Want to know the secrets of successful and money-savvy home renovation? Best-selling real estate author Robert Irwin tells all. Millions of readers have relied on his Tips & Traps guides for solid advice on all aspects of real estate. Now this best-selling author guides you through the perilous world of home renovations. He'll show you how to create more space, modernize, upgrade, or prepare a home for sale, and save significant money in the process. In this readable, authoritative guide, the latest addition to his 1-million-copy selling TIPS & TRAPS series, Robert Irwin gives you a complete game plan for making renovations go your way, glitch-free.
In easy to understand language, Irwin offers tips on: When it's better to renovate--or more! Finding reliable contractors; Adding inexpensive touches that add to the value of your home; Living in your house while the work gets done; And much, much more
Preface
I was recently in a home where the owners were renovating a
bathroom. They pointed excitedly to the granite countertop, the
whirlpool bath, the gold-plated faucet, and the other truly wonderful
features such as a steam towel warmer. Then one said, "When we sell this
place, just imagine how much money we'll make!"
So I tried doing just that. They had a modest home and their
improvements far and away exceeded the neighborhood's norms. No way
could I imagine any buyer paying them back anything close to what it
cost them to renovate, not in their neighborhood. They would receive
only a fraction of each dollar they spent. Unfortunately, the house was
a white elephant -- overrenovated.
If they were the exception, I would have just sadly shook my head at the
oddity. But, from the great number of home renovations I've seen, I
suspect they are more the rule. Most people either over-or
underrenovate their homes. Very few have the keen insight to know just
how much to put in, in order to get the most back.
Of course, some people point out that renovation is done to please the
renovator, hence who cares about the money recouped on sale. Yet, just
as I've never met a poker player who liked to lose, I've never met a
renovator who liked to lose money on a project. Yes, it's definitely to
enjoy the results that most of us remodel, but a home is usually our
biggest investment and very few of us can afford to overlook the money
side of renovating.
And that's the genesis of this book. I wanted to create a guide that
would truly explain how the money works in renovation projects -- how to
realistically determine the amount you'll get back from your renovation
project without resorting to overly simplified charts found elsewhere.
More than that, having built homes from the ground up as well as having
done dozens of renovations myself, I wanted to point out the many tips
and traps that could benefit readers in the related areas of how to
handle contractors and contracts, get accurate bids, work with plans and
permissions, and even how to do the projects entirely yourself.
The result is this comprehensive guide to home renovating. It shows you
the pitfalls you could trip into when dealing with material suppliers,
workers, architects, contractors, and even yourself when you do the work
on your own. It goes on to show you how to do projects like a pro giving
a multitude of tips on how to save money, time, patience, your health,
and even your emotional stability.
From selecting projects that will return the most money to identifying
which jobs should be avoided to going through all the steps in the right
order to get the best looking and least expensive result, this book will
show you the way to a better, cost-saving, profit-producing renovation.
Robert Irwin
Copyright © 2000 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Robert Irwin, one of America's leading experts in all areas of real
estate, is the author of more than 40 books. His Tips and Traps series
for McGraw-Hill has sold over a million copies. A broker and property
investor as well as an advisor to consumers and agents, he has helped
buyers and sellers solve their real estate problems for more than 20
years. He lives in Westlake Village, California. For more real estate
tips and traps, go to
href="http://www.robertirwin.com">www.robertirwin.com.
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