So You Want To Remodel Your Home: Part 1

As a Custom Home Builder and Remodeler in the current market place, I find myself looking at more and more remodeling projects these days as compared to new custom homes. Working in the older urban neighborhoods in Austin, I have always done remodeling work for my neighbors, friends, and any referrals, but now find that remodeling is becoming a much larger part of my annual revenue. In an effort to address this growing part of my company, I am embarking on an effort to help educate home owners on the remodeling process. Among the topics to come will be How to Choose a Remodeling Contractor, Energy Efficient Retrofits, Cost Effective Green Remodeling Strategies, Do's and Don'ts of the McMansion and Heritage Tree Ordinances, Facts on Energy Efficiency Tax Credits, Energy Testing, Crawl Spaces, and Water Conservation. If you are interested in these topics, or have other ideas or questions that you would like to see addressed, please follow my blog and feel free to contact me at billtaute@mindspring.com. You can also visit our website at www.billtautehomes.com.

So You Want to Remodel Your Home

When thinking about remodeling the biggest investment you own, there are several things to take into consideration before beginning the project. The first thing to consider is whether you are going to add value to your home by investing in a remodel project. If you want to change your home, your other option besides remodeling is to find a new one. But more and more American families are deciding to stay put and improve their existing home. Here are some of the reasons:

• Remodeling allows you to customize your home to meet your needs and desires. The only similar, but much more costly alternative, is to have a brand new custom home designed and built.
  
• Remodeling means that you don't have to give up a familiar neighborhood and schools.
  
• Remodeling is a more efficient use of your financial resources. According to the American Homeowner Foundation, selling your home and moving typically costs about 8-10% of the value of your current home. And much of this goes into moving expenses, closing costs, and broker commissions - items that have no direct impact on your home's quality.
  
• Remodeling can be stressful, but few experiences are more stressful than moving.
  

While there are many reasons that people choose to remodel, the bottom line is that remodeling makes your home a more enjoyable place to live. The intangible value of this pleasure needs to be considered, along with any resale value you hope to gain.

But there is no doubt that, as far as improving the sale of your home, all remodeling projects are not created equal. The general rule of thumb is that any remodeling project that brings your home up to the level of your neighbors' is a worthy investment. But it doesn't pay to be the most expensive house on the block - real estate experts recommend that a remodeling investment should not raise the value of your house to more than 10-15% above the median sales price in your neighborhood.

Remember that potential buyers will compare your home to ones newly built. Therefore, you'll want to look at the design trends and amenities being built into new homes. Great rooms (open kitchen/family room arrangements), master bed and bath suites, and higher ceilings are a few of the features sought by today's home buyers. Be sure to follow along as the next installment will discuss "Where to Begin" on your remodeling project.

Excerpts from NAHB website: Remodeling>Remodeling vs Moving

Adopt a Contractor and Protect Your Assets by Chattanooga Remodeler

If you are sitting on a million dollars or half a million dollars or even $200,000, you might consider getting advice from a financial advisor. With that kind of money, you'd want the best advice on how to grow your investment. During your first session with him you are going to go over your goals and ambitions, what assets you have, and when and how you plan to retire. With this information, your advisor will put together a plan to help you achieve your goals. You may put some of the money in stocks, some in bonds and some in annuities. At certain milestones you'll change the funds from one place to another to maximize your return. Most of you will stick with your advisor for life, if he does a good job for you. Having a good financial advisor turns out to be a good move for you and your family.

We've all heard that most people's homes are their largest assets. This is repeated in many ways, and in many circumstances. We've heard it so many times that it is rather a cliché of sorts, and we don't give it that much thought. All we know is that when the time comes to sell our homes, we hope to get a good return on our investment.

So, how many of you have hired a financial advisor to protect your home, your largest asset in most cases? I'm guessing that very few have. Most live by the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" rule. When you think about this philosophy, as far as your house goes, it's plain dumb. Take a look at car maintenance for instance. Do you perform routine preventative maintenance on it? Sure you do. You don't want to be stranded on the side of the road somewhere. What if the airlines adopted that philosophy? Now that's scary. Nobody would want to fly anymore. So why let your house rot, and then fix it. Why have your furnace fail on a cold night, and then fix it. Why let your home decrease in value when it could be increasing in value with routine maintenance.

I think you get my point by now. Routine maintenance on your home is very important, not only financially, but also in terms of your comfort and convenience. You need a trusted advisor to look over your entire home and see when certain parts of the home need to be replaced or serviced. You need to know when the repairs or maintenance will be needed and how much it will cost. It's time to —– Adopt a contractor!

Just as you hired your financial advisor, you need to interview a few contractors and get references. She or he need to be experienced with all facets of your home. I would suggest a full service remodeler, possibly with design-then-build experience. They need to know what products are best, and how they should be installed and who should install them. A good contractor should be surrounded by experts in all fields. She or he should have built relations with the best in the business, so you get the best advice and service when it is needed.

Your home is a system. Everything in your home has to work together. Your home's function is to keep you warm and dry, safe and comfortable at all times. It is an envelope that protects you from the outside world. Find a contractor that understands this; one that can see the big picture, and will guide you toward the best possible return on your investment. This should be a long term relation, so that your contractor becomes familiar with your home and your lifestyle and you know what to expect from your contractor. When you find such a person, life will be so much better. Now you can set up an annual budget for the future maintenance needs of your home and schedule them at your convenience.

Your contractor may not wear a suit and tie, but he may well be the most important financial advisor you've ever hired.

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