I’m sharing four reasons you may want to rethink renovating your home.

Sometimes people renovate their homes for the wrong reasons. Renovating can potentially be a regretful decision because it costs time and money and may not improve your quality of life. So here are four reasons you might want to reconsider renovating your home:

1. Your budget will change during the process. When you’re considering the amount you need to finance or borrow, you’ll get estimates for the work you want to be done. Throughout the process, there will be changes, surprises, and possibly things you want to include that you didn’t think of before, so your budget will have to adjust. You want to make sure your cash on hand or the amount you’re borrowing exceeds the original budget you think you need.

2. You may not see a significant profit when you sell. You need to ensure you’ll enjoy any renovations you do while you live in the house because you may not see much profit when you sell. Let’s say you upgrade the kitchen with finishes that are great for current buyers; if you sell in 10 years, those buyers could feel the kitchen is dated.

“Renovating can potentially be a regretful decision.”

3. Your needs are only immediate or short-term. We all go through phases in our lives, and we may feel we’ll be in those phases longer than we actually will. Think about repurposing a space before you spend money to satisfy a short-term need. For example, if you’ve been working from home recently, you might want to put time and money into your work-from-home space, but it won’t be utilized in the same way when you go back to work in person.

4. You’re only renovating to create more space for ‘stuff.’ Most people amass things over the years while living in a home, and they’re tempted to add space to make room for those items. That’s typically a bad idea, and you should instead consider decluttering. If you add more space, it could raise your taxes and your heating/cooling bills, and renovating is a hassle. Think about whether your life will truly be improved before calling a contractor.

Please feel free to use me as a resource if you’re considering a renovation. If you have any other real estate questions or needs, contact me via phone or email. I would love to help you.