Renovations… Let’s be smart about ‘em.
The term renovation has become more popular than ever. We hear this on home design shows, in magazines, and the amazing before and after pictures.
The market offers deals you couldn’t have imagined possible a few years ago. It’s an opportunity for those in a position to buy, to take advantage of it, particularly in the immediate areas: Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Beverly Hills, Bingham Farms, and Franklin areas.
Just about anyone knows about a bargain or one that will soon be available. We do plenty of home renovation work, so we keep a close watch on the market.
We always have and still spend a lot of time evaluating renovation candidates with clients. We actually talk about homes in terms of “candidates for renovation”. Some homes are good candidates, some are okay, and some are very problematic. By problematic we are not necessarily talking about issues relating to the physical structure or the condition of the home. We are referring to the cost of making a home suitable for a client without making compromises and without excessive costs. We are always looking for the “smart renovation” for our clients.
No one wants to buy a house and realize that it is going to be harder and more costly than originally thought to transform the home into what was envisioned. You should never be in the position if you do the upfront due diligence. A home is a smart renovation when it meets your needs AND the changes be renovated affordably. Unless you do the upfront work correctly, you may end up with a house that isn’t what you planned and can’t be without breaking the bank.
Borrow from our experience. Here are some things to consider and before you sign a purchase agreement:
The Obvious Pre-Purchase Renovation Checklist
Your Realtor and other advisors- be them architects, builders, or inspectors can always help you get through an important list of items that will help you get to the first step of qualifying a house as a good renovation candidate. They will help you verify a list of these items and more:
- Condition – Does the house pass the basic home inspection criteria – is it structurally sound and in good condition.
- Does the subdivision have any restrictions to consider. For example until just recently the Westchester Village subdivisions didn’t allow second stories; in Bloomfield Village all exterior renovations have to be approved by the association Board of Trustees, etc.
- Make sure you know what the setback limitations are and whether or not they will limit what you may be planning.
- Find out if there are “lot coverage” restrictions which might limit the size of an addition. Bloomfield Township, Bloomfield Village and Birmingham all have them as do most other areas.
- Make sure there are no issues in the home inspection which would make a renovation more expensive.
So we don’t throw too much at you at one time, we will continue discussing the “good” renovation candidate and the “not-so-good” renovation candidate in later blogs.
Hunter Roberts Homes and Wellington Chase Homes design home plans, renovation plan. We build traditional, modern and contemporary new homes; do renovations, remodeling and home additions. We do the architecture including interior design details as well as new home plans. We manage all phases of the new home construction and renovation work. We build throughout Oakland County including Birmingham, Berkley, Bloomfield Village, Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Township, Franklin, Sylvan Lake, Beverly Hills, Orchard Lake, Bingham Farms, Huntington Woods, Pleasant Ridge, Royal Oak, Berkley, Ferndale and Troy. Our work can be found in neighborhoods such Quarton Lake, Poppleton Park, Midvale, Holy Name, central Birmingham and other fine areas
