What Improvements Are You Making for Your Lewisburg PA Home?

This entry was posted in Home Improvement on August 27, 2012

As Realtors® at Home Remodeling Birmingham, AL, we tend to focus on finding you that perfect place to call home.  But we know that sometimes, you are already living there.

Sometimes, a new house is not what you need or want.  But you may want to make your ‘home’ a bit more perfect.

TV shows, books, more on-line articles than anyone could possibly be expected to read – as well as local and national stores are all standing by to help you with your next home improvement. If you are planning on doing some improvements to your home, consider improve your basement with Basement Waterproofing Atlanta GA, it will be a good invest and a good upgrade to your home!

But before you call the contractor or load up the SUV with this week’s Home Improvement special sale items, take some time to consider what improvements you want to make – and why.

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FOR YOU OR THE NEXT OWNER?

As exciting as it may be to tear down a wall, dig a pool, add a new bathroom or wire up that Man Cave, you need to think about why you are doing it, and what the long-term impact will be on your checkbook, your lifestyle and the future value of your property.

How long do you expect to live on this property?

Is this the house where you plan to live for the rest of your life – or at least the foreseeable future?  Or will you move (to a larger or smaller place) in the coming years?  2 years?  10?  20?

Why do you want to make these improvements?

Are they necessary for your well-being?  If the roof leaks, the basement floods or the refrigerator makes so much noise that it keeps you awake at night, read no further.  Call someone now. You could call Aurora roofing company and get that difficult roof fixed at affordable prices.

The fundamental reason for making home improvements, assuming you are not getting ready to move in the next year or two, is to improve your home, and by extension, your life and lifestyle.

What can you do to make your house a better home? And this is a fundamentally different question that what would make your ‘house’ a better house.  Still both questions need to be asked and answered before you call the first contractor or buy the first box of nails.

Whatever you do it will impact both your present quality-of-life, and the ultimate re-sale value of your property.  Consider it carefully.

For example, the kids are young.  The backyard is perfect for a pool, if you want to call for pool and pond maintenacnce service from Lake Mangement Inc of Orange CA.  The cost is within your budget and you know the hours of enjoyment will be worth every dollar spent.  Quality of Life: 10.  Resale Value: Negligible or negative.  Not everyone wants a pool, and many buyers don’t want one at all.  Depending on where you live, a pool may actually reduce the perceived value of your property, remember to think of this before you hire the swimming pool builders.

How about that Home Theater/Man Cave?  State-of-the-TV, surround sound, more wires in the wall than you can measure. It’s a perfect place for a family movie night, or a Sunday afternoon of football with the guys.  Quality: 8 (only because there may be times the football may interfere with the family – a discussion for another time).  Resale: Negative.  Today’s state-of-the-art is tomorrow’s antiquated technology – including the wires in the wall.  You can take the TV, receiver, speakers and the rest with you when you move, but you’ll probably be able to replace them for a fraction of the cost of what you spent to buy and install them.  Not saying you shouldn’t do it, just suggesting that it’s an expense, not an investment.

The bathroom.   That soft-green colored tub and shower may be fine for the morning wake up. And while the tile motif may not be the latest in fashion, the bathroom gets you going in the morning and washes the mud off the kids in the evening.  But, what if the tub was just a bit bigger with water-jets for that late night, hot-tub experience? How about a new shower head that massages?  Maybe the toilet can be replaced with one more water-efficient.  Quality: 7-10.  Resale: Positive (not to mention the savings you may realize in lower water costs).

Let’s talk about that kitchen.  Noisy refrigerators, water-guzzling dishwashers, perhaps cabinets that look like something out of a 1960’s TV show, and …are those Formica counter-tops?  A kitchen upgrade, by virtually any calculation, can be the most valuable investment one can make.  Quality: 8-10 (better appliances, energy efficiency, etc.)  Resale: As a rough guide, estimates show that somewhere between 20 to 50 % of your investment is added to the value of your property.

These are just a few basics.  What is the value (quality and resale) of a backyard deck with help from the timber decking Sunshine Coast, or an extra room (be it an addition to the house, or re-purposing of otherwise available space, like an unused garage)?  Vinyl siding may add to the value of the property and/or save you money in the cost of repainting the place every few years.  New windows Cincinnati can reduce your electric and oil/gas bill for heating and air conditioning.  Nicely designed landscaping will certainly improve the ‘curb appeal’ of your house, and it may just make your home a more inviting place to come home to after work.

What do you want your improvements to do?  Make it a better place to be today, or a more attractive house for the next buyer who wants to call it their home?  Or both.

There are no simple formulas.  But there are choices to make.

Make them wisely.

Related: Northern Lights Exteriors services.