Help: buying/remodeling a home

[FirstTimer90]

As I look to purchase a home I am trying to keep within a specific budget and notice in my area that means I won't be able to purchase all the items on my 'Want List'

I think my best bet may be to purchase a move in ready home but one I can remodel to my tastes Room by room as I save money for each room. So what I'm hoping to learn from people here is, Which rooms are most cost effective to remodel at a later date?
I figure some expenses like a new roof is good but I would be better off buying that with a home as it won't raise the purchase price more than it cost. I'm told (though I'm not sure) that a new kitchen will increase the home value more than the kitchen itself cost.

So anyone that could make suggestions, I would appreciate you're help. I will likely be hiring people to remodel/upgrade a purchased home.
Thanks

[bjl584]

They say remodeling kitchens and bathrooms will increase the selling price of your home more than anything else, but there is a lot more that goes into it than that.

The kitchen will probably be the most expensive upgrade. Cabinets are crazy expensive.

The rest is up to you. If you can do at least some of the work yourself, then it will save you a ton. And, depending what specifically you upgrade and redo, the price can vary greatly. New carpet is a lot cheaper than hardwood or tile flooring for example.

[ua_guy]

Unless you have substantial resources, I think you should look at "move-in ready" homes. In my experience, and what this means to me, is a home that is in overall good condition and good maintenance, but where colors and finishes might not be to exact personal taste, things you can change over time. It should be a home that you can tolerate and live in, in its present form, as you save money. The home should definitely be free of any health/safety issues and should not be in need of immediate repairs.

In terms of "cost effective" remodeling, there really isn't such a thing. When you buy a house at market value, it's expected that things are generally updated and that everything is in good working order. If things are not, and you paid market value for the home, then you're losing money already. When you do an upgrade, it should be evaluated for its personal value and also the value it adds to the house. Kitchens and bathrooms are usually the high-dollar upgrades that get closer to 1:1 return on your investment, but each case is different. For resale, they can help set your house apart from other homes on the market. Good "bang for the buck" upgrades are things like carpet and paint, and modernizing stuff like hardware and light fixtures.

Good luck!

[FrugalFish]

The kitchen will probably be the most expensive upgrade. Cabinets are crazy expensive.

ITA.

Think in terms of "cosmetic fixes" versus structural fixes. Try to find a cosmetic fixer-upper.

We bought our house at that time when people were just throwing crazy money into their homes like there was no tomorrow. Many people I knew at that time would not hesitate to spend $25K-$50K on a kitchen remodel. Our home has oak cabinetry, but it was in terrible shape. I sanded them, DH re-stained and poly coated them, and we replaced all the hardware (hinges and drawer slides) for around $500. A bargain at twice the price and it looked great. We stuck with the old style counter tops, because they were serviceable and didn't bother us. We didn't feel the need to upgrade to granite counter tops like so many other people at the time. Actually, I'm very glad we didn't spend money on that sort of thing because I ended HATING the one granite surface we did have.

Look at it with your eyes and make it nice for you. Have you looked at houses yet? Wish lists are a good jumping off point, but a lot of times a house will just make sense to you once you are inside looking around- at least that has been my experience.

Good luck.

[snafu]

As a 1st time buyer, I suggest you put your 'wish list' on your cell app or FiloFax and concentrate on the basics. Ignore cosmetics as a can of paint is relatively inexpensive and you can easily learn to paint by looking it up on You Tube. The most important factor is location. Nearly anything can be fixed but location is critical. Are you interested in 'gentrified,' fun location with interesting shops, restaurants and entertainment? Would you see yourself in the suburbs with good schools? Do you have a rural bent and willing to put up with a long commute?

2nd part of location revolves around what services are important to you? Do you need an organic food store on your regular route? Do you need to be able to drive to work in under 30 minutes? What type of home meets your needs? Do you want a small house on a largish lot with weekly Saturday AM yard duties, garden, flowers, patio, BBQ, bike path etc? Would you prefer larger house on smaller lot with minimal Saturday AM chores? Would you prefer a Townhouse type condo with no chores at all?

3rd part of any home you look at on-line or in person...imagine yourself returning after a blistering day at work. Sufficient parking? Where you you set down your stuff? Where do you put your coat? Where do you go with that bag of groceries? Stand in the kitchen and look for a work triangle. Is there a counter adjacent to the fridge to put stuff away? Where would you stand to cut vegetables or mix cupcakes? Are there sufficient cupboards & drawers for your stuff? Offload the D/W in your head. Does the place come with fridge, stove, W/D? Think about having family and friends for fun meals.

