Are home renovations necessary?

[FiftyIsTheNewTwenty]

"...our constant remodeling is an effort to make ourselves more acceptable to others, something we should do as “good” homeowners. Like the beauty industry, the home-improvement industry plays on (usually gendered) insecurity—the fear that we are unattractive or inadequate. But the truth is, “other people” don’t have to live in your house, and when they come to visit, they’re there to see you, not your succulents and marble-and-brass side table."

https://www.curbed.com/2018/3/7/17087588/home-renovation-unnecessary-mcmansion-hell-wagner

'Maximizing the value of the property," or just chasing fashion for fashion's sake?

[WhiteTrashCash]

We only do renovations and additions that add actual everyday value to the home. So far, we've added solar panels, a 98% efficient furnace, replaced the plumbing in the downstairs bathroom, new privacy fencing, and new rain gutters. All functional things that made our house more valuable. The next major change we're going to make is replacing the original electric panel with a bigger modern unit so we can install a Level 2 electric car charger in the garage.

[big_owl]

Well no they're not necessary.  But they don't always have to be about keeping up with the Joneses.  Sometimes improving your home just makes you feel better.  I just spent almost $10k getting old drywall imperfections fixed and the house repainted.   Necessary?  No.  Do I feel a lot better about my house?  Yes.   Worth it to me.

[TheWifeHalf]

'Maximizing the value of the property," or just chasing fashion for fashion's sake?

Neither
TheHusbandHalf and I bought a house built in 1915, in 1981, from the original owner. We've been remodeling ever since, enjoying the process. We did things that really, were just for us. The dining room is a sewing room. The kitchen island is not where some people would have put it, but it just seems so perfect to us. I'm sure the kitchen cabinets are not what others would choose.

The woman who lived her went into a 'home' and my sister, an RN, had her as a patient. When she explained who she was, Mrs Preston asked her one thing "Are they taking care of my house?"
She kept this house for 66 years, we kind of feel obligated to do the same.
The house was as though 1915 was just yesterday, except for heating and electricity. It was ours to remodel as we chose, keeping its history in mind.
We are going to do the same. We got the house for $45,000, low enough to pay for remodeling/renovating.
It's probably valued as $300,000 now, and we won't leave here until we die. My genes make me believe I will live to my mid 90's, so who knows  what it will be worth then.
But, we are going to sell it for $150,000. Hopefully to a relative, but if not, to someone who will appreciate it.

Our kids were the first kids to live here, so it was a very well kept house. They had an acre yard with 7 old oaks. It's not as pristine now of course but having raised a family here, we really owe Mrs Preston our gratitude. And the builder. His signature is on the back of one of the baseboards, the brother of the guy that used to live next door.

There is just too much history here to think all that we did was only for money.

[redbird]

If you're not planning to sell a house? No. Sure, do any mandatory repairs/maintenance, and you can change things that bug you. But it's not necessary. Who cares if your kitchen cabinets aren't whatever color or style is in right now if they function and you don't mind it?

I will say you can feel free to replace ugly stuff even if functional if you hate it even if you don't plan to sell it. Absolutely feel free! I rented a house once that had this hideous half-bathroom. The wall tiles were pink, the toilet was pink, and there was this hideous Andy Warhol-type Marilyn Monroe wallpaper on the floor. YES, ON THE FLOOR. It wasn't tile floor. I HATED IT. It was a rental, so obviously I did nothing. If I owned it, that bathroom would be renovated quickly.

Not renovating could absolutely affect selling value/interest on your house. It depends on the buyer and what your house looks like.

We only do renovations and additions that add actual everyday value to the home. So far, we've added solar panels, a 98% efficient furnace, replaced the plumbing in the downstairs bathroom, new privacy fencing, and new rain gutters. All functional things that made our house more valuable. The next major change we're going to make is replacing the original electric panel with a bigger modern unit so we can install a Level 2 electric car charger in the garage.

Do rain gutters add actual $ value to your house when you go to sell it? Just curious. I had assumed no, but I have no idea! In my neighborhood the builder didn't install gutters on the houses. I had gutters added to my house several months ago (I've lived in this house less than a year, so it was pretty quick!), though it wasn't for house value increase reasons. The lack of gutters was actually causing some water issues in the yard and I felt uncomfortable about water just sitting near the foundation in places thanks to the lack of gutters. Having gutters fixed that.

