What do you expect of a home when you read that it’s fully remodeled? This phrase can mean widely different things to different people.
Fully remodeled: what’s included?
“Fully remodeled!” “Completely remodeled!” “Extensively remodeled!” “Remodeled down to the studs!” If you’ve been looking at property listings, you’ve probably run into these phrases a few times, and you might be wondering what they really mean. It might be less than you expect.
The most important thing to know is this: when a seller or contractor asserts that the home is completely redone, you’ll want to know what specifically was done, by whom, and what permits and finals were obtained, if any. Ask for a list. Better still is getting receipts. And always review the disclosures carefully!
A “fully remodeled home” suggests that there’s nothing left to be done, which is seldom the case. It’s usually just puffing. Remodeling to sell is often limited to what is visible, such as:
kitchen
bathrooms
lighting
floor coverings
windows
painting
interior doors
sometimes landscaping, driveways, patios, decks
At times, we’ll hear that a remodel is “down to the studs”. This is a more specific descriptor and typically indicates a deeper remodel and may mean that the contractor replaced these items: (more…)
You’ve heard of home improvement, but have you ever heard of home disimprovement?
Home disimprovement happens when owners or residents make or allow to happen changes that reduce the value and / or usability of the home. Some examples:
Remodeling or making other changes to the property such that most future potential owners will not want it (it will be harder to sell and thus it is likely to sell for less).
Neglecting a home, allowing it’s condition to degrade over time.
Damage intentionally inflicted, which can happen to vacant homes if squatters move in.
Mistakes Leading to Home Disimprovement
While we have seen some wild choices for remodels, there are a few that we see repeated surprisingly often that many homeowners may not be aware are reducing the value or functionality of their home – and often they’re done purely for the purpose of improving a home to sell!
Mistake # 1 is not checking the space requirements
We see remodeling or appliance replacement, frequently in the kitchen, that backfires a surprising number of times over the course of a year. The ones we see most often are upgrades that cause a dishwasher or other component of the home to not be able to open fully. Many times I’ve seen kitchen cabinets “upgraded” with handles or pulls that weren’t in the original layout lead to disastrous results. That’s the case with this photo – the dishwasher had no trouble clearing the drawers until the handles were added. Now with the cabinet handles, the dishwasher couldn’t even open a foot wide!
Similarly, we have seen an oven replaced that was longer than the one there before, and it, also, prevented the dishwasher from opening. I’ve also seen an oven that could not open because the fridge was too close (the fridge was moved for the home sale), and fridges that couldn’t open fully because they didn’t fit the fridge enclosure. We’ve even seen cabinet doors prevent you from opening other cabinet doors! But it’s not just in the kitchen. We’ve seen homes where they added new plush carpeting, but forgot to plane the doors to fit the new floor height, so you needed to put your back into it to open or close the bedroom doors.
Needless to say, home buyers want to use the appliances and other features of the homes that they see, so before making any changes, it’s essential to check clearances and space requirements before spending money on a new appliance or laboring to install cute hardware and put holes in your cabinetry.
Mistake # 2 is removing or reducing things that most future buyers will want
Everyone wants to put their personal touch on their home, and they should, but sometimes those personal design choices can negatively impact the resale value of a home, even with a high-end remodel. This is true home disimprovement! A few examples of significant features remodeled out of homes that we’ve seen: (more…)
Refrigerator floods are no laughing matter! Last month, my sister in-law’s fridge leaked causing the hardwood floors to pucker and swell, pushing cabinets and even lifting countertops! They’ve had to move out while their kitchen undergoes a massive overhaul. When my refrigerator line broke back in 2012, it was a similar story. The damage was extensive, and repairs were time consuming and expensive! So what can cause leaks and flooding and how can homeowners prevent it?
Causes for Refrigerator Floods and Leaks
Does your refrigerator have an automatic icemaker or a cold-water dispenser? If so, that plumbing is all capable of breaking. What if you don’t have a water line to your fridge? You can still have a leak. Humidity from the air and produce becomes ice or water when cooled. Modern refrigerators have been designed to automatically defrost: ice is melted, flows down a drain, and collects in a drip pan where it is heated (usually via waste heat from the refrigeration system) to evaporate the moisture. If the condensate is not taken care of properly it can become water damage!
Looking a little more closely, here are a few common causes:
Keeping up with the latest trends in home decor and remodeling is a bit like painting the Golden Gate Bridge: by the time you’re done, you need to do it all over again. Styles change, tastes change. How often do you really want to remodel and update your hardware, light fixtures, floor coverings – to say nothing of kitchens and bathrooms? If these items are functional and you like them, there’s no reason to change. Then again, if you’re going to sell your home and want to maximize the return, it might be worth it to do some updating.
The average American kitchen is remodeled about every 17 years – that’s long enough to jump from one trend to the next, one set of materials or colors to the next. If you wait long enough, certain themes actually come “full circle,” not unlike clothes!
