Should you love it or list it?
A new home feels so...well, new.
But if you can't afford to move, it just makes sense to do so some home renovation projects to make it more appealing while you're living there and to add to the overall value when it does come time to sell.
According to a new survey by Moen Canada, more than 80 per cent of homeowners have undertaken the completion of at least one home improvement project in the past year.
So it's no surprise that more and more Canadians are choosing to stay put and renovate their existing homes to suit their lifestyles and their pocketbooks.
These home improvements make living in your home more appealing and, when it comes time to sell, will make the home more marketable.
Jack Suvak, Senior Director, Market Research and Insights at Moen, says, "Repair, replacement or addition of new windows were the most expensive projects Canadians undertook."
However, he noted that interior painting, gardening and landscape projects were the most common projects, while bathroom remodeling was more popular than kitchens, due to the smaller investment required.
If you have ever watched the W Network show Love It or List It you learn about homeowners who renovate their house within a budget to suit their lifestyle and/or growing family
Then they have a tough decision to make: Love It or List It.
And more often than not, they find that the house of their dreams is actually the one they are living in. That is, after the renovations are complete.
But before undertaking any renovations, make sure you get quotes from reputable renovators and stay within a budget.
Canadian homeowners plan on spending more on remodeling projects in the next six months than they had planned a year ago, according to the survey.
In fact, homeowners expect to spend the most on new roofs ($2,500, up from $2,000 a year ago); kitchen renovations ($2,000); and other projects such as exterior siding, windows, patios, decks, porches, bathrooms and other room remodels ($1,000).
"(Many of) these investments are geared at improving the outside look of the house, while making sure that homeowners are not challenged by Mother Nature," explains Suvak.
The survey also notes that the goal for many Canadians is making their home fit their lifestyle, followed by increasing property value and making their home more energy-efficient.
So, should you love it or list it?
By Donna Donaldson, MSN Money
Have you chosen to fix or flee your home and why?
Posted by: Blue | Aug 18, 2021 2:19:44 AM
We've completed several projects to our home. A new furnace, central air, new windows, new patio doors and just finished a bathroom renovation. All of this has been done as we had the money, nothing was done on credit. The most frustrating part is the number of real estate agents who have come knocking on our door as each project was finished. We are most definitely NOT doing this for someone else, it is for us and our enjoyment of our beloved house. We have a few more projects we want to complete, a bay window, renovate the kitchen and new flooring throughout the house. What we have is a beautifully spacious back yard, not something that is easily found. We are also quite close to a couple of malls, yet we are on a quiet street. Houses that do go on sale in our neighbourhood are only on the market for a couple of days. However we love the location and it has been fun upgrading. We love our house even more than when we bought it and we originally bought it for the back yard for our dog.
Posted by: Troy | Aug 18, 2021 9:25:03 AM
With the overly inflated housing price situation in Nova Scotia? There's not much of a choice unless you want huge mortgage payments hanging over your head for the next 20 years...
Posted by: Annie | Aug 18, 2021 1:06:20 PM
We are living in our second home since we married 38 years ago, and the only reason we left our first home was because of the distance. We lived out in the country and as newly weds we didn't mind the commute. It was also a great place to raise our children. Once they started high school in the city and summer jobs in the city it became obvious to us a move to or near the city was in order. The hunt then began for a similar house in size to the one we had. My husband also wanted a smaller yard to free up some of his time from all the yard work he had in the country. We were very fortunate in finding a lovely ranch style house tucked away in a quiet subdivision (older subdivision-not cookie cutter) not too far from two shopping centres. Now that we are empty nesters the house fits all of our needs inside and out. We have done some renovations through the years and will continue to do so, we do our outside renos in the summer and fall, and any inside renos are done after Christmas ie: new flooring, painting, bathroom or kitchen etc. I think it is wise for people to look at what drew them to their house in the first place , chances are the appeal is still there just a little tarnished. A bit of polish can make it gleam again.
Posted by: alison | Aug 18, 2021 5:13:42 PM
I live in central Toronto. To move from my house, in a good neighbourhood, to a new house in a slightly better neighbourhood would cost in the neighbourhood of $150,000 in real estate commission and taxes alone. That is not counting the 400-500K needed to move "up". I can do a fantastic renovation just for the cost of taxes and commission. That's why we haven't moved in 20 years.
Posted by: AH | Aug 18, 2021 7:03:32 PM
In May of 1999, we moved into a smaller house. It was very plain, brick ranch, no curb appeal at all.. My husband made shutters for all the windows, painted them a nice burgundy colour; put up our mail box post out front with our cute handmade mailbox on it; put pots of flowers around; we were the talk of the new neighbourhood, how we "dressed up our little place". In early August, we went on a holiday to the east coast for 3 weeks. The night we got home from our trip, two of our neighbours came over to let us know that '3" different real estate agents came to their doors asking if they knew when we would be home or if we would be interested in selling. One agent had a couple interested, they had looked at this house before we purchased it but couldn't see "beyond" and when they saw how we had dressed it up, decided they would now like to live there. Of course, we weren't interested in selling, and lived there for 12 yrs. When we decided to sell, put the sign on our lawn on Thurs. night, and we sold it Friday afternoon, privately to a young neighbour man from across the street.
Posted by: linda | Aug 18, 2021 8:29:09 PM
SInce our location and yard remain ideal, we added on and renovated 4 years ago, and we plan that our next move will be to some seniors' complex - we're currently in our 50's. We couldn't see adding about $200,000 onto our debt load to have a similar (big) yard size and still live further away from work. We also live in a bungalow, which is increasingly difficult to find. 4 years later, we still consider it a good move to have stayed put.