Getting antsy with your current home but not quite ready to leap into the real estate market again? The solution may be to ensure that your current home works and feels better for you. Remodeling your home is a great option if you are less than satisfied with your current home but love your community, have great relationships with your neighbors and simply don’t want to deal with hassle of moving. You can always make your home more beautiful, and you might also be able to increase its functionality, improve its traffic flow, and even find space you didn’t know you had. All of these things also have the added benefit of increasing your home’s value for when you do decide to sell – or perhaps they’ll make you love it so much that you’ll want to stay put.
Before you start the remodeling process, it is extremely important to think through your plan thoroughly. Below are some helpful tips on what to consider before you remodel your home. You will fare better if upgrades are made intentionally and not on impulse. List the things you want to change and the updates you would like to make. Take the list and categorize by how much it may cost, including your time and money.
Look for profit potential
Re-sale value should always be in the back of your mind when deciding which tasks to tackle for remodeling your home. If you plan to stay in the home short-term, 3-5 years, try to keep the aesthetic changes basic so as to appeal to many different lifestyles. Talk yourself out of the unique design elements and preferences you may love, and check with a local interior designer or realtor to make sure the changes you make will be attractive to the largest pool of buyers when you go to sell your home. Homeowners may not be able to earn back all of the money spent on a major renovation project in such a short time period. consider easy cosmetic updates. Refinishing hardwood floors, updating hardware and light fixtures, and painting a space can make a huge difference without breaking the bank when looking to sell.
If you plan to stay in your home longer term, say 7-10 years, then a major kitchen or bathroom renovation can provide the greatest return on your investment. Appliances, flooring, countertops, fixtures, hardware, and finishes are extremely important to think about for resale value also. These elements could separate your home from others in the area. It’s easy to do some of these kitchen updates in stages, as well – buying one new appliance at a time, or new flooring and then later new countertops.
Financing and Practicality
After establishing how long you wish to live in your current home and prioritizing what you wish to do, set a budget and decide how you are going to finance the project. Some homeowners ask for a line of credit through a mortgage lender to finance the project, while others use finances they have put away in savings.
Tackle one room at a time
Whether it’s a simple coat of paint or knocking down a wall, by tackling one room at a time you keep projects achievable. If you set out to paint a living room wall on Saturday and you know what it will cost in time and money, it gets done. By the end of the day, you have a stylish upgrade that will add value to your home. By strategizing, you will see your dreams take shape as you transform each room before moving on to the next.
Layout and Functionality
Before beginning any remodeling projects, it is very important to think about the flow and functionality of the space to be remodeled. If you’re remodeling the kitchen, designing how you want this space to flow is an important task. Function, food, and friends – these are the three F’s to consider when remodeling your kitchen. Why? Because the style and kitchen layout will determine how you’re going to function in your kitchen when it comes to cooking, entertaining, and, of course, eating! Do you need extra space for storage? Consider open shelving, closed cabinets or hidden shelving.
Plumbing and Electrical
Nearly all kitchen and bathroom remodels entail moving or extending existing plumbing and electrical runs. Depending on the exact location of your home, local building codes may require you to hire licensed plumbers and electricians to do the work. While the temptation to cut corners may be great for this remodel, the resale value of your home rides on following the building codes.
A common issue we see is when homeowners don’t realize the kitchen sink affects the installation of new cabinets, or more importantly how well the sink will fit. The decision of where you want the sink, dishwasher and refrigerator all impact the configuration of the plumbing, and should be finalized early on. In the bathroom, every individual fixture—toilet, tub, shower, sink—relies on proper plumbing not only to perform optimally, but to be compatible with other fixtures when used simultaneously. This is true whether you’re redoing the entire bathroom or just swapping out some fixtures.
Add Outdoor Living Space
It has been determined that when you spend the money to add a deck onto your home, you will likely be able to recoup more than 80% of its cost at sale time. Outdoor entertaining has become a much bigger thing in the last decade. If you can manage it, just off the kitchen is the best place for a deck, patio, or outdoor room – a covered area that can be as simple as a weathered pergola – since it makes for more convenient grilling, even in winter.
Need help getting your remodel just the way you want it? Let us guide you on your options and finding top notch vendor partners!