How to get your dream kitchen without moving

Ask any realtor and they’ll tell you that the kitchen, more than any other room in the house, sells the property. For whatever reason, the kitchen is the first room in the home to appear dated. If you’ve fallen out of love with your kitchen, or if you never liked it to begin with, you don’t necessarily have to buy a new home to get the kitchen you’ve always dreamed of. You can create it by remodeling. Since the kitchen tends to be the most difficult room to remodel, however, you need to adopt a cautious approach to this project. Here are some tips for moving forward with your kitchen remodel.

Think about what you want your new kitchen to look like

The best part of preparing for a kitchen remodel is in the early stages when you’re dreaming about all the things your new kitchen can be. Visit home improvement stores and browse the internet for inspiration. Some of the most common upgrades that homeowners consider for their kitchens are new flooring, a new paint job, new cabinets, stainless steel appliances, and new countertops. Make a wish list of everything you’d like to do in your kitchen.

Think about costs and how you’ll finance it

Before you get too carried away with your dreams, you have to ground yourself with a dose of reality: how much is all this going to cost? You can do some of your own research to get a sense of how much different projects in a kitchen remodel cost. You may also want to start talking to contractors about your ideas and to get an idea of the associated costs. This step isn’t as fun since you’ll need to prioritize your wish list and you may need to cross some things off altogether depending on your budget. You’ll also need to think about how you’re going to pay for it. Ideally you can pay out-of-pocket but many homeowners will use credit cards, a personal loan, or a home equity line of credit or second mortgage to finance a kitchen remodel.

Think about the future

Life is unpredictable but do your best to look a few years down the road and think about where you’ll be then. Is there a good chance you’ll be moving out? If so, you need to take that into account when you remodel your kitchen. If you’re in your current home for the long haul, you can remodel your kitchen however you like with no thought about return on investment. But if you’re going to sell, you want to think more carefully about which upgrades are going to appeal to the most people so you can get a good return on your investment.

Think about the neighborhood

What does my neighborhood have to do with my kitchen remodel, you ask. If you sink $100,000 into a luxurious kitchen remodel, your home will suddenly be more valuable than any other on the block, and that isn’t necessarily a good thing since you’ll rarely get a good return on your investment when you drive up your home’s value higher than the other properties around it.

Source: The BayNet 

---

Also in EZ Snap Covers Blog