How to Avoid Turning Your Home Into a Money Pit
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Here's your money briefing for Sunday, May 5th. I'm J.R. Whelan for The Wall Street Journal. This is the second installment of our series, Buying a Home and Keeping It.
Congratulations. You found a great home. You got a good mortgage rate. The closing didn't ding your bank account too much. But what would make your home perfect? Some TLC? Maybe some repairs. Some remodeling. You got this. I mean, when you watch those home renovation shows on TV, it all looks so easy.
Are you all ready to see your fixer-upper? I'm going to come up with a plan to be able to make a really big change to this house. And I believe that when I'm done, you're going to love it.
My goal is not just to fix their house, but hopefully for them to love their house again.
But in reality, if you've got a home that needs some work, be prepared for some blood, sweat, and tears, and be prepared to pay up. Renovation costs can pile up fast and can turn your home into a money pit. We'll talk to Wall Street Journal reporter Veronica Dagger, as well as an interior decorator and a home inspector about keeping costs in check. And we'll hear from homeowners who, for better or worse, did most of the work themselves. Some with a little help from YouTube.
How does this episode introduce the risks of renovation turning a home into a money pit?
That's after the break.
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Take a look around your house. You've got nice stuff. It's clean. But the bathroom might need some new tiles, or the kitchen could use some extra room. It might be time for a makeover, a renovation. And you might enlist the help of someone, like Kelly Suso. She owns an interior design business in Red Bank, New Jersey, and she's dealt with lots of renovation projects, and even made some memorable discoveries.
We had to gut the whole first floor. And inside the wall, we found newspaper articles and horsehair that was used for insulation. Literally just newspapers shoved in the wall instead of insulation, which was interesting.
While not all home renovations lead to the discovery of horsehair in the walls, Kelly says they should start with a budget set in place for what she calls the boring stuff.
There's so many things that pop up within the budget that, you know, aren't the fun stuff. There's water heaters and electrical and plumbing and all of that adds up and you need to make sure you allow for those items before you get to the tile and the countertops and the cabinet hardware. You have to get those bones in place first. Make sure you allow money for that and the funds for that.
I checked in with WSJ personal finance reporter Veronica Dagger about this. She writes about housing and says to plan for the possibility that you're going to have to dig a little deeper in your wallet.
Most financial advisors will tell you to budget an extra $20 million. to 25% for surprises. Many people who've done home renovations themselves will tell you the one thing you can count on in a home renovation is that it's going to take longer and cost more than you expect.
Kelly echoes the same thing to her clients.
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