I subscribe to The Wall Street Journal and look forward to reading it each morning. Fridays issues I particularly enjoy as there is a section called Mansion that focuses on real estate. In today’s edition there is an article titled The Top 10 Upgrades to Sell Your Home for Top Dollar that I felt would be of interest to any potential buyer or seller of real estate. At the end of the article are 6 turn-offs to luxury home buyers. Number 1 on the list is granite which might come as a surprise some people. Number 6 is heavy brown furniture and that shouldn’t be a surprise but might be a revelation to some.
Also in today’s newspapers is an article in The NY Times where HGTV’s Property Brothers offer renovation tips. In the article one of the brothers talks about his disdain for real estate listings that describe a renovated kitchen when what has been done was the cabinetry was ripped out and replaced versus removing a wall and changing the kitchen floor plan. I may be wrong but removing a wall and changing the floor plan isn’t a renovation just as ripping out and replacing the cabinetry also isn’t a renovation. I have used renovate and remodel incorrectly in the past and probably will in the future as I still haven’t received my perfect badge in the mail yet.
The definition of renovation as the definition is 1) to restore to good condition; make new or a if new again; repair 2) To invigorate; revive; refresh. The definition of remodel is 1) To alter the structure of ; remake. If you look at some random real estate listings, you will likely find incorrect usage. Hard to believe in an industry fond of randomly capitalizing words and a fondness for ending sentences with exclamation points! Or three of them!!! Some of his comments must have been excluded but I think what he was saying is that it is a remodel and not a renovation when cabinetry is replaced. It is a little confusing in the article as it appears he is suggesting that if the layout had been changed it would then qualify as a renovation. His point instead seems to me to be that it is worth the effort to change space to enhance living versus spending money to enhance form and function that doesn’t work.
Anyway, both articles are good to keep in mind in 2019 for those of you thinking of buying/selling real estate or remodeling/renovating in Alexandria.
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