Remodeling

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When you’re watching HGTV or browsing through home decor websites, it’s easy to compare your home to the beautiful homes you’re viewing and wish you had something better. While remodeling can greatly increase your quality of life and home value, there are some things you should consider before scheduling your demolition day.

1. Understand the potential return on investment

If your main goal of remodeling is to increase the value of your home so that you have the highest return when you sell, then you should do return on investment (ROI) research. Remodeling projects that are low maintenance, good quality, and aren’t too costly have the highest ROI. Sorry, but hiring a contractor to build the swankiest kitchen you see on Pinterest won’t give you a high return on investment.

According to HouseLogic, a mid-range kitchen remodels projects will give you a nice ROI of 81.8%. Mid-range remodel projects have beat out high-end remodels every year. A typical mid-range kitchen remodels would consist of new floors, refacing cabinets, new countertops, and new appliances.

2. Research Your Neighborhood

Just because you have the funds to remodel your home with the best features doesn’t mean you should. Home values are driven by the surrounding local market and there’s usually a ceiling to the potential selling price of homes in a neighborhood. For example, if homes nearby typically sell for $250,000 at best, then you don’t want to put more than $50,000 worth of upgrades into a home you bought for $200,000. Ask an experienced Realtor about current home values in your neighborhood.

3. Check local building permits to see if any are needed

Depending on the details of your remodel, you may need a building permit. You’ll probably need one if your remodel involves something large like changing the footprint of your house, building an addition, or altering a load bearing wall. If you’re simply refacing cabinets and putting in a new countertop, you won’t need one. It’s smart to call your local government’s building or engineering department to double check.

4. Take Pinterest with a grain of salt

Pinterest is great for getting ideas (and wasting time). Just remember that the most pinned and re-pinned pictures of dream bathrooms are most likely from luxury homes. So don’t make a poor financial move just so you can share a cute picture.

5. Leave room in your budget

Like Stephen King novels, most remodeling projects will come with an unexpected twist. If $10,000 is the most you can spend, then budget something closer to $8,000 so that you have some wiggle room.

6. Understand where your money is going 

Labor counts for about 30-35 percent of the cost, while material products will take up 65-70 percent. When it comes to kitchen remodels, most of your money will be going towards new cabinets if that’s a part of your plan. If you’re the handy type, you can save a LOT of money by doing all or part of the labor yourself.

7. Ask Questions

Just like it’s smart to interview several agents when selling your home, you should contact RDU Renovations Inc. By doing so, you’ll understand which one has the best experience that suits your needs. Big projects can require roughly 6 months of work, so you want to make sure you choose someone you want to be around with.

8. Get Everything in writing

As you’re meeting with an RDU Renovations Representative, ask for detailed summaries of their proposed plans. You’ll be able to compare the services and budgets offered by RDU Renovations Inc. After you choose a the right design or layout plan, we will make sure you have a written summary of the cost of labor and quality of products used before the job begins.