The next question: what is your long-term goal? Are you
staying in the home and want to improve your quality of
life, or do you just want to make it look nice so you can sell
in two years?
“If you’re looking to improve the way the home works
for your family and you’re going to hold on to it for a long
period of time, then remodeling makes sense. It’s incredibly
hard to do a remodel and reap any financial benefits in
just a couple years,” Harris says. “But with renovation —
making cabinets look nice and repainting — that’s where
it’s possible to see return.”
Many times, it’s a matter of budget and of how much
construction inconvenience you can live with, according
to Fernandes. “There’s often a jumping off point in terms
of complexity that can be off-putting for some people,”
he says. “Swapping out the fixtures and finish aspects of
a kitchen can be pretty straightforward. If you’re moving
walls and creating space with an addition, the complexity
level gets higher, it takes longer and it gets more costly.
Consider whether you’re willing to deal with that and
willing to live in a construction zone.”
What about budget? “Be transparent about what you
want to spend and what you want to achieve from the
beginning, it just benefits everybody,” Fernandes advises.
“If you have $50,000 to spend and want to do the kitchen
and four bathrooms, that’s going to be a difficult thing to
do. But then we can guide you and let you know what you
can achieve with that budget. When everyone is open and
upfront from the beginning, it creates a level of trust and
the relationship is more successful going forward.”
Harris says one of the biggest budget myths is the idea
of instant ROI. “When you remodel a house, it takes
time to recoup the investment,” he explains. “You have
to make that investment because you want to improve the
enjoyment factor in that home, not because you think you’ll
reap returns on it immediately. Say you spend $80,000 on
a new kitchen; you won’t see all of that back immediately
in the value of the home, it just doesn’t happen overnight.
Something like that takes time to increase in value.”
One more builder’s word of advice: don’t over-improve
for your neighborhood and become the most expensive
house on the block.
HOW TO CHOOSE A
CONTRACTOR
Shawn Harris of Sixteen
on Center and DJ
Fernandes of Site Specific
share their top tips.
Look for one who has
experience with projects
similar to yours. If you’re
adding on and there’s
structural work, you want
to be sure you’re talking to
someone seasoned who
has done that work before.
References are always
good. Have the builder’s
“There’s an environmental responsibility to take
care of a structure in place as opposed to throwing
it away. We advise our clients to rework whenever
possible, rather than tear down or add on just for
the sake of square footage.”
— SHAWN HARRIS OF SIXTEEN ON CENTER
former clients show you
a project where a similar
objective was achieved.
Make sure contractors are
clearly communicating
what they’re providing and
ensure that they captured
the whole scope of the
job. Sometimes you’ll get
a much lower bid but,
effectively, what they’ve
done is limit services or
the type of work they’re
providing.
Obtaining a solid set of
drawings indicating what
you’d like to have done is
a good way to make sure
everyone’s bidding on
the same scope so you’re
comparing apples to
apples.
Take the time to find the
right fit — someone who fits
your personality. Sometimes
you get a good feeling from
a person, and sometimes
you don’t. Trust your gut. ◆