Real Estate Investing

The kitchen is known as one of the greatest investments you can make in your home. But nowadays, you can spend so much on a kitchen remodel that your returns are severely diminished. Indeed, with kitchen remodel budgets expanding, profit margins are shrinking.

Kitchens are becoming more a statement of personal style, a room intended to make an artistic impression on guests. There are several fun trends in modern-day kitchen design, but they can cost a pretty penny so be warned — this article isn’t about makeover on a budget.

Of course, granite countertops are a must-have, as are stainless steel appliances. In the countertop arena, stained concrete also offers an intriguing look that’s enjoying some popularity, though nowhere near that of granite countertops. Imported tile and custom mosaic designs are popular for floors, as is the traditional wood flooring.

Custom cabinetry is where the big spenders are dropping the most coin. From the finishes to the dimensions and layout, kitchen designers are getting choosy. It may be an open plate rack, vertical-lift cabinet doors, a Lazy Susan or a roll-out tray — the options are endless and creativity is the name of the game.

According to Kitchens.com, the hottest kitchen decor right now integrates sea blues, earth tones and global decor, in keeping with the eco-friendly craze. When remodeling your kitchen, base your budget on how long you intend to remain in the house. If you plan to sell within a couple years, try to stay within a budget, hard as that may be. If you plan to remain for 10 years to life, it may be worth splurging on the deluxe and oh-so-popular “chef’s kitchen.” It’s an important decision, so be smart and don’t let your kitchen tank your home equity.

For homeowners or renters getting spring fever and turning a watchful eye toward the MLS listings, there are many options. With the housing market in its current condition, the prospect of building or buying can be very unnerving. But if your determination and finances are there, now just may be the time to go for it. Here are some good reasons to get started, relevant to the housing market’s current condition:

Building

Because of the recent housing slump, the cost of materials, supplies and labor have decreased significantly. Contractors will be oh-so-ready and willing to pay attention to you and your house-building project because new construction starts are down across the country. The cost of land will also be down, and anything you do now will only increase in equity.

Buying

As a homebuyer, you are still in the catbird seat, which is always a great place to be. It’s not too late to exercise your negotiating powers and score a great deal. Act now to get more house and more land for your money — not to mention more home equity in the future when the market recovers. Even realtors fees will be negotiable because, like contractors, their workload has decreased lately.

Stay put

If you are a homeowner, you may be hesitant to part with your investment during this turbulent time. It’s like selling stock in a perfectly stable reputable company just because the stock market is down. If you wait long enough, it’s going to recover and your investment will be valuable again. All local real estate markets differ and yours might not be so bad. But if it looks as though you stand to lose money on your home, whether you’re upside down in payments or your home equity has decreased significantly, you may want to just stay put. Consider refinancing or waiting for the market to improve, and put any extra money you can scrape together toward paying down the home loan or fixing up the house and increasing equity (especially bathroom and kitchen remodels).

I am loving a new web site offered by Sears. Granted, it’s little more than a clever, interactive sales pitch to draw consumers into Sears to buy Craftsman tools and Sears appliances (which, if you live near a Sears scratch-and-dent center, is not such a bad deal). At heart, if you are a sucker for clever interactive marketing like I am, then this site is worth a look. Warning: Be prepared to get hooked and stay longer than intended.

ManageMyHome.com is a very useful tool as we approach springtime, the time of spring cleaning, remodeling and home selling. This site offers virtual room and color makeovers. My one complaint is the pre-designed kitchen layouts in the kitchen makeover section does not include the galley kitchen layout. This is one of the most common kitchen designs in America, and among the most befuddling to amateur kitchen remodelers. But the “color visualizer” section was easy to use and shed some light on the color scheme I was considering (and am no longer considering) for one room in my house. In addition to the interactive color, kitchen and garage remodeling programs is chock full of advice and idea articles, question-and-answer boards, and even a section where you can save your notes on design inspirations, information on general contractors, etc.

Manage My Home is being pitched as a “new tools” approach to all-around home design. It claims to be a place where you can “unload all your mental clutter about what you need and want to do around your home, so we can help you get it under control.”

This is highly effective marketing, because “mental clutter” is exactly what many homeowners experience when approaching a home project. For Generation X-ers and Y-ers, raised on a steady Internet diet, this is a familiar and useful approach to an intimidating subject. Furthermore, home projects are an issue many among those generations are tackling, as they make up the largest group of first-time homebuyers today. Kudos to Sears for a product that is fun, free, educational and extremely well thought out from a marketing perspective.