Imagine your own early AM routine? Is there enough room in bthrm for grooming? If laundry day, what's the flow from gathering up duds, wash/dry/hang/fold and put it all back in place? I suggest mentally walking through all your routines. How old is roof, hot water tank, furnace, AC? Oh, don't fall in love with a place until you've made an offer based on professional home inspection report, offer accepted and signed off.

[sandrark]

We use a reasonably analytic process when we buy, added to "gut" responses/reactions.

1) List what you MUST have in a house. For us, that was 3 Bedrooms, 1 bath, 1800 SF, 2 car garage, storage.

2) List what you would LIKE to have. For us, that was an extra bath, 3 car garage, dining room separate from Living Room/Kitchen, a pantry for the kitchen, no stairs, gas stove/oven, easy access to the back yard (our last place required 3 flights of stairs, and three doors...so, we never used it).

We also started a spreadsheet, that listed all those items noted above, and also had a notes section, where items could be tracked (believe me, after 10 houses, you lose track of which one had the pantry, and which one has the great master bedroom). It included price, SF, formal DRM, fireplace, number of parking spots, RV pad, etc. The Column Headers had house qualities, and the Row Header was the address.

It was eerie how fast we got a good idea of whether a house was overpriced, or a fair deal, in comparison to its competition. For both of the houses we actually bought, we ended up with a cosmetic fixer that had been neglected - bad kitchens, no staging, worn paint, worn decking/concrete, chipped tile...all things that can be fixed.

I also get a property profile from the local title company - which can tell you how the house is titled, when it was purchased, and the outstanding trust deeds on the property (this gives you an idea if there is wiggle room when you make an offer).

For our current home, I saw it in mid-November, made an offer, and was declined. A month later, the seller came back, and told us to write up the offer. When I visited it again in January to take snapshots, my realtor was appalled at how badly the house showed (which was why it had been on the market for a year). He said something along the lines of how unappealing the kitchen was, and I was dismissive. "It's nothing that $10k worth of cabinets, and some new appliances won't fix." He laughed, and told me most buyers can't SEE that - if it's old and tired, they just leave and move on to the next house.

Look at the size of the rooms - are they comfortable? Will your bed fit in the bedroom? Is the dining room a size that can handle guests at Thanksgiving? Are there stairs? Is there sufficient parking? Storage? Closet space? Is it significantly over-improved in comparison to other houses in the neighborhood? Do the rooms flow well? Do the bedrooms share common walls? If you have guests, are they far enough from the Living room or your bedroom that they can sleep easily? Is the water heater updated? Is the furnace old or new? What kind of roof is there? What sort of improvements have the owners done in recent years? Is any of that still under warranty?

The trick is getting your assessments up front, not your emotions. There will always be another house that will fit what you NEED. Don't fall in love until you move in.

[Gailete]

I realize it would sound crazy to most, but one of my 'must haves' is a sewing room. I tried to explain this to a Realtor once that was a bit on the young side and just didn't get it. She showed me a house and then some cupboards in it and said "wouldn't this be good for your sewing?" Hardly! My sewing stuff (and I'm not talking about the bunches of boxes of sewing patterns that I have for sale) takes up an entire room. So eventually it just got easier to look for a place with 3 bedrooms (when I still had kids at home).

When looking for a house, you have to look at what the other posters mentioned, but most of all look at your life and how you live it NOW and what you need to have so that you can maintain your lifestyle. Not a lifestyle in your dreams based on what you want your life to be like, but how it is. Are there five of you fighting over one bathroom in the morning or is it only two of you with the same problem or are you single and for some reason want a 3-4 bathroom house? If you have been planning on learning to play the piano, are you going to leave enough room for a piano or are you going to subconsciously make sure that once again you move to some place with no room for even a spinet--maybe playing the piano is a nice dream. Or are you going to demand space for a piano -- and please not in front of a window, a fireplace or the heater vent all things that can bother a piano greatly says the piano restorers wife!

I think it is also important to think about how long you plan to spend living in this house. In our mobile society will you have enough time to do any improvements before moving again? Or is this the house where you want to plant some trees and watch them grow into maturity? It makes a huge difference in what you buy and what you plan to fix up. I would suggest living in a house for a while before going a head with any remodeling/decorating other than simple paint so you understand how the sun affects the rooms, how they function for you and what has driven you crazy from day one which should be on the list in the number one spot to change.