[Sibley]

I'm "renovating". Projects I've done, am doing, or plan to do:

1. rebuilt the garage (was standing on 3 corners and swayed if you leaned on it). Included new car-sized door, new people-sized door, and 2 new windows, all to replace broken or rotting originals.
2. scrape/paint the garage
3. new gutters (old ones were falling off the house and not functional)
4. a ton of re-landscaping - slowly, me and my mom. This includes digging up what will probably end up being at least 2 full pickup truck sized loads of landscape rock and either reusing it or somehow getting rid of it (haven't figured out what to do with it, and most is still in the ground). Moving around existing plants, pulling massive amounts of weeds, and planting new plants.
5. painting walls, ceilings, doors, and woodwork inside.
6. ripped out the old smelly carpet, will put new carpet in when I'm done painting and am willing to spend the money on it.
7. replacing the electrical wiring (original knob and tube)
8. roof/flashing repair
9. need to rebuild the chimney or something. It needs work, not sure the extent.
10. replace/repair 2 storm doors (one replace, one repair). Includes somehow repairing/replacing some of the frame cause it's cracked.
11. paint exterior of doors and windows
12. replacing probably all the light fixtures. a couple b/c they're unsafe, mostly because I hate the originals.
13. replace 2 toilets. they're not working right, and repeated efforts to repair are not sticking.
14. replace all faucets. don't work right and were/are corroded.
15. various other plumbing redo's/repairs - 1919 house, hodgepodge of plumbing, and previous owners did some stupid shit.
16. replace bathroom floor that is currently stick-on-tile on plywood, which is probably on top of an older floor. this floor actually has an unpleasant odor, thanks to previous owner's children. Don't ask.

I could keep going, I have a very long list. Yes, some of this is purely cosmetic, and I'm doing it because I want to. But a lot of this stuff is needed repair/maintenance or updates for safety and function. What I'm not doing is moving walls, etc. Though I would love to rip out the kitchen and redesign it so it works better, the layout is very awkward. I'm living with it indefinitely.

I'm also doing a LOT of this myself, or getting some help from friends/family. Some things I've had to hire out, but while those are the bigger dollar items, they're certainly in the minority of projects.

[big_owl]

If you're not planning to sell a house? No. Sure, do any mandatory repairs/maintenance, and you can change things that bug you. But it's not necessary. Who cares if your kitchen cabinets aren't whatever color or style is in right now if they function and you don't mind it?

I will say you can feel free to replace ugly stuff even if functional if you hate it even if you don't plan to sell it. Absolutely feel free! I rented a house once that had this hideous half-bathroom. The wall tiles were pink, the toilet was pink, and there was this hideous Andy Warhol-type Marilyn Monroe wallpaper on the floor. YES, ON THE FLOOR. It wasn't tile floor. I HATED IT. It was a rental, so obviously I did nothing. If I owned it, that bathroom would be renovated quickly.

Not renovating could absolutely affect selling value/interest on your house. It depends on the buyer and what your house looks like.

We only do renovations and additions that add actual everyday value to the home. So far, we've added solar panels, a 98% efficient furnace, replaced the plumbing in the downstairs bathroom, new privacy fencing, and new rain gutters. All functional things that made our house more valuable. The next major change we're going to make is replacing the original electric panel with a bigger modern unit so we can install a Level 2 electric car charger in the garage.

Do rain gutters add actual $ value to your house when you go to sell it? Just curious. I had assumed no, but I have no idea! In my neighborhood the builder didn't install gutters on the houses. I had gutters added to my house several months ago (I've lived in this house less than a year, so it was pretty quick!), though it wasn't for house value increase reasons. The lack of gutters was actually causing some water issues in the yard and I felt uncomfortable about water just sitting near the foundation in places thanks to the lack of gutters. Having gutters fixed that.

To me, gutters are a requirement for a house, per the water issues you hinted to.   So I wouldn't say they added value, since I consider them a base line requirement.

[gooki]

For us it’s maximising enjoyment mixed with maximising property value.

And there’s more to a properties value than simply the selling price. Time on market can have a significant impact when you factor in the opportunity cost of having your money tied up in a house for 9 months while you wait for it to sell vs 1 month.

On a one million dollar property, assuming a 7% return, that extra 8 months is costing you $46,000.

[AnnaGrowsAMustache]

Maintenance is absolutely necessary. Renovations or improvements that make a difference to you in the day to day living in the home might be worth it. I wouldn't worry about anything else.

[mwulff]

For us home renovation has also been about future-proofing our little corner of the world for our FIRE life.

