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Remodeling Your Home: How Much Is Too MuchW. Troy Swezey The classic way for homeowners to increase the value of their house is by remodeling existing rooms or adding on to its current plan. Some choose to build recreation rooms and studies while others add new appliances, fixtures and cabinets to enliven rooms and make their home more attractive to future buyers. But, when should you decide to stop sinking money into a home and buy a bigger place And how much rehab is too much when it comes time to recovering remodeling costs through a home sale For instance, if you�ve just spent $1,000 remodeling your living room and didn�t expand your small bathroom, the chances of increasing the number of interested buyers are slim. With these concerns in mind, I can offer a few tips for those struggling to add value to their home. First, always protect the character of your home. Nothing sticks out more than a new addition that is in a completely different architectural style. Be consistent. Recognize your home�s character and stay within its framework. The most financially rewarding areas to remodel are usually the kitchen and bath. Newly re-done cooking spaces and cabinets can attract more buyers and may command a slightly higher price for the home than a comparable one on the market. Simple repairs that are made to last will bring you the biggest returns upon sale. Enlarged bathrooms are the most popular attraction for new home buyers, according to the National Kitchen and Bath Association. Today, the most popular additions for younger buyers are sunken whirlpool baths and showers. But be sure to install modest, solid amenities. It�s easy to quickly over-spend on bathroom fixtures. Buyers are, by convention, more interested in above-ground living space � not basements, yards and walkways. Swimming pools can be a poor investment if installed for the sole purpose of increasing a home�s value; it�s rare that a pool�s cost will be recovered in a home sale. It can also be a negative feature for potential buyers with very young children. Replacing worn carpeting, tiles and wood floors can give your home an immediate advantage over similar properties in the area. Updating paint colors in all areas of your home can also prove beneficial. However, it�s recommended that you use neutral colors, such as gray, beige and off-white when adding new floor and wall coverings. Fewer buyers will then turn away because of differing tastes. Stay simple with your remodeling and look at your home as though you were the buyer. Chances are that if you find the upstairs bedroom could be brightened by a larger window, potential buyers will probably feel the same. Don�t go overboard. Concentrate on improving two or three deficiencies in your home. More than likely, the time and money you spend adding quality to your home will be rewarded with greater profit at selling time.
| | | | RELATED ARTICLES Buying and Selling Distressed Houses for Maximum Profit If you want to become a real estate investor, find a "fixer-upper" owned by an anxious seller. Finding distressed houses at bargain prices, fixing them up, and then selling them on a consistent basis can make you a millionaire. Brain Snappers and Other Wall Street Nonsense Brokers do that to let you know that you don�t know anything about the market and you must allow them to make decisions for you. You don�t know the language. You are just too dumb. Another mushroom. Reducing Debt Before Its Too Late ... How To Avoid The Pitfalls Of Creeping Debt Reducing debt usually isnt a high priority for people until they have already gotten into trouble with overspending. Using a few basic guidelines, and debt calculations, can help you see when your debt load is getting into the danger zone. Real Estate Marketing for the �You� Generation Are you working in the real estate industry Are you a real estate agent, mortgage consultant, builder, real estate broker, appraiser, construction worker, etc Dont Sign That Lease Yet Youre being transferred to a new city in another state for a position that you start in exactly two weeks. You fly to your new hometown to select an apartment. You have exactly two days to make a decision and sign a lease, so when, after much searching, you find a vacancy in a relatively decent property, youre anxious to sign when the lease is placed in front of you. Resist the urge. As mentioned in previously in our report "Avoiding Tenants Tribulations," wearing rose-colored glasses can easily fool you into believing that your best interests as a tenant will be protected. Your desire to find a home and wind up what can be an exhaustive search process can push you into signing on the dotted line before youve read and understand all of the fine print of your lease. Retirement or Financial Freedom In the past most people never retired. They died. The average life expectancy was much less than it is