by K A R EN C H E N E Y photo M A R TY B A LD W IN
b e s t
W'-rii-
Inspired by our
winning stories? Here
are
7
reasons why
right now
could be
the very best time to
improve your home.
list a few years ago, improving
your home seemed like a
slam-dunk money move, on par
with investing in your 401(k).
You got a better place to live and
increased your economic
security at the same time.
“When the real estate market was goingup, it
was a nice investment move,” agrees Kermit
Baker, a senior research fellow at Harvard
University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.
Fast-forward to this year: Homes have fallen
more than 14 percent in value, according to the
most recent report by real estate Web site
Zillow.com
, and we’re all worried about job
security and our depleted nest eggs. Isn’t it
time to put renovation dreams on hold? Not
necessarily. If you’ve longed to tackle a home
improvement project, the lull in construction
may actually work in your favor. “I don’t think
renovation is going to get any cheaper than it is
right now,” says Sal Alfano, editorial director of
Remodeling
magazine.
Of course, if your job is shaky or you have
little to no equity in your home, taking on a big
renovation project wouldn’t be wise—or, for
that matter, possible. But if you have some
savings and you didn’t buy your house at
market peak in a particularly hard-hit part of
the country, “you can be confident that you’re
making a good investment,” says Dan
Fritschen, founder of
Remodelormove.com,
a
Web site that helps consumers weigh the costs
of moving versus remodeling. “When your
home eventually appreciates, you’ll have more
value in it.”
In fact, we see at least seven reasons that
improving your home today makes good sense.
I
You can get the job done
quickly with a top pro.
A year or two ago you could have worn
out your fingertips dialing contractors before
they returned your call. Now the best people
are willing to take on all sizes of jobs. “You’ll
find that in every little nook and cranny of the
country, the pickiness of contractors has
vanished,” says Danny Lipford, host of the TV
show
Today's Homeowner with Danny Lipford
and a contributor to
Better Homes and Gardens.
“They aren’t specializing as much, and they’re
offering a much broader line of services.”
Once they start a job, they’re finishing it
too—without a three-week interruption on a
job at another site. As Angie Hicks, founder of
the contractor referral sit
e Angieslist.com,
says, “Homeowners are in the driver’s seat
now. They can get the company they want on
their schedule.”
2
Renovation is on sale.
Homeowner spending on improve-
ments is off about 16 percent, according
to Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.
So, to fill their datebooks, contractors are
charging less. In a survey earlier this year,
Angieslist.com
found that contractors were
H O SEPTEMBER 2009 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS
