Seeing if there's anyone in this small TGG community that has experience with home renovations. My wife and I bought a house a few years back. It was converted from a daycare to a single family, and they did a real good job... But there's some things that are just missing. Not to get too into the weeds, but lack of a proper entrance is one. Has anyone here done major renovations on their house? Researching, I think the renovations I want will cost around 50-70k. Any recommendations on how much you should pay cash? Is a loan a smart idea? Should I say fuck it and move once interest tanks? This is where I get lost. I'm a little bit of a nerd so I like to build things, but I also know my limits and building a part of a house is definitely one of them.
JB Let me share my story. In 2021 I bought a fixer upper in my town. I knew it would take me at least 6 months to renovate everything right after Covid. So I waited to sell my house until all renovations were done. Things worked in my favor. Renovations ended on time and I was able to sell my house in a week. Now, do you need to do renovations before you move in? If not, my recommendation is to live in the house a year to have an idea what you want to change before you make any renovations. If you need to do renovations, do the bare minimum if you can. And yes, take a loan for it. Don't pay cash. Also, finding the right contractor is key. Spend as much time as you can to talk the previous customers of the contractor. It will make your life easy.
I live here already. If we renovate it'll probably mean we aren't going anywhere long term. I just have so many monthly payments, I hate the idea of more. But I also don't have that much money for the reno available so I'll have to take out at least something in a loan. It's more of do I take out a loan to cover 50%, 80%... It's not always the best choice to put all the cash you can down. Thanks for the tip on a contractor. I have no idea how to find a good one.
My advice would be this if you are thinking of your home like an investment, and it kinda seems like you are, then don’t renovate*. You will never make back what you put into it. And people buy homes and renovate themselves anyway now, if you thinking about it being a long term home for your family, then that’s a different story, renovate and enjoy your home *major renovations I mean
Hurricane Matthew 2016 put about 15" of water in my house, so yes..... but I did it almost all myself.... and looks ALOT better than it did before, but what a PIA
If you're pretty handy, and you're just looking to fix cosmetics, you can figure out how to do alot on your own... and do avoid adding debt, do it room by room. Hire pros for stuff that may be beyond you skillset (or if you're going big; framing, electrical, plumbing, etc). I bought an older house, and had no $ left, so I fixed stuff as I went along.... Renovation rd2, while unplanned, had a bigger budget (insurance $) and was basically floor to ceiling redo. Nagle's advice is solid too.
Some knowledgeable posters in this thread https://forums.theganggreen.com/threads/concrete-countertops.90144/
I was going to say the same thing @stinkyB did, just do a room at a time. I've done 7 rehabs in 8 years and live in them while doing the rehab so it depends what your family's stress level is and if they can deal with it. My old lady said she was going to leave after the 6th house but she didn't so I bought another, still didn't work. For the entrance door is the house wood frame or block?
Yes this in my line of thinking. I told my wife that first we need to decide if we are living here long term (reno) or not (no reno). I'd like to have that figured out in a year.
It's a whole new addition, replacing drywall in the garage which I can probably do, and a kitchen reno/move to a different area
That's a big project. Sit on the Kitchen re-do until you're sure you're staying in the house. If not just give hit some cosmetic touch-ups. Working on your dry-wall skills in the garage is a great place to learn... if you F-up, it's just the garage
Unfortunately it's also my entry to my house other than the back deck. The addition is a mud room to act as a formal entrance. This requires the kitchen to be moved.
my problem, and this is my dummy problem, I tried the 1 room at a time thing but then I start working on another and another and it kinda feels like every room is WIP and none are done . Constantly
That can be an issue but I did everything at once on my current place and still have punch list items in every room
Just wrapping up on a new patio & fencing/railings at my house... it was a bit of a headache because of the layout of my property. All the gravel, dirt, sand, machinery and paving bricks had to be hand carried up to the job site... and all the old concrete and dirt had to be carried down. All the grading had to be done with manual labor. I made sure to lock down the price and terms with the contractor. Any overages are to be agreed upon ahead of time. So far so good. He estimated two weeks... it's been five weeks so far with at least another two to go. I'm in no rush... I am lucky though... I have a landscape designer living in my guest house... so she did the design layout and will handle all the new shrubbery, trees & plants and the outdoor lighting. I just write the checks... It sure looks nice though... the old concrete patio looked like shit. And it definitely adds value to the house if & when I sell.
When I looked to purchase a house 25 years ago I was set on finding a place with some income potential to help offset the up & down nature of my profession. I actually ended up living in it the first six months while I fixed up the main house. It came in handy early on when I needed extra income to make the mortgage... though for the last ten years or so it's either sat empty or friends staying there when they need a place for a while.
