Thursday’s Thoughts – How do you know when you’ve remodeled too much?

We’ve lived in our house for just over eight years. We actually build our home so we had a pretty nice canvas to start with. We have repainted rooms in our house to the point I think they may actually be waterproof. We’ve added a nice fence in the backyard. We’ve expanded our patio and even built a second story deck with access from our bedroom. Here’s the question: When is enough enough? How do you know when to stop?

A good rule of thumb is to understand your neighborhood and they types of homes that are surrounding yours. Do you have the nicest home in your neighborhood now? If so, then pouring more money and hard work into your home might not lead to an increased value. Do you have the dumpiest house in the neighborhood? If you do, then fixing it up to match the quality of your neighbors could be a great investment when you go to sell.

How long do you plan to live in your current home? This is really the big question. You can remodel until you’re blue in the face if you plan on dying where you live. If you plan on selling your home in the near future then you’re probably going to want a return on your investment so make sure you’re not taking it too far.

I would say we already have one of the nicer homes in our small neighborhood. The market has been very soft the last few years and if we were to sell now, unfortunately we would be competing with some foreclosure pricing and a very competitive buyers market. Personally, I’m going to hold off on adding the in ground pool and personal tennis court. If your neighbors already have these nice features and you’ve been thinking about adding them yourself, you might be okay. For me, it would definitely be too much!

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