Remodeling for Resale

The Most Bang for Your Buck

Of course, managing remodeling budgets is a formidable task. “A budget can basically disappear in a finger snap,” Eich notes.

A common culprit: material costs, which are capable of quietly consuming considerable chunks of budgets. “Materials—that’s what drives the cost of projects up,” says Tim Purcell, president of Purcell, Inc., a residential remodeling company in White Bear Lake. “It’s the finishes—it’s the imported marble, it’s the natural stones, it’s the plumbing fixtures. If you go from chrome to brushed bronze, for example, you’ll double your materials price.”

So make sure you’re selecting materials that make sense for both the style of your home and the scope of your project. If, for example, you believe your Greek Revival home should be outfitted with style-specific dentil molding, consider installing it on walls only in high-visibility areas. “There are ways you can kind of cheat,” Paulson says. “So you might have a few moldings, but not the full A to Z trimming out of the house.”

And be willing to compromise. Instead of, say, installing a whirl-pool tub in your master suite, opt for a more practical oversized walk-in shower. Though homeowners tend to believe the oversized tubs will enhance resale value, they’re pricey (up to $6,000 installed), they eat up a lot of space, and they’re typically rarely used, says Brian Jones, president of Jones Design Build, a Shorewood firm that specializes in renovating older homes. Jones says many of his clients have opted for three- or four-by-six-foot multiple-spray showers. “The shower won’t cost any less, but it’ll be more bang for your buck,” he explains. “If you’re going to build the same amount of square footage in a particular footprint, you’re more likely to use and enjoy the multiple-spray shower once a day, and you’re still giving a nice amenity at resale.”

Personalize Prudently

Balancing personal preferences with resale potential is a delicate task. Design taste is utterly subjective; one person’s idea of high design might be another’s inspiration to look at the next house. How can you satisfy your remodeling cravings without alienating future buyers?

“The bottom line is don’t do things that no one else would value,” says Tim Quigley, principal of Quigley Architects, a Minneapolis   residential architecture firm. For example, Quigley recently talked a client out of installing a lap pool—a small, treadmill-like swimming pool—in her basement. Quigley estimates that the installation would have cost at least $50,000, and the subsequent maintenance and technical issues, such as managing the chlorine smell in the house, would generate ongoing headaches. “It’s things like that that won’t give you any payback,” he says.