The only reason why I ask is because back when my wife and I moved in to our place, there were a few things we "needed" to do, a lots of things we "wanted" to do.
After all said and done, all the wanted+needed ended up being close to $150-200k with a good contractors and materials.At that point, we looked at the home which was a 2600sqft, and the lot size which is about 4700sqft. And we said to ourselves "are we fvcking kidding???"$200k renovations on this tiny home on this tiny lot, we're not going to recoup half of our renovation if we were to resell it.
So in went: new carpets (for hygentic reasons), a dishwasher to replace a broken one, flagstone to replace cracked bricks, a new toilet (to replace a stinky one), some coats of paint inside that I put on myself , a few coats of paint outside that some guy put on for $3k, replacement of all worn faucet fixtures free of charge ( courtesy of Moen's lifetime warranty),1 mirror closet door in one room to satisfy my wife's occasional vanity, and a portable $300 bbq grille that I bought seperately to allow me to rotisere a turkey.
And out went things we wanted: new hardwood to replace the old hardwood, crown molding, new staircase, new granite countertops, new cabinets, new bathtub, new showers, custom entertainment center, sound proof glass retaining wall, epoxy garage floors, custom garage cabinets, planter boxes, built in barbeque and fountain.
My first question is. Do you really "need" to spend that last $15k now, or can you wait? Second, while I believe that there are definitely things that need to be done when you first move in, was the entire $500k spent on needs?
I'm only asking because unfortunately I don't think it would be reasonable to expect that you can even recoup even 1/2 of your remodeling costs if you were to resell. What you might perceive as something preferrable, someone else might hate it and want to take it out the first time they move in.
That said, I'm assuming this is your primary home. My personal rule of a primary home. NEVER THINK OF IT AS AN INVESTMENT. Unlike some people on this board, I plan to stay in my primary home if the house price increases or if the house price decrease. It doesn't make money for me, it's a money drain, no different than my car. It satisfy my material needs and it allows me to do whatever the hell I(and wife) want to my (our) liking , as long as i don't piss off a very loose HOA. Some people on this board can move in and out of a primary home and capture some gain on the appreciation. That's great. I can't do that. I'm more emotionally attached to my primary home like I would be to a sports car versus say a normal car. However, I can afford to slightly indulge in this lack of financial prudence.
The question you need to ask yourself is: what do you want to get out of your primary home?
1) Is it/will it satisfy you and your husband's emotions? All said and done, if you now have the home in a state that you and your husband like..just enjoy it from this point on, provided #2 and #3 isn't an issue.
When I bought my Audi 8 years ago, the damn thing broke down 3 miles once I got out of the dealership. It had to be flatbedded back to the dealer, and then 2 weeks later the same thing happened…And then 1 month later the damn thing happened again. I hated the car, and swore I would sell the damn thing at a loss just to get rid of it. But once fixed, and after all the things said and done, I love this car and won't get rid of it. Cars aren't the same as homes, so it's not a fair comparison..But you get my point. You've pretty much already done of the fixing/remodeling the two of you wanted anyway. It would be a shame that you neither of you wouldn't be able to enjoy it.
#2) Can the two of you afford the current $950+500k loan balances? Please tell me you got a 15 or 30 year fixed rate mortgage.Seems like the two of you make pretty good salaries. And you said you can make the payments. Provided you aren't bleeding anywhere else, you should be able to afford this …. Savings will be tight. You or your husband might need to penny-pinch a bit. Less eating out, less shopping, delay car purchases. Skimp of cell phone plans, skimp on just about everything. If you exercise financial prudence elsewhere, it should help a bit with this predicament. The question is whether you AND your husband are willing to exercise this financial prudence elsewhere.
#3) You and your husband need to agree that if bought of you decide to keep the house, neither of you will talk bitterly about it moving forward …..EVAR. It's not worth fighting over frankly. You have many more important things to fight over (inlaws, parenting,etc) 🙂 The best time to talk about this would be right before and/or during…uh, never mind.
Lastly, I think there's an important lesson to be learned here by prospective first time home buyers. Every home has an economic threshold at which home improvements just don't make sense anymore. Because those upgrades just don't "fit" with the house's profile.
Good luck with this. And if Rustico is reading, yes I know I need to get a life. But I have an excuse today. I'm jetlagged.
