The perfect time for a renovation!!!

Written by Mia Kelly and Christina Johnson

Due to rising costs of living, people are cutting costs anywhere they can find. Homeowners are cutting costs anywhere they can. In order to maintain the value of your home, money must be put into maintaining your home. Do it yourself home projects can increase the resale value of your home, while saving you money and expensive labor costs.

Here are a few examples of Do it yourself home projects that can be completed fairly easily and will increase the resale value on your home.

Maintain Your Home’s Exterior and Interior Paint:

Maintaining your home’s interior and exterior paint is not just aesthetically important. It is important to keep exterior painting up to date since a quality exterior paint job protects and maintains the integrity of your home’s wood, preventing wood decay and rot. Homeowners living in the southwestern United States only need to repaint their home once every 8 years where as homeowners living in the northeastern United States must repaint every 10 years, assumed you are using a high quality exterior paint. The main reason for this is the winters in the northeast are much harsher than winters in southwestern regions and paint quickly chips and peels.

Floor and driveway renovation and maintenance are key components to increase the resale value of a home. Hardwood floors significantly increase the value of a home. Not only are hardwood floors a manageable do it yourself project, the installation of hardwoods have the ability to increase the resale value of your home, up to 10% of your home’s value. The materials required can be found here. The cost of materials are high, yet the gains that yield from the installation of hardwood floors can range anywhere from $2,000-$10,000 in a resale return.

Home renovation projects require the financial investment yet the overall financial benefits are great. The most important idea behind home renovations is that all projects can be done by yourself. Since all the home repairs can all be completed by the homeowner, a great deal of money is saved on the labor costs.

There are many do it yourself home renovation projects that offer a return of up to 100-80% investment return. Major and minor kitchen remodel, fireplace, or deck can offers a resale payback between 90-70%. Do it yourself home renovation projects that offer from 90-100% payback include a single bedroom addition and a 2nd full bathroom addition.

Things to Keep In Mind:

The type and value of do it yourself home improvements projects should be appropriate for the home they are being performed on. A $20,000 bathroom renovation for an average priced home will not earn a huge return. It is important to maintain the integrity of your home when deciding what types of do it yourself projects you should undertake. Be consistent in terms of your choices with respect to interior and exterior of your home. Style changes rapidly so very trendy renovation choices should be reserved for changeable decorations like couches and rugs. You will not see returns on highly stylized moldings, fixtures, and windows.


Thank you Mia for this article. Mia provides written content to the blogoshpere pertaining to the latest information on topics such as New York City Real Estate renovations, "DIY" projects, and home improvements.

Capturing the Moment

Leaving...

I climbed the stairs from the 7 train, once again, looking forward to the quieted echo of footsteps and voices lofting softly around the immaculate marbled station.

As soon as I entered the main hall I was greeted with the spectacle light streaming almost to the opposite side. I reached into my bag quickly without hesitation and stopped. I didn't have my camera...oh dear, I don't believe I just reached for it, although I haven't used it for 3 months! I recalled to my self. I had to immortalize this moment!

I watched in disbelief as human shapes moved quickly in their predestined direction. Not one soul as much as glimpsed at the glorious light streaming thru the passageway. I knew the sun would pass this portal in just moments and I too moved, here...there...looking for the best place to fill my camera's lens. Snap, wait...saving...still saving...ok. It's my fault that I have thousands of images on my poor phone trying to keep up with a job it obviously wasn't employed to do.

Snap...wait...snap...not one soul noticed...then it was gone!

Happy New 2011!

Happy new year to all my wonderful blogging friends! As you can see things have been slow around here, and as much as I'd like to make certain things move a little (truthfully a lot) faster in my neck of the woods, I must continually remind myself to savor the moments, the good with the bad! If there's one thing I've learned in age is how we can look back and see we have literally wished our lives away. My computer is still dead, but I have managed to survive via cell phone, honestly a most tedious endeavour as far as I'm concerned.

I spent the holidays trapped on the isle of Manhattan with 3 manic energy bunnies, where it seems the forces that be have determined that 20 inches of snow is just not on their to do list.(You know how they can be when they should leave their quivelling and spending to actually roll up their sleeves and really do something). Luckily nature is taking its course and turned is taking its course and the weekend proves to be wet and warm enough to wash away the massive mounds of snow and slush. (Bet you didn't see that in Times Square last night!)

So after a unhappy absence I look forward to catch up with you all this week. Looking forward to a new year full of good surprises and promise!