Pandemic lockdown spurs home improvement projects

“Using extra-large format porcelain tiles instead of marble slabs is a very popular trend that’s also practical,” says designer Anne Hepfer. Do your research, figure out what sells well where you live, and go from there. Conversely, a simple improvement that is inexpensive and requires a minimum of effort but will give you back 100 per cent is definitely worth it. Revolutionary exterior wall coatings solutions specially formulated to reflect the sun’s heat and reduce energy bills.

• For most of us, renovation means modernising our home, adding more “functionality” to it or increasing its value.
• Find out if you can release the equity in your home to fund it.
• Speak to a local estate agent for an idea of what your home will be worth after any work is done.
• There are various energy efficiency schemes and grants available.
• Phil Spencer and our CEO, Nathan Emerson are discussing timing — and when is the best time to put a property on the market.
• The reason a mortgage is one of the cheapest ways to borrow money is that your home secures the loan.

Lisa Marie Conklin is a Baltimore-based writer who writes regularly about pets and home improvement for Reader’s Digest. Her work has also been published in The Healthy, HealthiNation, The Family Handyman, Taste of Home, and Realtor.com., among other outlets. She’s also a certified personal trainer and walking coach for a local senior center.

If the carpet in your living room is looking worn, remove it and install some hardwood flooring. Quality hardwood flooring can cost anywhere from $3 to $8 per square foot and you can save some money by installing it yourself. If the carpet is still good, give it a good DIY carpet cleaning. But one of his favorite hobbies is rebuilding classic cars, something he does in the garage of the house.

In fact, Rudman says you can get by with doing what he calls a refresh — as long as the room is in fairly decent condition to begin and not a half-century old. Curb appeal can be as simple as some light landscaping, including weeding and raking your front lawn and planting new flowers or bushes. Other exterior improvements include painting your front door, repaving your driveway and painting the exterior of your home. “Be the home that somebody has spent a few thousand dollars to clean and pretty up,” says Rick Rudman CEO of Curbio, a startup specializing in pre-sale home improvements. Those are the homes that often get “multiple offers at or above list price.”

Minor kitchen remodel

If you decide to take out a personal loan, be sure to shop around and consider as many lenders as possible to find the right loan for you. Credible makes this easy — you can compare prequalified rates from all of our partner lenders in the table below House & Home Improvement in just a few minutes. The reason a mortgage is one of the cheapest ways to borrow money is that your home secures the loan. If you overextend yourself with a cash-out refi and can’t keep up with the new payments, you risk losing your home.

The study, conducted by mortgage broker Boon Brokers, also revealed the top 10 home improvement trends we will be trying, including fitting a new bathroom, creating a home office, and building an extension. With both home equity loans and HELOCs, in particular, you’ll need a good amount of equity in your home, and good credit, to access them. A cash-out refinance replaces your original mortgage with one that’s worth more than you owe on your house, and you’ll be paid cash for the difference. See than what you do… So if that giant 1980’s chandelier is eclipsing the living room, don’t feel like you have to replace it with something fancy — just take it out.

Check out our affordability calculator, and look for homebuyer grants in your area. Visit our mortgage education center for helpful tips and information. And from applying for a loan to managing your mortgage, Chase MyHome has you covered. See our current mortgage rates, low down payment options, and jumbo mortgage loans.

This period usually last for 12 months from the property being completed. During this time, the company who built the property are liable for any snagging or repairs the property may need. We can advise you on what improvements may be necessary and how to go about making them, and help you liaise with builders and surveyors. If funding is an issue we may be able to help you access grants to contribute to the cost of your home repairs. “This way the person who is quarantined can enjoy the outdoors and visit the kitchen without walking through other areas of the house,” she pointed out.

If you were to sell the home right now, you could earn £100,000 from it . Home equity is the difference between the current market value of your house and the amount that you still owe on it. A simple tax return is one that’s filed using IRS Form 1040 only, without having to attach any forms or schedules.

Deep Cleaning

Anderson measures demand based on searches for home improvement service projects on Porch.com. In the last three months, the company has tracked 330 million U.S. Google searches for home improvement work — that’s up almost 50% from the same period last year. Gardening is the type of home improvement up the most, but the projects range all over the home, inside and out. Americans have been forced to use their houses more — and differently.