The One Thing That Will Actually Give You A Return For Your Remodeling Dollars Instead Of A Loss

For those of us who are cheap (more thrifty) remodeling is just different

. Its not that we dont expect to get a quality job or that we are willing to settle for less. It really is that we expect value for the money we put into any project.

And its inconceivable that any project would cost tens of thousands of dollars.

But the really big deal is that DIY, the old do it yourself might insure that you will get a great look for a lot less money. And, even better doing it yourself may insure that you can actually make money if you have to resale.

The single incident that cemented in my mind that I could do it better was listening to a wallpaper hanger explaining to his ex wife why he couldnt pay his child support. Do you think we can trust a guy who wont support his children? And he wanted to be paid in cash so he didnt have to pay taxes like the rest of us.

I decided I didnt care to have a person of such poor character doing things to my house. I think I could assume he would take all the shortcuts he could. So I fired him.

And contractors do take shortcuts. Like the pile of construction debris I found under the laundry room cabinet of my current house when I was doing some work. It was at least 20 pounds of stuff that someone was too lazy to carry outside and dispose of properly. They just stuffed it under the cabinet and forgot it. The homeowner never knew.

And then there is the stuff contractors do that could destroy your house and/or endanger you and yours. The worst risk is water leaks and mold, but you also might encounter electrical problems or incorrectly installed fixtures, supports, and materials.

But the real issue is that we want a nice, safe place to live, for a reasonable amount of money, and to have a house we might hope to resale quickly if we needed to move.

Of course there are no guarantees, but you can always do better on resale if you havent spent hundreds of thousands on your remodeling projects.

And you have a vested interest, the safety of you and your family to make sure everything, all the work is done right. I often open up walls just to look and see whats been done. It can be a shock, but its better to know than to ignore the likelihood that you might have plumbing, electrical or structural problems.

Think about it. In our area contractors can make money selling spec homes for about $150 per square foot. Most houses have 3 or 4 bedrooms and 2 baths and a couple of stone fireplaces.

Few houses are worth more than that regardless of what a contractor or decorator might tell you and many houses are worth far less.

So why is a new kitchen worth $50,000 to $150,000? A new bathroom is not worth $25,000 to $150,000 either.

A kitchen might add some to the sales value of your house and so will a bath, but the possible return (I mean real return, not TV play money) will be limited to the average value of houses in your immediate area. Real estate has always been valued by selling prices of homes nearby over a period of about 60 days. Anything that sold even just 6 months ago is old news.

And if you are remodeling its fun to do it and then enjoy living in what you have made perfect for you.

We have done a lot of things to our current home that dont show, like a new electrical box, a new water heater, new heating and a garage door.

The fun stuff starts NOW! Now Im going to make this place pretty and do most of it myself.

by: Paula

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