So you bought a house. Bravo! Buying a house is an exciting, life-changing event for most people; they worked hard, saved their money for a down payment, and made a commitment to stay in one place for at least a few years. I’m done saving money for this house now, right? Not so fast. Not to dissuade a potential home buyer, but the excitement and money-pit doesn’t seem to end after moving in – between the fun of decorating and the realization of impending improvements, the amount of money you spend may be more than you ever realized….a lot more.
Yet there are some home improvement tips you can start saving for now that will make spending the money on them a little less financially painful. Many of these larger ticket items require saving money for many months, so choose the best fixed rate savings for your situation. Below are 5 home improvements that will give you the most bang for the buck (*It’s up to you to do due diligence if you are planning to make an improvement strictly for resale value. I’m not a realtor.):
- Replacing the roof: A shabby, leaky roof not only looks awful and makes the house look a bit dilapidated, but can be the cause of future water damage. If the majority of the roof needs re-tiling, it’s probably time to replace the entire thing. Roof’s aren’t cheap, either, so the sooner you realize the roof might need to be replaced (ie. you notice a few missing or gnarled tiles), start setting aside some funds for this repair. Depending on the size of your roof and material you’ll replace, the ballpark figures range from $5,000 on upwards of $10,000. You might have up to a year to save if you catch the demise of your roof early, which means setting aside at least $400 a month.
- Remodeling the kitchen: One of the most used rooms in the home, a functional, well-designed kitchen can not only make your life easier, but add to the resale value of your home as well (I checked several sources, and this is a popular remodel project). Depending on what you have to start with, you might be able to get away with replacing or re-staining the cabinets, freshening up the paint, and changing out the window treatments as Julie did over at The Family CEO. However, if your kitchen needs a complete over-haul, you might be looking at much more than a few thousand dollars. Start saving early and save as much as you can.
- Installing more efficient windows: Older homes often come with single-paned, wood frame windows. Over time, the grout that holds in the window panes begins to disintegrate, leaving gaping holes between the frame and pane. Not only does this make the house less energy efficient, you can probably hear almost every outside noise inside the house! Replacing the windows with newer, double-paned glass and metal frames can increase your energy efficiency by quite a bit and muffle the outside noise. This is a big ticket item that can save you money in the long run and make the house look a little more updated as well.
- Landscaping the yards: A nicely landscaped front yard can make any house look better, even if the paint is peeling off. To use an analogy, it’s like a book cover – people make judgements about the house based on the yard. But don’t forget about the back yard. If I were to survey which yard most home owners spend time in, I’d bet the majority would say the back yard. If you, the owner, are spending most of your outdoor time in the back yard, make that an inviting place to hang out in.
- Adding a on deck: This one might seem a little odd, but if you live in a temperate climate, a deck might be a nice touch to a well-landscaped yard. It also gives you a place to use as an outdoor dining area and a place to lounge about on warm, summer days.
Think of it like this: you were able to save up for a down payment, so now you can use that money to save up for upcoming improvements and repairs. Some day, the improvements will make the house or home exactly as you’d dream it to be and the repairs will keep it maintained.
Have you recently completed a large home improvement? How did you budget or save for that repair or improvement?
4 Comments
I love this post, because these are all things we have done, are saving, or will save toward. When we moved in our backyard was non-existent, as the previous owners had never removed any of the trees. We took out a lot of dead trees and small trees, while leaving at least 30-40 still back there,but provided space for a nice lawn (with good shade). We moved into the house in 2007 and I knew the roof was about ten years old so we’ve been putting money aside each year, and it’ll need to be done this year. I’d been hoping for 2014, but the roof didn’t cooperate 🙂 After that, the savings in that category will likely transition to making improvements around the kitchen and replacing windows that are likely to fail in the next five years.
I like the way you think 🙂
@Money Beagle – Great minds think alike! With a house, there’s always some repair or improvement to be done. 😉
We spent nearly $20,000 to remodel our kitchen. It was worth it though because now we enjoy spending time there. It was an old style closed kitchen and it’s much nicer now. Normally, I’m pretty frugal, but we use the kitchen so much.
@Joe – I think a lot of people would agree that a kitchen remodel is worth the money spent, if only for your own personal use. 😉