To make a point: in the mid 70s, brushed brass was in, and many if not most homes built then in the San Jose, Silicon Valley area were made with brushed brass doorknobs, hinges, drawer pulls, doorbells, you name it. That trend moved to gold, brushed stainless steel and now – full circle – back to brass! Ditto that with colors. “Earth tones” were all the rage in the 70s (olive green, deep brown, tan) and as things moved through the cycles (with a whole lot of white in between), the earth tones have come back again.
Some colors make more infrequent appearances, such as lemon yellow, lime green, bubble gum pink, baby blue….
Let’s just take a look at bathrooms and kitchens for this discussion about colors, materials and being in style. (more…)
Periodically, components of a home have to be replaced, whether a furnace, water heater, washer/dryer set or anything else. They simply don’t last forever, and too often they don’t last nearly as long as we expect.
Ten years ago, about a year after purchasing our home in the Belwood area of Los Gatos, we remodeled our kitchen. It was quite an upheaval and very expensive, so we were hoping it would “last” awhile. (Kitchens get a remodel on average every 16 years in the U.S., by the way.) But by years nine and ten, some of our kitchen appliances started to act up, and this week our dishwasher gave up the ghost entirely. I really had hoped it would have gone closer to 15 years, but the apparently the fancy newer appliances have a lot of parts, all of which can fail. I was told that ten years is about average now.
Jim and I are very analytical about major purchases, so I spent a lot of time on Consumer Reports (where I’m a member) first, reading reviews, watching videos and eliminating a few brands right off the bat. Unfortunately the CS site does not include Energy Star ratings info, so I also visited the PG & E site and was cross referencing. Naturally, I’d like to get a rebate! There’s also a sort of cash for clunker appliances deal, too – you can get $100 back for your old dishwasher if you purchase one of the newer models on a list that the stores have. Buying a dishwasher is a little like booking airline tickets now: you have to factor in any rebates, trade ins, delivery charges, haul away fees, etc. as well as the actual price so you can compare the true net cost of one appliance versus another.
We visited seven stores on Saturday, hoping for good Labor Day sales and wanting to end hand-washing our dishes as soon as possible. We stopped by businesses in Campbell, Santa Clara and San Jose (skipping another good store in Mountain View as it was just too far for us): Fry’s, Home Depot, University Electric , Western Appliance, Sears, Costco and Best Buy. I didn’t want to make this purchase online as there are too many things that might not be fully disclosed with a web purchase but can be understood in person. (more…)
If you are contemplating selling one home and buying another in the same general area, it may be that you need more space – or it may be that you simply want a home that’s updated and you’re not sure you want to experience, first-hand, the joys of remodeling.
Not too long ago, I stumbled upon a website to help folks work through this question: RemodelOrMove.com. (Link disabled at that site’s request.)
Have a look. I think it’s pretty unbiased information that can help with this angle of the “move up” question.
Helping nice folks to buy and sell homes in Silicon Valley
Mary Pope-Handy, Realtor ABR, CIPS, CRS, SRES
Christie's International Real Estate Sereno, Los Gatos, CA 95030 408 204-7673 Mary@PopeHandy.com License# 01153805
Clair Handy, Realtor
GREEN
Christie's International Real Estate Sereno 214 Los Gatos-Saratoga Rd Los Gatos, CA 95030 ClairHandy@sereno.com License# 02153633
Mary & Clair sell homes throughout Silicon Valley: Santa Clara County, San Mateo County, and Santa Cruz County. with a special focus on: San Jose, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Campbell, Almaden Valley, Cambrian Park.
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Mary Pope-Handy, Realtor ABR, AHWD, CIPS, CRS, SRES Christie's International Real Estate Sereno DRE License #01153805 408-204-7673 mary@popehandy.com “Helping nice folks to buy and sell homes in Silicon Valley since 1993”
Clair Handy, Realtor, GREEN Christie's International Real Estate Sereno DRE License #02153633 408-721-6160 clairhandy@sereno.com “Helping nice folks to buy and sell homes in Silicon Valley”
This is the Valley of Heart's Delight blog , covering Silicon Valley real estate - Santa Clara County, San Jose, Los Gatos, Cupertino, and nearby communities in the South Bay Area and lower Peninsula. Find info on neighborhoods, disclosure issues, buyer and seller tips, and housing market conditions in the west valley and most of the county.Please also see my other websites and real estate market statistics site, which are listed in the sidebar, above.
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Mary Pope-Handy, Realtor ABR, CIPS, CRS, SRES Sereno DRE License #01153805 408-204-7673 mary@popehandy.com
“Helping nice folks to buy and sell homes in Silicon Valley since 1993”
While we have seen some wild choices for remodels, there are a few that we see repeated surprisingly often that many homeowners may not be aware are reducing the value or functionality of their home – and often they’re done purely for the purpose of improving a home to sell!
