Home Renovation Successes or Regrets?

[NewEnglandLady]

Several months ago TGal started this thread (https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/home-reno-types-around-how-much-would-it-cost-to-clean-up-a-fixer.111940/) about home renovation costs and I've found it to be very useful. I'm wondering if anybody who's done some extensive renovation had any regrets? Or really glad they did it?

D and I found a house we'd really love to buy...unfortunately, it needs quite a bit of renovating. The house itself was built in 1910 and the structure is great, but the kitchen, bathrooms, flooring,etc. all needs to be brought into this century. I'm guessing we'll need about $80K - $100K in renovations with some long term projects (possible expansion) down the road.

On the bright side, I do think this will be a sound investment. The house sits on a third of an acre and is oceanfront, which we love. The surrounding homes are all gorgeous--this one is kind of the ugly one on the block--so I don't think we'd be over-renovating for the neighborhood. On the not-so-bright side I know that we'd sort of be living in a construction zone for many months. And I worry that I'd get really stressed about it.

So I guess my main questions are: What did you renovate? Are you glad you did? And also, did you stay in budget?

 

[MichelleCarmen]

We renovated a home that we ended up living in for 9 months before renting it and then eventually selling it. The only mistake we made was putting in top-of-the-line appliances. We thought we were going to live there longer and also had the funds to pick out the best. When it came time to sell, we made a nice profit, however, I do not think the appliances were what sold the house.

 

[janinegirly]

Sorry, nothing helpful to add, but also would love to hear others' responses. We will be starting an expansion and renovation of our house next year. I'm nervous for what I'm getting into! It is very liveable house, but kitchen / bathroom need updating and the flow needs help (hence the expansion). We will be building out a whole new kitchen and family room (and have them connect) with sliding doors to the back. Then going upstairs to add a bedroom and bathroom. Then of course build out the basement. THEN new windows, siding, roof. I'm exhausted just reading it. Before that we will need permits,etc. We've met with architects, but next step is a solid price...I do NOT want to go beyond budget. We have a contractor who is a family friend, but still need the hard numbers. Sorry to hijack NEL's thread, but also wonder what I'm in for. Little baby in the house, so probably have to be out of the house for a bit...

As for your house New England, it sounds amazing! I think it's worth it if you can snap it up for a good price and invest the rest of your budget on the renovation. I guess just be sure it will still have resale appeal (ie don't put more $$ into it than it can fetch back), since you never know...
Would love to see pics!!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Ooo, Janine, your renovations sound exciting! I completely understand how overwhelming it is to break down everything that needs to be renovated. We've broken it down to three tiers, haha. Kitchen and bathrooms are Tier 1 (including expansions of both bathrooms), hardwoods upstairs and walk-in closet expansion in master bedroom are in Tier 2 and new windows and exterior shingles are in Tier 3 (unless the inspector says they really need to be replaced). We even have a "love to have" tier, which includes renovating the attic and adding stairs for a kids playroom, but that won't need to happen until child #2.

Like you, I refuse to go over budget, so if we were to get this house I would be the budgeting queen (what's new) and if we can't include some renovations, they can wait. I can see the appeal of renovating and having things exactly the way you want them, but like you, I worry if we'll need to keep our rental for a bit. If so, I'm taking that out of the budget!

I don't have any pictures of the interior of the house because they're all on my memory card at home--trust me, you are'nt missing much--but I do have a shot of the exterior from the listing agent.

 

[Kismet]

We renovated our kitchen in 2002 and it took a good 3-4 months. And when I say ''we'' I mean of course we hired a general contractor to do the work. We went through a kitchen designer because we were gutting the kitchen and attached sun porch and redoing the entire flow of the kitchen. We purchased the cabinets, counters (laminate) and hardware via the kitchen designer. All the other fixtures we bought ourselves. We stayed pretty much on budget ($25k) but it was stressful picking things out (paint colors, tile, faucet, light fixtures) with a tight time constraint. We knew in general what we wanted but when it came down to specifics we tended to argue over the details so I''d recommend making specific decisions before you start the project. Living off of microwave cooking and take out (and cleaning any dishes in the laundry sink) for 3 months sucked though.

We went over budget on our bathroom renovations/additions 3 years ago mainly because we went for higher end fixtures and added last minute details (heated floor). Also our contractor bailed on us midway through the project and we had to get in someone else to finish the job and fix where the other guy went wrong. That was a really stressful project. So we spent around 60k on 2 bathrooms. The big part of that though was adding a 2 story 3 foot addition to bring the bathrooms from 5x8 to 5x11

 

[indecisive]

that lot is beautiful!

 

[neatfreak]

NEL that house is gorgeous! I''d buy it even if it meant lots of reno. Love it.

 

[packrat]

Date: 9/21/2009 4:18:55 PM
Author: neatfreak
NEL that house is gorgeous! I''d buy it even if it meant lots of reno. Love it.

+1!!

 

[partyjewels]

We are doing a very large addition on our home and are (finally) nearing the end. There are most definately days where I am just wishing we had moved and gotten a house that was just good to go, but I think it will be worth it in the end. I didn''t have too much say in the matter thought as DH bought the house 3 years before we even met, and had always planned to do something big with it. The property was big enough, and the current house small enough, that it allowed for some impressive things to be done - for example, lifting the old house off it''s foundation and moving it back on the property to dig out a basement.

We are doing a good job at keeping within our budgeting due to DH, but honestly he did probably a solid year or two of research, finding the best prices while still getting the best work, etc etc. Also he always planned to do as much of the work as possible himself, so that has saved alot of money for us. We had a good chunk to put towards it, but still needed to borrow a bit from our parents (which we are nearly done with paying back) and also take out a loan from the bank (which we have already started making payments for, but will take alot longer).

The biggest stressor was when they did the basement - less than a month after our wedding we had to pack up ourselves and our little doggie to go live with some very generous friends for a little over TWO months! I was completely stressed and miserable the whole time quite honestly. However, most of that was due to the friends we were living with - we were so grateful they took us and our dog in, because no one else could/would!, but it was not a fun place to be around as they were having marital issues

Anywho, currently we are *THIS* close to having walls! The insulation and barrier are up and good to go, just waiting for DH''s cousin (who does it for a living) to come over and help put the drywall up, once thats done it''s only a skip hop and jump away from the floors going in (bamboo hardwood) and putting primer on the walls at the very least till we get the ok to occupy that part of the house.

The basement was started around the end of September 2008, and then the project put on hold for winter once that was finished. We started up again this spring and are hoping to be done done, as in, walls painted, furniture moved in, living comfortably, by early November.

It''s been a long and stressful journey, but as I said, the closest we are to the end, the more it seems like it''s going to be totally worth it