Everyone talks about obvious ways people blow money and end up broke/ no retirement: eating out too much, buying cars they can’t afford, constantly getting new clothes, etc but home improvement projects are by far the newest trend that will keep the middle class spinning its wheels in mud


- brb convince yourself it improves the value of your home. Generally doesn’t, and if it does maybe 80% gain for every dollar you spend aka negative ROI

- brb new buyer will just change whatever you do anyways

- brb literal $10,000+ cope because your life is so boring you need to implement changing the kitchen backsplash or flooring to trick yourself into making progress

-brb only decision where you can take equity out of your home and convince yourself you’re making a smart decision

- just lol if your improvements are landscaping. Complete lol

- brb lemming to whatever HGTV trend is popular at the moment



In b4 “my house is now worth X after all the work I did” - that is almost entirely due to market dynamics and location

In b4 “I flip houses and know what I’m doing” - the above doesn’t apply to you, moreso the Karen’s and Steve’s of the world trying to keep up with one another

In b4 “I DIY and it costs nothing / is a hobby” - again the above doesn’t apply to you

In b4 “what about pools” - pools are expensive but cool as fuark so doesn’t apply either

Most homeowners will only buy one house so what difference does it make

Before / after of my DIY backyard

While I agree about HGTV making everyone think all of a sudden they're expert home builders, the rest of what you posted is generally done because the homeowner wants to/likes it, not because they think it'll add monetary value.

brb I'm installing a tile backsplash because I fuking think it'll look nice, not because it's going to add $500k in value to my home.
brb I'm keeping up with seasonal landscaping and adding/modifying as needed/wanted. Not because it'll add a million dollars in value, but because I don't feel like it looking like I live in a fuking dump.

Will never be against DIY projects, I did something similar for my yard and improved it tremendously


That said I know people who spent 30k on landscaping that was just burning money in a pit

To a certain extent I agree, but it is essentially the same as those who mod cars. They're just modding their house, which is probably the only one they will ever own. While I don't see the appeal of it, I know that it's probably something they personally enjoy. Can't really judge anyone for that.

But I agree about all the home improvement being done right now and everyone hopping on that train, just another way to keep up with the joneses.

Plus, these geeks are part of the reason lumber pricing is through the roof, so fk them. My landlord normally travels several times a year, but because of cuckdowns he has easily spent over 15,000$ in pointless renovations around the building and his apartment.

copecels

Home improvement makes a lot of sense when you have lot of equity in the home, either through time or a buyers market/resell. Also if you are handy and can do some of the work yourself, it can definitely be a money maker (kitchen, master bathroom, reg bathrooms)

And its especially great if you get to enjoy it for some time before you sell.

That’s also the reason people buy cars and toys they can’t afford. Wants, not needs. And the “want” is generally not genuine but because a feeling of insecurity/anxiety when they look at their kitchen after seeing their friends one aka keeping up with the joneses


Fine if you’re pacing to have seven figure net worth or more in your 40s. But would say majority of people can’t afford it

Putting in your own labour definitely increases the chances you'll get something positive out of it in the end, and then quality of life improvements alone are worth the money spent

$30k on landscaping is way too much. I spent maybe $3k between landscaping fabric/staples, rock, and sod

Yea I would generally agree with that.

Your post doesn't even mention the absolutely intolerable nightmare of dealing with tradie contractors

even more reason to DIY. I've been taken to the woodshed by tradies, especially early in my home owning days. Just lol at getting price quotes from 3 tradies for the same job but the number can be 6x different

I had one cut tile inside my house a few years back. Never seen anything dumber in my entire life

I think most people just want to make their homes nicer, not necessarily for a ROI.

What gets me is this neighbor of mine. about 5 months ago said they estimated the work would be done in 1 month. Still at it.

Granted they've a lot of progress inside but their front yard is a chithole with cargo containers and scrap wood and their garage is full too. Half the front doesn't have a proper facade.

I bet it'll take them at least 7 more months to be somewhat complete.

The completed interior does look nice though, despite the fact the walls are all stark white. Boooooooring.

Most of the time when I am renovating a home for value, I am doing it from the foundation up. I dont think people recoup piece by piece types of remodels due to the fact that you really cant get "everything" when you do that. Heighten the roof, change all mechanicals and ducts, etc.

Essentially when I am done we are almost like a new house without paying new build taxes.

good article here:

https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/pr...e-renovations/


really like his rules of thumb:

No renovations while you have consumer debt or student loans. You've got better uses for your money.

No renovations while you have a mortgage > 2X gross income. You're already house poor, don't make it worse.

Cash flow at least the amount that the renovation won't increase the value of the home. For us, I figure that's about 1/3 of the cost. I don't think it's the end of the world to borrow the rest, as long as it doesn't take you over the mortgage < 2X gross income figure. Saving money is good for you. If you can't save up 1/3 of the amount of the renovation in a year or two, you are probably doing too much.

No renovations if it will significantly slow you from meeting your reasonable financial goals. If this pushes retirement back a decade, that probably isn't worth it.

Think long term. We've had other houses that we upgraded just in time to move out of it. You're much better off enjoying your renovations for a while, especially since you never get 100% of the cost out of it when you sell. I told Katie we're not doing anything to the house for a decade afterward, so we need to be thinking about anything else we might want and do it now. We're also configuring the house to allow us to stay in it long-term. We might be 40-something and healthy now, but there's no guarantee that we can climb stairs in a decade or two. The firepole is easily convertible to an elevator. The WCI office space is easily convertible into an accessory dwelling unit (immediately for someone we're willing to share living space with, but a separate entrance would need to be constructed to make it a great ski rental.)

Maybe they just don't wanna live in an out dated dump

So nobody should renovate and keep that 1950s style eh