway to your home “wow” your visitors? If not, consider applying a new coat of stain to the front door, fix broken glass, clean the light fixture, lay down a new welcome mat, apply a fresh cost of paint around the frame of the door.

Interior walls — short of painting your home’s interior, touching up walls by removing smudges and repairing cracks could be all that is needed. If wallpaper has obviously aged and looks dated, remove same and repaint the walls with a soft color.

Too much furniture — remove extra furniture as too much furniture can make a room look smaller than it should. If a chair or sofa is worn, put a new slip cover over same or remove that piece.

Carpeting, flooring — ripped carpeting should be fixed. If old, replace it or if there are wood floors underneath, have the floors refinished — you’ll save money over buying a new carpet.

Bathrooms — replace that old toilet seat with a new one, fix dripping faucets, caulk the shower/tub, clean the tile, replace the shower curtain and rug.

Kitchen — keep all appliances even if they are old as long as they work. Your next buyer will probably replace these items anyway. Re-stain or repaint cabinetry and fix counters that are cracked, worn, or otherwise needing a makeover. Remove excess small appliances when showing the home to create a more spacious appearance.

Closets, nooks, and crannies — sticking everything in closets or other out of the way places is a no-no. Organize these areas to “show” exactly how they are to be used; avoid filling up your attic, basement, garage, and shed with stuff you really don’t need and won’t ever use again.

HVAC — an old furnace, air conditioning unit, or hot water heater could be a sale stopper. Replace these appliances before putting the home on the market.

Instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars readying your home for sale, you could spend just a few hundred to a couple of thousands of dollars and have a home that will sell quickly. The key, of course, is to do the minimum repairs in advance of marketing your home, to help you maximize your profit and move on with your life.

Resources

Doors and Windows

Garden Maintenance

Home Projects

Upstairs/Master Bathroom

If you are planning a home improvement project, congratulations for taking on what can make for exciting changes to your home. You’ll come away from the project with an updated living area and likely have a home that has increased in value.

To save money and to come up with the best plan for the money, the following tips can help make your project a success:

Evaluate Your Needs — Before you do anything, what are your specific needs? Do you need a larger living room? A new kitchen? Do you want to add a deck? Enclose the garage? It is much cheaper to define your needs now then to update them again later on.

What Is Your Budget? — If you have $30,000 set aside for the project, will that amount cover all of your costs? Blueprints, licenses, contractor extras, and more can quickly skew your budget. If you need more flexibility, consider taking out a home equity loan or line of credit to pay for your improvements.

Finding A Contractor — Will you be doing the job yourself or using a contractor? Ask around to have friends recommend who they used; get references and compare at least three quotes. Make sure that the people entering your home to do the work are licensed and insured. If multiple contractors are being used will you pay each one or will the general contractor handle it for you?

Getting The Work Done — Depending on how large of a project you are undertaking, you may have to look for other living quarters while at least some of the home construction is being done. If electricity must be off for several days, can you stand living in your home when the outside temperatures are topping ninety degrees?

The Aftermath — When the project is finished, check carefully to make sure that your contractor hasn’t missed anything. Make your final payment and make sure that you have original guarantees in your hand. That newly installed electronic stove may be someone else’s responsibility to fix, not your contractor.

Lastly, enjoy your updated living quarters. The hardest part of the project is now done, relax and have fun!