Jun 22 2007 7:58AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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I've been talking to a lot of remodelers lately for our upcoming Market Leaders article about their sales volumes this year and last year and what they're expecting in the future. One trend that keeps coming up is nervous homeowners. The downturn in the housing market clearly has many consumers skittish about making big investments in their home.

And that's no surprise. When someone drives through their neighborhood and sees a sea of For Sale signs that never seem to go away, it's tough to be optimistic. I'm having plenty of experience with that from the seller side, as I've had a home sitting on the market for 8 months now. After seeing us invest thousands in remodeling while we owned the home and now not being able to sell it, one of our neighbors has decided to delay their own remodeling project. This certainly isn't an isolated incident.

The problem is that for the last few years many remodelers have been touting remodeling as a way to boost the value of your home. But the reality is without double-digit home price growth, it's unlikely you'll get back what you put into a house.

The message we need to be getting out to consumers is that it's about personal not financial value. Make the changes that enhance enjoyment of a home. There's still plenty of good reasons to remodel, as long people aren't expecting that new kitchen to lead to a financial windfall. You're better off being upfront with clients about the realities of remodeling than trying to sell them on false financial advantages. Otherwise, you just end up with people feeling like they wasted their money and sharing that feeling with everyone they know.