Remodeling Do's and
Don'ts
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Home Remodel: Don't be too unique. |
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Your uncommon
tastes could work against you when it comes time to sell.
Adding a tennis court in
the backyard is great, but prepare to remove it if the next
homeowner is a gardening aficionado.
"I had a neighbor who had a custom-built house with
floor-to-ceiling marble, "You couldn't paintover it. You couldn't carpet it. It took three years to sell
that house."
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Home remodel : Don't expect a
return on every change. |
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Pools can be a
terrible investment, especially for homes in colder
climates, because few people
want to fish leaves out of the filter every day. And be wary
of fads such as rock gardens, ponds
and waterfalls. "That's done for your pleasure, not resale
value,"
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Home remodel: Check references.
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A good
remodeling contractor can make a
huge difference, so it's important to check references.
Blindly choosing a
remodeling contractor from the
Yellow Pages is dangerous because some perform shoddy work,
overcharge and miss deadlines. Ask friends and neighbors for
recommendations, or call the local homebuilder's association
for references. "If you hire a
remodeling contractor that does a
bad job, you've wasted your money and won't add any value to
the
home remodel".
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Home remodel: Have a plan.
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Knowing exactly
what you want, in advance, can save time, energy and money.
If you're on the ball,
remodeling contractors will know
exactly what you want and won't be inclined to add extra
costs. "If you tell a
remodeling contractor 10 to 20
different things, you won't get accurate bids,". "You'll
save money if all the it's are dotted and the it's are
crossed."
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Home remodel: Use universal
design. |
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With baby boomers
nearing retirement, universally designed features, such as
wider doors and handles instead of knobs, are becoming
standard. "It's beneficial to everyone in the house, even if
they're not infirmed or handicapped,.
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Home remodel: Check out the
neighborhood. |
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Since you get the
most value for a
home remodeling job when keeping
in-line with neighborhood standards, check what neighbors
have. Ask a real estate agent to perform a customer market
analysis on your neighborhood to provide a snapshot of what
houses look like. "You need to know what you're up
against,".
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