Our house was built in 1986 and nothing much has been done to it since. The previous owners redid the attic as a small living/living space and slapped a ton of paint on it, but they never did any of the "deep stuff".

We have decided that we are going to stay here until we have to be carried out, so our home renovations have been made with our lifespan in mind.

Some of the things we have done:

- Resurfaced all concrete walls
- Redid all the wallpaper to heavy duty nice looking wallpaper
- Painted every room with nano-hardened paint
- Rebuilt all interior ceilings in fiber-plaster that will last and not tear.
- Installed 10 gigabit ethernet in all rooms
- Added new electrical outlets where they were needed
- Rebuilt the electrical panel with support for solar panels and 2 ev charge stations
- Installed solar panels
- Put down extra-hardened Pergo laminate floors, they are guaranteed for a lifetime
- Designed and installed a completely new kitchen
- Designed and installed completely new bedroom closets that fit the tiny space perfectly
- Prepared the house in general for the installation of handicap assistive technology

and worst of all we had the bathroom redone all the way to the foundation. Everything was dug out and replaced with modern insulation, modern floor heating and high quality tiles were installed along with very high quality shower and faucets. This should future-proof the bathroom for the 40-50 years, and to protect the bathroom we installed a water-treatment system that removes a lot of minerals from the water. 

We also redid the ceiling lights as long bands of Hue lightstrips with a lifespan of "basically our lifetime".

And what triggered all this was the fact that my wife tried to open a kitchen drawer and ended up holding just the front-part of the drawer.

But the bathroom and kitchen were really falling apart and cracks had formed in the tiles everywhere potentially leaking water into walls and foundations.

So I guess we did a lot of home renovations over the last two years, but we expect them to last a lifetime if properly maintained, so they were worth it to us.

But thank <insert favorite super-friend> that we only had to redo a 700 sqft home. The process has been extremely tough and drained a lot of energy. But at least we did most of the house ourselves and we learned so many new skills during the process. Many of those skills will come in handy over the next 30 years.

[former player]

There has been a trend where I live over the past 10 years or so of people with too much money knocking down small houses and rebuilding them large, or doubling the size of a small or average sized house with extensions.  5 bedrooms 9 bathrooms, anyone?  (Apparently the master suite now needs his n hers bathrooms, en suites in all the other bathrooms, a "main bathroom" upstairs (purpose unknown), a guest cloakroom off the main hall and a "staff" cloakroom off the utility.)  Now there have been tax changes (stamp duty on house purchases, mainly) which make transaction costs on second homes and homes over £2m (it's a high house price area with a lot of second homes) much higher and those overly big new houses are often sitting around unlived in and unsold.  Karma, as far as I'm concerned.  Smaller homes in good positions still sell quickly and stay smaller.

I am over a period of years renovating my own small home, including a single room extension, mainly to improve the layout, comfort and efficiency.  I'm doing nothing to change its essential nature (a small, plain, 1920s cottage) and I'm retaining or reusing every original feature I can.

[big_slacker]

Some renovations make the house more livable and can change a claustrophobic space into an open and nice feeling one. Some can increase utility as well, examples are a second downstairs bathroom so you or guests don't have to constantly run upstairs to one.

Some renovations add value to a house if you plan on selling. Adding a deck, kitchen reno, bathroom reno, etc. If you do it with an eye towards the point of diminishing returns.

Finally, if something is broken, rotting, etc. and you're going to have to fix it anyway you should definitely look to see if you can accomplish the first two points without breaking the bank.

So no, not strictly necessary but they have their place.

[nara]

I don't think home renovations (for purely cosmetic reasons) are necessary at all. However, when we were shopping around for our first home we avoided homes that were outdated, as we assumed that the owner may not have cared enough or had enough money to put into maintaining the home properly, and that these home were likely going to have a lot of problems.  I think outside of flippers or people like MMM, a very outdated home may be unattractive to future buyers who are just average "keeping up the Jones's" types anyway and who don't want to take on the big projects of renovations themselves. I'm not a realtor though so I'm just guessing...

We renovate our home now for personal reasons and for resale value. We enjoy it and it gives us pride--but we don't have enough guests to show off to. We re-did all the flooring because of cat pee from renters and renovated 2/3 bathrooms. It's certainly not the fanciest home but these personal touches allow us to make it feel like ours. It's how we have chosen to spend our money. And at a time when we come to sell, either all of what we did may be outdated, or maybe someone will fall in love with the custom touches we added and decide that our home is unique enough where they will be willing to spend more than it's worth! We live on 5 treed acres, with a new barn, and various fruit trees all of which makes our home even more unique and desirable to potential buyers outside of the just the walls.

