Five Common Remodeling Mistakes by Tim McLaughlin
Whether you are on the verge of purchasing a home that you love but that you know you will most likely want to remodel a bit, or you want to make some changes to that existing home, here are the five most common remodeling mistakes:
Setting an unrealistic budget
Most homeowners underestimate their budget by at least 25 percent. As you can imagine, not having enough money to complete a project can not only stress you out, but can also force you to live with a half-finished project for a lot longer than you expected. Most experts suggest calculating your budget and then increasing it by 20 percent for safety (and sanity) sake.
“Keeping up with the Joneses”
One of the biggest mistakes I’ve read about is remodeling or redesigning a space for what’s most popular at this minute. The more trendy the project, the more likely it will feel out-of-date in a few years. That’s not to say you shouldn’t update your home to match your style and interests, but if you’re looking to sell in the near future, do not get hung up on trends.
Over-improving
A lot of the time, homeowners invest in remodeling their home hoping that when they do sell, they will be able to maximize their ROI. However, they fail to consider the quality and state of the homes in their neighborhood. Say you invest in top-of-the-line products, but the rest of the homes in the neighborhood are modest and average, then you run the risk of having an even more difficult time selling the home or getting the money back.
Doing it Yourself
In order to keep budgets low or reduce the costs of some projects, many homeowners think they can tackle big projects themselves. This is usually a HUGE mistake. Unless you have the right tools, training and connections, you could actually cause more problems down the line, including doubling your budget when you have to call a professional to come in and fix your mistakes.
Financing
Whether this is a new home that you want to renovate upon closing or an existing home, the biggest mistake you can make is not using Weichert Financial Services for your funding needs. On a refinance, we can offer you historically low rates on a cash out refinance to fund the initiative. On a purchase, talk to your knowledgeable Weichert Financial Gold Services Manager regarding putting less down and/or financing the closing costs to have more liquid assets for the renovations. Ask us how…we can help!
