McDonald Remodeling Blog

A lot of people have remarked to me that remodeling must be booming because new construction has all but shut down. Don’t I wish…..

Historically home equity was how much of remodeling was financed. It’s old news now, but home equity as we knew it has simply vanished. And, in spite of ads to the contrary many banks have simply stopped lending for anything related to real estate. The cruel irony is that now is the best time in years to have work done to your home.

So how does one finance a project? Good, old Uncle Sam may be a good place to start looking. First-time homebuyer tax credits got a lot of attention in the last year or so, but there are numerous other programs for those of us not in that position. A lot of money and/or tax credits have been made available for home improvements- primarily energy related improvements – but nonetheless real money to offset remodeling costs. In addition, many communities have developed loan programs to encourage current residents to improve their homes. Some of these loans never need to be repaid, or aren’t repaid until the home sells. And, many of these programs can piggy-back on one another so it’s possible to find thousands of dollars.

One of our close business relationships is with Kate Wilson at Fairway Independent Mortgage. Kate has done a phenomenal job of compiling all of the available funding mechanisms in the Twin City area. Visit www.katewilson.com to see what you can find. I’ll bet you’ll be surprised.

A lot of people ask me if it’s a good time to remodel and if they do, will they get their money back.  At a time when real estate values are in flux, these are very legitimate questions.

At the risk of sounding like a politician, the answer is almost always “it depends”.  If someone is planning to sell in the relatively near future, I usually don’t recommend spending a lot of money on remodeling.

Paint and floor coverings – maybe, but I’d be careful beyond that. Fact is, you may do something a prospective buyer doesn’t like and isn’t willing to pay for. In today’s market buyers are very likely to make a low offer anyway so recouping remodeling dollars is challenging at best. [...]