[sjc0816]

Interesting question. We live in a 90's track home....so you can imagine what that is like. It's a GREAT neighborhood/location and excellent schools but there are so many things I hate about it. We've done cheap DIY things ourselves: refinishing all cabinets, adding solid surface kitchen counters, backsplash, changing out all dated ceiling fans, fixtures/lights, etc. But the things that would REALLY make this house enjoyable to me are also extremely expensive. Replacing carpet with all hardwood - total kitchen and bath renovations (including knocking out a wall to make our kitchen bigger) etc.

We keep up with all of the necessary things (replacing windows, siding, roof, HVAC, etc)....and we just don't have the money to do a gut remodel unless we decided not to pay for our kids' college which will not happen.

Things I'd LIKE to do but now don't have the time: painting ALL woodwork (think honey oak), replacing our cheap doors and ugly doorknobs/hinges and ripping out our deck to pour a patio. These things will also not likely happen due to lack of time.

So IMO, some renovations are necessary if they influence the integrity of the home but most cosmetic things are not necessary but nice.

[MayDay]

I care about how the spaces I spend time in look. If I'm in a light filled room with colors that make me happy, I feel better than if I am in a sad brown cave.

And I can afford it while still saving. I even like to change out Perfectly Good Things because my tastes change. This makes my H crazy.  But if I have neutral permanent fixtures (floors, walls, cabinets) and I change out the occasional accent chair to make myself happy, well, good!

Everyone has to do their own cost benefit analysis. Some people want to retire ASAP. Obviously I could retire earlier if I lived with my 1952 countertops forever. I'm happier working a bit more and saving for new counters. I am happier digging up my yard and putting in 500$ worth of fruit trees and bushes, even if half of them die and we never harvest enough cherries to pay for them.

[WhiteTrashCash]

If you're not planning to sell a house? No. Sure, do any mandatory repairs/maintenance, and you can change things that bug you. But it's not necessary. Who cares if your kitchen cabinets aren't whatever color or style is in right now if they function and you don't mind it?

I will say you can feel free to replace ugly stuff even if functional if you hate it even if you don't plan to sell it. Absolutely feel free! I rented a house once that had this hideous half-bathroom. The wall tiles were pink, the toilet was pink, and there was this hideous Andy Warhol-type Marilyn Monroe wallpaper on the floor. YES, ON THE FLOOR. It wasn't tile floor. I HATED IT. It was a rental, so obviously I did nothing. If I owned it, that bathroom would be renovated quickly.

Not renovating could absolutely affect selling value/interest on your house. It depends on the buyer and what your house looks like.

We only do renovations and additions that add actual everyday value to the home. So far, we've added solar panels, a 98% efficient furnace, replaced the plumbing in the downstairs bathroom, new privacy fencing, and new rain gutters. All functional things that made our house more valuable. The next major change we're going to make is replacing the original electric panel with a bigger modern unit so we can install a Level 2 electric car charger in the garage.

Do rain gutters add actual $ value to your house when you go to sell it? Just curious. I had assumed no, but I have no idea! In my neighborhood the builder didn't install gutters on the houses. I had gutters added to my house several months ago (I've lived in this house less than a year, so it was pretty quick!), though it wasn't for house value increase reasons. The lack of gutters was actually causing some water issues in the yard and I felt uncomfortable about water just sitting near the foundation in places thanks to the lack of gutters. Having gutters fixed that.

To me, gutters are a requirement for a house, per the water issues you hinted to.   So I wouldn't say they added value, since I consider them a base line requirement.

Well, when the previous owners thought they were handy and installed sub-par gutters that pull out of the roof every time there's a storm, replacing them adds value to the house. My house looks gangbusters right now because of all the stuff we've done. Much better than when we bought the place.

[Rosy]

If you bought a house that is in good condition and you are happy with it, why renovate for the sake of updating, if that is not your thing.
Renovating for a better resale value or because the neighbors do it seems like a foolish idea.
Upgrades to improve your daily life are well worth the money if you plan on living there for a long time.

I think renovations should be done in order of priority - safety first. Fix railings and flooring if they are a hazard. Add gutters if they pose a problem ...
Then do the techie upgrades that save you money on utilities - upgrade your heating and AC, before it dies...
Cut down that tree even if it costs 5K so you don't have to deal with a windstorm hurricane claim ...

