Home renovation projects hit a wall

“we’ll be back — maybe … someday”

While I still have a subscription to the WSJ, I thought I’d pass this on this article on the troubles afflicting owners seeking to renovate their homes. Anyone who has followed our own EOS’s saga of redoing the uber mansion in Bedford knows all this, of course, but it’s interesting to see that it’s a nationwide problem. Read the whole article if you like — I believe the Journal’s share link frees it from behind the cash wal — but the headline pretty much says it all:

Home Renovations Were Always Tough. Now Many Are Giving Up Mid-Project.

Labor shortages and high demand have meant monthslong slowdowns for people waiting to fix up their homes

Homes in “move-in condition” have usually commanded a premium and sold more quickly than their comparable but tired competition, but that disparity will surely grow if what had been considered to be two-month projects a few years ago are now year-and-a-half commitments to disruption, mess, and soaring costs. If so, the old “rule” that you never make back at sale more than a fraction of what you put into improvements during your ownership may no longer be valid. I used to advise owners not to bother with expensive improvements unless they intended to stay long enough — years — to enjoy them and justify their cost, but who knows? Assuming you can find the men and material to accomplish them, a few re-do projects done in anticipation of selling a year or so down the road might now be a profitable idea.

Certainly, buyers looking at a house that needs some work to “make it livable” (sometimes a ridiculously high bar in Greenwich) may want to pause before committing.