Consumer Buying Trends

With Market Soft, Homeowners Turn to ‘Phased Remodeling'

October 2009

DES PLAINES, IL 

"Most people don't think of their house as 10 projects they want to do and prioritize them," said NARI spokesperson Matt Lederer, president of Mahogany Builders in Chicago. "It's not a one-time shot: People choose projects they can afford and [those that] will influence resale."

According to Lederer, homeowners buying an existing home with the idea of changing things after they move in, discover that they "are not flush with cash, or they just don't have it in them to do a series of projects, so they break them up."

Lederer said he recently completed a phased remodel in a Chicago-based condominium. In the first phase, which began in 2007, Lederer gutted and remodeled the home's guest bathroom. He then returned to complete a master suite remodel this spring.

"Phasing" a remodeling project has a number of benefits, Lederer said. For homeowners who can't fund the entire project up front, breaking elements of a major home remodel into stages can help extend costs over time and buy homeowners more time to save or find funding. Embarking on a series of smaller projects also keeps homeowners less stressed.

"Everyone has what I call a ‘construction tolerance,'" Lederer said. "Some people get excited about a remodeling project, but a few weeks into it, they get tired of people showing up at their house at 7 a.m."