these days, and there were no financial planners around to help people save up enough to quit work. As recently as the 1960�s, if you did manage to save up enough money to retire, you�d be lucky to live another 5 or 6 years before you kicked the bucket. This made financial planning for retirement a little easier because you really only needed enough income for a few years. Bunbury Western Australia The first recorded mapping of what is now Koombana Bay and the eventual City of Bunbury, was in 1803 by the French explorers Nicolas Baudin and Louis de Freycinet, from their ships the Geographe and Casuarina. In 1831 there was a temporary English military settlement with the first settlers moving to the area named after Lieutenant Henry William St Pierre Bunbury in 1838. A growing port serviced the settlers and the subsequent local industries that developed. Busselton Western Australia The first recorded mapping of what is now Geographe Bay and the eventual town of Busselton, was in 1801 by the French explorer Nicolas Baudin, from the ships the Geographe and Naturaliste.The Bay was named after his ship whilst the river was named the Vasse after a sailor who went missing in mysterious circumstances. The Search Engine Showdown If youre anything like me, you have a favourite search engine and youre loyal to it. You never use any others which made this research difficult for yours truly, insist yours is the be-all and end-all and you even go so far as to deny any shortcomings it may have. But is your search engine truly the best Inspired by a great article at the BBC News BBC News: Search Wars, we decided to compare the major search engines. Heres what we found. Cost of Living Analyses If youve ever moved from the Midwest or the South to either coast, you realize just how different the costs of day-to-day living can vary among various U.S. cities. Many transplanted families pursue cross-country moves with the knowledge that their new hometowns will be more expensive. And many employers recognize that impending cost-of-living increase with a "cost-of-living allowance" -- a slight raise in salary so that an employee may maintain his or her current standard of living without having to tighten the purse strings upon arrival. Easing Your Way Into Homeownership: How Your Real Estate Agent Can Help You Qualify For A Low Down Payment Mortgage For many renters, the first step in buying a home is becoming educated about the process.If you�re like many people considering a home purchase, you�ve spent nights and weekends poring over your local real estate section.You�ve talked to friends and relatives about their experiences.Maybe you�ve even purchased a book or tow to help you become more familiar with real estate terminology and the various types of mortgages commonly used today. Avoid The Sticker Shock Of Relocating To avoid the sticker shock of relocating, moving Americans can use the results of movecentral.coms annual moving survey to plan their spending. The new survey finds that movers spend $9,400 on purchases during the three-month relocation period, while renters spend $3,700. Are You Profiting From O.P.P. Are you profiting from O.P.P. If not, why not Apartment Searches: Lose the Rose-Colored Glasses First If youre getting ready to rent, dont do what this editor did once ... a long, long time ago. Find a Job in a Fast Growing Field Using Labor Market Information For Your State The question confronting most people who want to find a job is "whats a good paying job with growth potential" Customer Service � the Real Estate Revolution Traditionally, real estate has been viewed as a sales industry. But perceptions are changing. Agents around the country are coming to believe that the key to real estate success is service � not sales. Google Bring Deskbar Search To Windows Desktop. Now Any Website Can Take Advantage Of This Search Technology Googles premier of desktop search proves that the desktop is an extremely valuable marketing real estate. Google, which holds about 75% of the Internet search market, just introduced "Deskbar" � a small desktop application that allows users to search Google directly from their desktops.Google currently rules the Internet, but positioning themselves on the desktop gives them the power to rule not only the Internet, but also the entire personal computer. Home Business A home business is by far the best way to support yourself if you just cannot stand working for others for less money than you need to survive.It�s also the best way to get out of a good paying job that just takes up too much of your precious short life working for someone else. How to Sell Your House For Full Price How to Sell Your House For Full Price Without a Broker How Do You Profit From O.P.P. In a previous article we introduced you to the concept of O.P.P., or Other Peoples Property, and the many ways in which you can profit. |
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