1. Freestanding ranges are just the basic range you'll see at most houses.. burners on top, oven in middle, and usually a small storage space on the bottom. Slide in ranges give your kitchen a little more custom look. It usually looks similar to the freestanding without the back splash. IMO go with the freestanding you get more bang for your buck. 2.3. Both of these renovations are going to depend on if you know someone that is trustworthy and capable of doing the work. If you didn't live in a different area I know a couple of people that could. Ask your friends/family. See if they can refer you to a handy man that you KNOW does good work. The cabinets and countertops you will definitely get your return + more if you do them right. Your tub you may not get that value back so I would definetly invest in the countertops and cabinets first. Then maybe you can put a little money on the side little by little for the tub if you are really sold on it. You don't want to spend that whole 8k right off the bat. There are always little things that come up in homes that you'll need it for.
1. It is generally a matter of personal preference. I am not sure what you mean by "sliding". Our stoves have always been freestanding (i.e. they are not built in). I'd spend my money on the features of the stove rather than free-standing vs sliding. For example, our stove is a hybrid as it has both gas and electric. the burners are gas and then it has a full sized oven (which is also convection) and a smaller oven that are electric. 2. I don't know how much a jet tub really adds to the value of the home. It seems to be a good idea, but it depends on how many baths y'all take. I have had jet tubs for 18 years and I doubt I've bathed in them more than 20 times. Not sure on the cost. My son just had one installed and I don;t think it was terribly expensive. 3. Cabinets can be quite pricey depending on the wood used. To me, this adds much more value than the jet tub as this is something folks will see an use much more often. You should be able to fine some on-line sites that will give a general figure based on your selections. EDIT - RocketJoe jogged my memory concerning slide-ins. They do add a nice "built-in" look as they conform to the size of your cabinets.
Yeah, the jet tub probably would add minimal value to the home but it helps during resale because they're customary in most newer homes today and they're more appealing, especially to first time home buyers.
There are plenty of things that helps during resale, but is it worth the money versus your return? You can upgrade all the light fixtures in your house. Or all the faucet handles. They'll all make your house look better. But do you really want to drop that amount of money on a starter home? Especially right off the bat? Now if it's something you know you'll enjoy a lot personally... go right ahead.
Make no mistake, we would definitely use the thing too it's just I read that installing one cost the price of a new car because you have to deal with plumbers and electricians and I think that we would just forget it if it cost that much.
Having that service will more than likely lower your home insurance premium. But ADT and Brinks are fairly expensive if I remember correctly.. you may want to look into other service providers like NextAlarm.com, which I've heard good things about.
Generally, service runs $20 or less a month. You should be able to get really cheap (or free) installation depending on the package you order. If you have pets, you need to be careful where they install motion detectors. Having a cat may render them useless.
$20/month or less? That's considered expensive? How much do other services like NextAlarm.com run? We do have a dog and a cat, what problems do they present?
When we had Brinks in Houston, we were able to have the motion detector installed where it was next to impossible for a cat to set it off. It literally would have to jump 6 feet straight up from a standing position in a small area to set it off, yet anyone who broke into our house would have tripped it easily. There is no good place for our house in Minnesota to have a motion detector. The cats easily set them off, so they are unusable.
Oh, wow. I didn't realize it was that price. The ADT guy who came by my door said it would be at least $35-$45/month.
If you're building a custom home, the best thing to use the upgrade money on is the cabinets/counter tops or additional bath. They are the most difficult/expensive to replace in the future. Another good upgrade is the floors. Instead of the regular tiles, opt for a larger sized tile. I think regular might be 12x12, go for 18x18. I think larger sized bath tubs and additional sinks in bathrooms are good upgrades as well. I would also change out the kitchen sink for a larger one. How difficult is it to change the faucets in all the bathrooms? If that's something easily done, I would do that myself rather than pay the premium the builder charges. I was house shopping myself, but find the whole process difficult. It's near impossible for me to get in contact with the home builder or my loan officer. I'm not going to call them every day, if they don't think it's important enough to call me back after I leave a voice mail, no biggie.
The service from NextAlarm.com is listed at $11.95 a month. That's what I am considering right now. Do energy efficient appliances actually save you any money? The thing with the house I made an offer on is that it comes with no appliances except a dishwasher. Should I spend the extra money to make sure the other appliances are energy efficient?
I try to go with energy efficient appliances whenever possible. In fact, after I found out that one of the houses I was thinking about buying had a conventional dishwasher, I looked into swapping it out with an energy efficient one. You might pay a little more up front but you'll save later. http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=appliances.pr_appliances And for additional savings.. some cities will offer rebates for buying energy efficient appliances. Like for Austin, you can get up to a $150 rebate for buying an energy efficient washer.
My folks use Next Alarm after having used Rollins/ADT for like 20 years. I think I signed them up for a one year contract which comes out to $9.95 per month. They are pretty good, although they don't really have their own technicians in case you have a problem. I think they hire local technicians to work out problems since they are just basically a monitoring service.
Another question (sorry). The house has a gas fireplace but we're both partial to wood fireplaces. I know you can't burn wood in a gas fireplace because wood heat is hotter than that produced by gas and the fireplace and chimney are probably not be suited for that type of heat. How difficult would it be to convert that fireplace?
depends on the fireplace. Mine can do either. the first few years I burned wood but got tired of dealing with the hastle of cleaning it. Switched over to gas since there is no mess and its quick to light and turn off. I live in Austin so its really just cosmetic
Hey LP, I don't know the answer to your question. However, what I am noticing is that you're buying a starter home and wanting to put in stuff from your dream house. It might be better if you just saved these upgrades for when you buy your next house. I would be hesitant to do these big upgrades for your initial home.
