Townhouse Advice (1 Viewer)

[John*K]

Hello -

Wow, this is an active subsection.

Anyway, I needed a little advice. I purchased a townhome, and I am wondering whether or not remodeling is a good idea. Is there a rule of thumb on how much one should spend on remodeling a townhouse (like a percent of the purchase price)? I plan on living here for 6 to 7 years. I will probably only do the master bath, and possibly replace the kitchen counter top (~6 linear feet total) -- maybe the second bath.

 

[DonRoeber]

We bought a townhouse last summer. We're pretty happy with, and we're just doing the home improvements that make us happy. We're not going to do anything huge. Currently on the slate are new closet doors all around the house. The current ones suck.

We also got the whole house repainted, but other than that, nothing big is on the radar. We're planning to be here for five years.

 

[Carl Johnson]

I'm no expert but I would think that how much to spend should be based on what it will take to make you happy with your home, nothing more. It would be different if this was a rental property or if you were going to put it back on the market in 6 months hoping to make a profit, but when it comes time to sell the place a six year old renovation won't add much value to the home.

 

[Larry Price]

I am currently fully renovating the kitchen of my co-op apartment (which was partially renovated when I moved in 8 years ago with some poor quality things) in a building thats almost 50 years old (theres some old housing in NY.)
I will also be doing partial bath renovations when the kitchen is done.
Countertops are relatively inexpensive - laminate the least, then Corian, up to granite countertops. Its the labor and replacement of cabinets that run into alot of money.
The bath should cost you some money, but there are ways to limit that too.
As a rule - you should look forward to getting most of your investment back from a renovation when you sell for kitchens and baths, and the better it looks when you sell, the more you should get for it.
For mor info - I found these forums which gave me great info from the thousands of others undergoing this -
ths.gardenweb.com/forums/kitchbath/

 

[Michael Reuben]

in a building thats almost 50 years old (theres some old housing in NY.)

Aw, c'mon, Larry, in NYC 50 years is like new!
M.

 

[Trey Fletcher]

Larry hit the proverbial nail on the head. The best place to recoup a home improvement investment is to spend the money in the kitchen or bathrooms (the worst, though not a problem with a townhouse, is with the installation of a swimming pool). As for an amount, there's no guideline. Spend what you can afford on the improvements you want. TF