re: #500 lawhawk

If you have the ability to finance home improvements without taking lines of credit or loans against your home values, it’s a good idea, especially if you intend to stay in that home for more than a year or two. If you’re using a HELOC or home loan to do the home improvement, you have to check your improvement versus what you expect it will make back.

Putting in a $60k kitchen in a home where home values don’t support it makes no sense. A $10k remodel might make more sense. Or $30k. If you’re going to get back $25k in increased value.

What do you get for your money? That’s a big question. Some home improvements aren’t going to give you the same bang for the buck as others (and it varies by region/community). Kitchens and baths are always at the top of the list, but they have to be in the range for the community where you live. It’s common sense, but common sense is something that has been missing from real estate for far too long and the new environment is starting to feel what it means to be subject to the basics of economics.

We just painted our kitchen, and we plan to paint the cabinets, and get ceramic tile for the floor.