The rest is all about personalizing your space to suit you and your lifestyle. If it makes sense to age-proof your home now, do it, before you are too old to deal with it.
If you are a great cook and spend a fair amount of time in your kitchen or you know you would, if only the space actually worked for you - then figure out a cost-effective way to do so.
I love that sort of thing - it is like a puzzle that is just waiting to be solved to have a functional, airy space that makes you happy to spend time there.

Seriously - how can one live in a dingy space, with not enough windows, poor lighting and poorly designed or falling apart kitchen cabinets? I once lived in a condo/apartment that had no kitchen window. Depressing - no window above the kitchen sink to watch the birds or see some greenery.
Color and light make a space sing.

Styles and home decor change - I like to change things up from time to time to breathe new life into a space. Adapt your home continually to fit your lifestyle or it will be stale and dreary. Now that I am older, things have slowed down, so upgrades are few and far in between. After the next big renovation (the bath) I am officially done.

But, maybe you don't care to make changes - either because you don't really care about such things or because you have no money or you'd rather spend your money on other things - it's all OK. Suit yourself.
I'd never do something to a house just to make it more sellable or avoid color or being unique and creative in my own home, because of resale value.

A few weeks ago we visited a young couple in their first home bought from a house flipper - the paint job in some rooms was way below par. The flipper gave new meaning to the word POD (paint over dirt) they painted over insect hives and cocoons. Florida has mud daubers which have black nests that are incredibly sooty and messy when you try to remove the cocoon (streaks like coal dust) - they had literally spray painted over them. Sheesh.

We still have a few home improvement projects ahead of us this year and next year and hopefully, that will be the end of it, except for normal upkeep.
I must say though, I love those projects best that allow me some creativity.

 

[ysette9]

For me it comes down to doing what will make me happier. We lived in a rental for five years that had some pretty ugly features and a lot of just plain uncomfortable things. It made me long for and prioritize certain things when we started looking for a place to buy. I am really happy with my current house because it is cute inside. Lovely solid doors that look great and block out sound. Handsome molding and pretty colors on the walls.

We I dilated everything that could be insulated, brought the electrical up to code, added skylights, and replaced the aging roof. Some were for safety (i like having my electrical outlets grounded), others were maintenance (need to make sure the roof doesn’t leak). Skylights turned some dark spaces I to lovely rooms. Insulation makes the house a comfortable space i want to be in. I really love being inside my house; it is comfortable and fits is as a family. I love being in a place that I don’t mentally remodel at least once a week. Money well spent in my mind.

[soccerluvof4]

I feel there are renovations that are necessary and some that are a want but whats wrong with that. I bought a 1970's raised ranch when I I fired that we have live in 2 years and 4 months. The bones of the house were great and that is what I would consider to be necessary updates if it needed it but I would not of bough a house that did so I looked to buy that was ugly/outdated that had good bones. I consider that to be the foundation, plumbing, electric, roof , furnace etc. Now I would buy i house if perhaps one or two of those items were bad but would have to negotiate the cost to have that replaced. Anyhow , so the house I bought had all good bones but my philosophy has always been do one room a year of updating and the house will always be current. That could be as simple as paint and a light fixture or some carpet to a full gut bathroom. But if and what room i do i do it right and make sure everything is updated and to code. Now the house we bought needed some immediate updates so I have reached the point now that I can update one room a year. Since I bough the house which I considered in price I replaced all the windows. All the flooring on main floor and the upper 1/4 story, all the doors and framework to white and I had to sand and fix, repair and re-texture all the drywall..I added one barn board feature wall, replace an old corner gas fireplace with a built in central fireplace with a brick surround and a mantle and one full bath gut job. All these things will add value to the house and or make it somewhat more enjoyable as the dog and cat piss is gone and the house is more efficient. We didn't go busting down walls or any of that but made house brighter by the decisions we made.  We dont entertain much but we are a family of 6 so the house flows fine for us. The thing the article didn't mention is if the house does have go bones so many things can be done very inexpensive to add value and or to enjoy your home. But i do agree that people get carried away and like anything there needs to be balance and do things that are not trendy. That's why we went with the white woodwork it never goes out of style.  It also depends on if you can do things yourself and or need to hire someone. I need a combination of both. The bottom line is even with the remodeling I still live in a home thats probably half the cost if not a third of the homes in a hcol area but its also a home that accomplishes all my family needs.  So as some mentioned its really a personal choice. Some stuff we just had to do and some stuff we chose to do but MMM isnt about living in a dump and its figured into my budget. The shows on HGTV give me some ideas but I dont try and compete with the jone's anymore those days are over BUT there is something to be said about a nice clean simple home and thats all I shoot for.

