There are five separate don’ts that you want to avoid. Doing any of these reduces the amount of money you can recoup from your renovation.
Don’t Always Try to Save Money by Doing It Yourself
Yes, you can save money, sometimes a lot of money, by doing the job yourself. However, it’s important to keep your eye on the doughnut and not the hole. It’s not the cost of the job that’s critical, but how it turns out.
You may save thousands of dollars by installing a new tile countertop in the bathroom. But if the lines aren’t straight, if the grout is too high or too low, if the tiles aren’t evenly spaced, the botched job will actually detract from the home. In fact, if you wanted to resell the property at a good price, you might have to call in a professional to rip out your work and redo it!
Don’t Let Your Personal Tastes Overwhelm Common Sense
Remember, the test is how much more a buyer would pay for the renovation you’re going to do. Consequently, you must always keep that potential buyer in mind and try to anticipate what he or she would like.
For example, your favorite color may be hunter green. But is that likely to be the favorite color of a potential buyer? Probably not. In fact, while I myself like hunter green in a home, I recognize that many people find dark colors objectionable.
Thus, you must pick the color, or the renovation project, that is least likely to be considered objectionable, and most likely to be considered desirable. As a result, soothing colors such as beige and white are a good choice. Wood cabinets of currently stylish design, light-colored flooring, and so on are all considered desirable and least likely to offend. On the other hand, deep-sunken tubs, florescent stars painted on a black ceiling, and bathrooms without doors might lower the home’s value.
Don’t Renovate the Wrong Feature
If your kitchen is old-fashioned, don’t choose to renovate the bathroom just because it’s less expensive to do. Identify the problem and address it. Yes, it certainly costs more to renovate a kitchen than a bathroom, but in the long run you stand to get all your money out (plus more) from the kitchen renovation because it’s needed. On the other hand, you might get very little back from the unneeded bathroom renovation.
Similarly, don’t do the kitchen if what the house really needs is more roomadd a family room instead. Don’t rip out a wall between two rooms that are dark; instead add extra windows or a skylight.
Take the time to identify the problem, then correct it. Don’t be sidetracked because the problem is too costly or too difficult. The problem is what it is and doing something else won’t help.
Don’t Confuse Renovation with Repair
Your cement driveway has cracks, so you spend $5000 putting in a new driveway. Your roof leaks, so you spend $10,000 on a new roof. Your heating system breaks down, so you put in new central heat/air at a cost of $3500. How much have you added to the basic value of your home? The answer? Zero!
You haven’t done any renovation. You’ve only done repair work. All homes need driveways, roofs, and heating units. If yours are in disrepair, then buyers will subtract the cost of repairs from the basic value of the property. If you do the work, then you’ve just brought the home back to its basic value.
Don’t Get In over Your Head
Calculate the total cost of the renovation you plan before you begin any work. Then be sure you have the money to handle it.
One of the worst things that can happen is to get halfway through a renovation only to discover that you’re short of cash to finish it. In too many cases the owners rip out a kitchen only to discover they can’t afford the replacement cabinets. So they have no kitchen, making living in the house virtually impossible. And they can’t really sell the place, because few prospective buyers want a home without a kitchen. Then they have trouble refinancing, because most lenders won’t loan money on a property where construction is taking place.
