Move or Improve?

The truth is, the majority of people remodel their homes to get the maximum comfort, use and pleasure from them. If you liked your home well enough to buy it in the first place, you probably still do.

If your home has only a few things you’d like to improve, modifying your existing home might just prove to be more cost-effective than buying new – especially when home prices are peaking.

The American Homeowner Foundation calculates that the cost of moving is approximately 10 percent of a home's value − quite a sobering statistic − while a remodeling project can often quickly recoup or even exceed the value of its cost.

How? By bringing it up to its neighborhood standard. In an area where most homes might have an updated kitchen and spacious deck, foregoing a remodel could cause a dated home to languish on the market or sell for less than it should.

Financing the dream
If you’re a homeowner who’s chosen to fix-up your home instead of pulling up stakes, you now have more options for funding your project than ever before.

Kari A. Kuipers, sales manager at Countrywide Home Loans in Seattle, said, “There are a number of ways qualified homeowners can make their existing home something they’ve always dreamed of.”

She advises, “A Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) can be used as a revolving credit line, where funds are withdrawn only when money is needed and interest is paid only on money that you borrow. As you pay down the principal, the HELOC becomes a renewable source of funds; or you can make interest-only payments for a fixed period of time if that better suits your needs.”

A Realtor Shares Top Tips for Best Values

Vija Williams of John L. Scott is well-versed in home-sale trends in the greater Seattle marketplace. She offers her perspective as a real estate professional who sees first-hand what attracts buyers, what sells…and what doesn’t.

Kitchens count
“Kitchens are the most important thing to remodel in a home for sale. People will overlook many things for the perfect kitchen. With a limited budget, simply updating surfaces helps.”

Bathroom bucks
“The master bath is probably the most important, but a powder room can be relatively inexpensive to remodel and is the bathroom most seen by guests.”

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