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  1. #1
    trcy is offline Ruby level (4000+ posts)
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    Default S/O renovations if planning to move

    Annie's post got me thinking about our own situation. We bought our house shortly after DS was born. We choose our house because it was in the school we wanted and 'checked all the boxes' for our needs. Its definitely not our dream home. Ultimately, the plan is to move to a smaller house once we no longer need the space or school zone, so probably in about 15 years. Ideally, I would like to sell our current house for enough money to pay cash for the next house and have enough left over to do whatever renovations to make that our dream house. DH wants to do a lot to our current house. I would rather do the minimum and take extra money to chip away at the mortgage, so we'll have that much more when we sell. Thoughts? TIA!

    Sent from my Pixel 2 using Baby Bargains mobile app
    DD 12/10
    DS 10/15

  2. #2
    jgenie is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    Default S/O renovations if planning to move

    My thoughts in our first home were similar to yours. DH is firmly in the I want to enjoy it while I live here mindset. We compromised. We made a list of our top wants and took turns making changes ever year. My changes were practical - windows, siding, fence, etc. His changes were personal - remodel bathroom, stone facing for part of the exterior. He designed our new kitchen but we went with mid line appliances. In the end it worked out as both our changes helped us get top dollar when we sold. In our current house we have followed the same plan.
    Last edited by jgenie; 02-18-2019 at 11:53 AM.

  3. #3
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    If you are going to be there 15 years, I’d put money into the home to make it better. You might as well enjoy it!
    DD (3/06)
    DS1 (7/09)
    DS2 (8/13)

  4. #4
    basil is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    We are in a similar situation, except with reversed roles so I'm probably not the one to talk to!

    I'm the one who is a) disappointed in the house and b) wants to change it up since we will be here another 15 years or so, might as well make the best of it

    I'm not going nuts with renovations and ripping stuff apart, planning additions, etc., but my house is 10 years old so some stuff is starting to look a bit dated, like paint colors, lighting, bath fixtures. DH feels that since I can't promise to pick things that will be in style when we sell in 15 years, we should just live with gold paint until then... I would agree for something like a $50k kitchen renovation but not feeling the paint for the rest of my time here!
    DS- 8/11
    DD- 5/14

  5. #5
    SnuggleBuggles is offline Black Diamond level (25,000+ posts)
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    15 years is a long time. Do some projects.


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  6. #6
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    hillview is offline Blue Diamond level (20,000+ posts)
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    we are in a similar spot (planning to move in 10 years) we are repainting the interior and upgrading the furniture (but trying to keep cost down as we still have dogs and kids) but we are not doing major renovations (in fairness we have redone our kitchen, master bath and basement over the last 7 years). I want to be able to enjoy our place and have company over and have it be nice.
    DS #1 Summer 05
    DS #2 Summer 07

  7. #7
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    15 years is a long time so I would do well more than the bare minimum, but not update the house over the current neighborhood.

    Our first house was a 5 year plan and a much easier timeframe as far as trends. Every improvement we did was with the mindset of "the house would likely sell for X now, but Y with this improvement" and the excess/profit had to be there (not just break even) and also had to justify the headache of living through it. So very little was about what we liked, but we still enjoyed it. Even though the market crashed the year we sold 2009, we still did well and made the $ we hoped.

    Now, it is harder as there are improvements we want to make, will be here 15 years, but I don't want to go overboard!

  8. #8
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    Any projects you do now are for your enjoyment. They’ll be no longer new upgrades in 15 years. It would be impossible to predict the market that far from now. We didn’t plan on staying in our first house, but we did some necessary upgrades and some that should have “guaranteed” an increase in sales price, and then the housing market crashed. We sold for significantly less than we paid for it 10 years prior.
    Last edited by BunnyBee; 02-18-2019 at 09:23 AM.

  9. #9
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    For a house I'll be in 10-15 years I'll do whatever is needed to make the house into something I enjoy and that works for me. I really would not even consider resale value other than not pricing it out of the neighborhood. That is where we were when we moved into our house. Over the past 7 years we've added a garage and mud room, replaced upstairs windows, replaced furnace and added central air, etc.

    Once we get down to less than 5 years in the house (which is where we are now) I'd definitely scale back, but would still do smaller things to make it a safe, comfortable, and pleasant place to live for that time. I would think more about resale, but not base my decisions solely on that. So I wouldn't put on an addition or put $40K into the kitchen, but we replaced the hot water heater last month and are seriously considering putting a few thousand into the kitchen (which would both make it work much better for us now, and also likely make it easier to sell, since the kitchen is by far the worst part of our otherwise pretty nice house). And there are several rooms that need to be painted, which will be a pain but will not be expensive since DH will do it himself.
    DS 2/14
    DD 8/17

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by jgenie View Post
    My thoughts in our first home were similar to yours. DH is firmly in the I want to enjoy it while I live here mindset. We compromised. We made a list of our top wants and took turns making changes ever year. My changes were practical - windows, siding, fence, etc. His changes were personal - remodel bathroom, stone facing for part of the exterior. He designed our new kitchen but line appliances. In the end it worked out as both our changes helped us get top dollar when we sold. In our current house we have followed the same plan.
    I really like this strategy! I think I'm going to suggest it for our next house.
    DS 2/14
    DD 8/17

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