REJUVENATING YOUR HOME.

• Author: Kerr, Doug
• Position: HOME IMPROVEMENT

MILLIONS of people dream about renovating their homes. HGTV is one of the most-popular cable networks in the country, with almost 1,000,000 daily viewers. Sales at home improvement stores in 2018 were $394,000,000,000. In fact, we are in the midst of a home renovation boom that has been going on for almost 10 years now.

The Residential Remodeling Index, which takes into account "household-level remodeling permits, employment statistics, and a market's economic health," has been going up each year since 2010 and has had 26 consecutive quarters of growth. This index is at its highest level ever, and is forecast to continue this growth well into 2021. Metrostudy Inc., the company that puts out the index, bills itself as the nation's "leading provider of primary and secondary market information to the housing and residential construction industry."

Why not a renovation boom? Half of U.S. homes were built before 1980 and need a makeover. Economic conditions today continue to remain excellent, as the job market is hot and the unemployment rate is at record lows. Homeowners, however, must keep a few things in mind to reduce their anxiety and stress levels while undertaking a renovation project as well as get the best value for their renovation dollar.

Have realistic expectations. TV renovation programs are great for showing homeowners innovative renovation ideas and giving them the home renovation bug but, despite being labeled "reality TV," they do not represent reality very well. They can give an unprepared homeowner some very unrealistic expectations regarding the entire home renovation process.

Shows such as "Flip or Flop," "Love It or List It," "Property Brothers," and "Fixer Upper" make for compelling television, but the idea that a homeowner can take a 10-minute walk through their home with the contractor and designer and end up with a finalized verbal agreement for the full renovation, including costs and construction time, is pure fantasy.

This dream-like fiction carries on with the show's principals seemingly on-site every day and taking the lead in demos, choosing color schemes on the fly without consulting the client, and a myriad of other unrealistic situations. Then, miraculously, after only a few weeks, the renovation is complete with everyone deliriously happy.

Of course, there always is some drama in these shows--the discovery of the unexpected load-bearing wall that was meant to come down or the leaking foundation that was not...