As the old saying goes, “You can never have too much of a good thing.” These days, that’s certain true of having space in your home. In fact, home improvement retailers are projected to do more than $400 billion in business this year.
Whether you’re looking to remodel your basement, add a room to the house, enlarge the kitchen or do another sort of renovation or remodel to your home, those looking to do home remodeling and additions aren’t short on options to do so.
If you think your home is in need of a remodel, changes are you’re probably right. Studies have shown that more than 80% of homes built before 1980 need improvements. Further studies have indicated favorite ROIs for home additions, including a two-story addition (65%), master suite (63%) and sunroom (49%).
Before you grab a sledgehammer and going on a renovation project, pump the brakes. Surveys of DIY home renovators have indicated that nearly 10% of those involved in DIY renovation projects end up causing damage to their home.
There’s no doubt that your home will benefit greatly from some remodeling, updating your home and perhaps making it feel new again. But before you get going, here are some things you need to ask yourself:
- What’s it going to cost? Before you get going on remodeling your kitchen, take time to consider the cost. The wish list you’ve got for home renovations may be too ambitious for your wallet and you want to keep in touch with reality.
Depending on what you want to do and how big the space is, you might end up shelling out a lot of money. Keep in mind that a bathroom addition might run around $40,000, a master suite addition might run $108,000, a garage addition might run $60,000 and an addition to the family room might be as much as $85,000.
As you’re looking into costs of an addition or renovation, you might want to talk to some remodeling contractors or remodeling companies for advice before you move forward. - What value will you get out of it? As you plan out a project, take time to think about the resale value of your home and how a remodel might effect it. If the day comes where you sell your home, a remodel can add considerable value to your home, so you’re going to want to get it appraised. You shouldn’t do a remodel purely for financial reasons, but in the long run it could pay off down the road.
When it comes to return on investment (ROI), a home addition is often worth less than a remodel, so keep that in mind. A remodeled kitchen or a remodeled bathroom will be more favorable to potential home buyers than adding an addition that may only benefit you while you live there. - Is there another way? If your budget is a little tight, you might want to find ways to slash costs without sacrificing the quality of the project. Consulting remodeling contractors can help you with your task. The best way to keep to a budget is to use the space you’ve already got, even if it’s just reconfiguring the kitchen or the living room. Bottom line: if money is tight, find other ways to spruce up your home and save additions and remodels for a time when the money is there to do so.
- Will the addition or remodel make sense? Home additions and remodels are great, but before you do anything, ask yourself if it makes sense? There’s obviously a lot of variables involved with a remodel and remodeling contractors can help you visualize everything before any work happens.
Home additions and remodels can be very beneficial for homeowners since they offer a chance to added needed space and to inject some new life into an aging home. Before rushing into a project and bringing your big ideas to life, figure out if it makes sense and whether it’s within your budget. If both of those things line up, consult remodeling contractors about a design build before any work happens. There’s a lot of benefit in making sure all your ducks are in a row rather than realizing halfway through a project that it’s not going to work.