Major home upgrades: I would rather...
- ...buy a fully updated home with new floors, new appliances, granite countertops, etc. (35%, 60 Votes)
- ...pay $50,000 less and upgrade the floors, appliances, countertops, etc. myself. (65%, 111 Votes)
Total Voters: 171
This poll was active 08.19.2012 through 08.25.2012
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In my youth I would have picked choice #2 thinking how much control and cost savings I could have.
Now with experience I realize that that work would not get started for years, and it would be with expectations not in line with reality, and when finally begun, with cost running higher than option #1.
Better to enjoy it when you can.
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RE: Lo Ball Jones @ 1 – As a new homeowner I took route #2 and now am starting to think #1 is much much smarter. Time and hassle are always significantly underestimated, any cost aside.
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Hey Tim, here’s an idea for a poll:
1. I have owned my home since before finding Seattle Bubble.
2. I have purchased a home since finding the Seattle Bubble.
3. I have not purchased a home, but I am looking for an affordable, decent home.
4. I have no interest in owning a home.
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You will only be getting the $50,000 discount of option 2 in your dreams. If the 27 year old furnace has been serviced then there’s nothing wrong with it. Same goes for the flooring if you’re not falling through it.
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You’re buying a box. You pay for the land, and the structure that’s on it. If you really want to pay a thirty year mortgage for some one else’s dream of a remodel you’re nuts.
Granite is much cheaper today then it was four years ago. Stainless steel appliances have a life span of about ten years, but you will be paying for them for thirty?
The list goes on for frivolous home improvements that people pay for that have a shelf life.
That bathroom? It was dated when it was installed.
Buy the box, fix it the way you want, figure the expenses in seven year increments, be smart, do things right, so when you sell some one else gets some use out of it.
BTW, your inspection report says they can’t see inside the walls, it’s a visual inspection. Buy the form, the structure, the systems, rather than the design, or fashion of the remodel.
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If a house needed a roof, or a foundation, or a new sewer line, or a complete rewiring job- that I would consider a major remodel. But countertops, appliances, and floors I’ve replaced for far less than 50,000. But then again I’m a cheapskate and have pauper tastes. Granite countertops don’t excite me. I don’t have to have stainless appliances. Wood floors can be refinished rather than replaces in most cases.
“Fully updated” often means tacky remodeling which the sellers expect to profit from.
I don’t want to buy a house that’s a complete disaster, something that most people would tear down( been there, done that). But a house that needs appliances and countertops? And a floor that needs refinishing, or it needs new linoleum? Bring it on. I also prefer my taste and design ideas to others. They usually re-design to sell, so it’s often trendy but not necessarily functional or even pretty.
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RE: Ira Sacharoff @ 6 – I’m not a fan of granite and stainless either, but there’s little else out there right now. And it’s obviously popular.
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Yay for linoleum. I’d much rather have that than tile, esp. in the kitchen where I’m dropping glasses & plates.
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In this market, it’s difficult enough to find a house with the right bones (structure, location, etc.). Finding one with the right bones that has been fully upgraded, and updated well and to your taste is like searching for a needle in a field of haystacks.
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RE: whatsmyname @ 3 –
5. I sold my home since reading Seattle Bubble and have decided it may be a cold day in hell before I “own” a home again.
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Option #2, definitely! I have my own tastes, and it’s a huge turnoff to be expected to pay more for some crap I’d most likely want to rip out and replace with whatever I want. And 9 times out of 10 it is “crap” in my eyes, because my tastes don’t jibe very well with the middle-of-the-road tastes that most sellers would try to cater to.
“Ugly” and “dated” tend to be big plusses in a property for me. Knocks down the price, means I have more money to have it made the way I want.
Yes, contractors can be a pain to deal with, and there WILL be unexpected surprises in any construction project, particularly when existing construction is involved. So be it. No pain, no gain.
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RE: Kary L. Krismer @ 7 – “… it’s obviously popular”
And that, in a nutshell, is why some of us prefer to buy things that haven’t been updated: we have our own tastes which differ from what might be most popular.
Sure, it might make it a bit harder to resell (not excessively so, in my opinion: I’ve found that there tend to be enough buyers which share tastes close enough to mine that the property still sells). So be it. Life is about more than just maximizing one’s financial return in every aspect. There’s other things of value in life, such as living in surroundings one enjoys. What’s the point of money if you can’t exchange it in return for some of those other things?
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I sided with choice #2, rarely have I seen an interior that I think – ‘perfect, won’t have to change a thing’ – come to think of it, can’t say I’ve ever seen that (in homes that I could/would reasonably expect to afford/own). Nope, my tastes are my tastes and in the vast majority of cases they don’t match what a builder or flipper have done. We’re slowly (very slowly) revamping our home into what we want. It’s nice, we certainly have time on our side and are doing what we can as we save up the money for it.
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One major advantage of doing it yourself is you will know the work was done to code, with permits (or not). I’ve seen some really bad work done without permits. In one case I’m thinking of the vent for the new waste lines was run through the side of the house, which was very unsightly, but it was also put into the system at a point where it did little or no good. So you had something non-functional which was unsightly, and no functioning vent. In this case you could actually see that, but often these things are covered up by sheet rock.
Surprisingly, there are seemingly a lot of licensed contractors who like to do non-permitted work.
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I am at mutual acceptance on option #2. Reason: What I want just doesnt exist anywhere near my price range in the neighborhood I want: and you get quite a discount on a place because some people will never buy a “project.” Plus — I get to do (or pay someone to do) the updates exactly the way I want them.
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RE: Keith @ 15 –
This was us too. Couldn’t buy into the neighborhood without buying a cosmetic fixer. It’s been a ride (new windows, electrical upgrade, bathroom remodel, kitchen refresh, etc) but I’ve learned quite a few things I never knew before and I definitely feel more empowered to fix things when they go bad. If I bought an “updated” house I think I’d be alot less home repair/improvement adverse, so there is some upside.
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