[Prairie Stash]

We only do renovations and additions that add actual everyday value to the home. So far, we've added solar panels, a 98% efficient furnace, replaced the plumbing in the downstairs bathroom, new privacy fencing, and new rain gutters. All functional things that made our house more valuable. The next major change we're going to make is replacing the original electric panel with a bigger modern unit so we can install a Level 2 electric car charger in the garage.

I disagree that the gutters are renovations; I think that would fall under maintenance. Maintenance is not something you can optionally do, depending on taste. Failure to have functional gutters that lead to foundation problems in the future, that's not optional. The plumbing in the bathroom could be wither way; if it was to move a toilet 6", thats renovations, if t was to fix something that wasn't working, that would be maintenance.

The distinction is important; you can delay renovations indefinitely but maintenance needs to be done in a timely fashion. If you reclassify everything into two categories, you've done a lot of home maintenance. If the furnace was to replace a broken furnace, that's maintenance (in my part of the world a non working furnace leaves a house inhabtable). Fencing that's falling over, that's likely maintenace as well. I only see solar panels on the list as renovations, but that was probably a smart investment.

[cpa cat]

Not in my experience. I'll still do them if they're valuable to me, but I don't think that renovations beyond keeping the house in good repair and functional are valuable.

My husband and I have owned our house for 15 years. We bought it for $260,000. We've put maybe $100,000 into it - finished basement, screened porch, hardwoods, kitchen. It recently appraised for $379,000. We plan on selling next Spring, and if we time it right, we might end up selling at a premium. So... that makes this house a pretty bad investment. It hasn't even kept up with inflation. After commissions and fees, we may even lose a small amount of money.

Worse, while upgrades like ours are typical for our neighborhood now, the houses that are under $300,000 in our city sell in less than week. Houses over $300,000 sometimes take two or three months.

We'd have been way better off leaving in the hideous early 2000s decor and rickety porch and keeping the value of the home lower. Our enjoyment may have been lessened somewhat, but do we care $100,000 worth? The finished basement at $15,000 was worth it in every respect, everything else was a poor investment in ego.

[calimom]

I bought a 1970s California Ranch on several acres 10 years ago from the original owners, and basically nothing had been touched since the house was new. Think builder-grade carpet (in deplorable condition); wallpaper, cracked 4" tile square counters and you get the idea. Paint, bamboo floors, and laminate surfaces. New appliances as needed. At some point, I didn't have enough bedrooms for all the children I have (I know, I know) so't big improvement was an annex off the master bedroom - I'm on septic so it couldn't be an actual bedroom. I'm not one to obsess and agonize over details, I like quick decisions, but in all those I went with mid-range improvements, scratch 'n dent appliance deals and the outsourced work was carefully bid. A new roof 5 years ago  ensures the safety of my humble abode. None of this was done with resale in mind, but to provide shelter and comfort for myself and my family. I'm so happy with all the improvements. The exterior I've slowly landscaped over time, and love the results.

[TheAnonOne]

From what I am reading here, the answer is basically "No"

Besides things that require upkeep and replacement like appliances, that is.


We did update our kitchen, though we had items here from the 1970s, and I did it myself. Still buying new appliances set us back a good 5-7k.

[KBecks]

Our house, built in 1969 is functional.  It is not beautiful or efficient in all aspects, but it is 100% functional.  We are dry, warm, safe.  The home is solid. 

We could easily throw $50,000 into deferred maintenance and upgrades.  But nothing is urgent, the house works and we are safe, warm and dry.  So what's the rush?

[Sibley]

Our house, built in 1969 is functional.  It is not beautiful or efficient in all aspects, but it is 100% functional.  We are dry, warm, safe.  The home is solid. 

We could easily throw $50,000 into deferred maintenance and upgrades.  But nothing is urgent, the house works and we are safe, warm and dry.  So what's the rush?

As long as whatever maintenance you're deferring isn't causing longer term damage, you're fine. If you're ignoring a small roof leak or something, fix that.

[BTDretire]

We live in a home built in 1973. We moved in in 1994.
 It still has original kitchen and bathroom fixtures and hardware.
I have replaced linoleum in one bathroom and redid the grouting.
We replaced the roof and furnace/air conditioner.
The carpet is the same as when we moved in, but shoes are
rarely warn in the house. (DW's orders)
 My 26 year old daughters thinks it needs an update.
From my 63 year old prospective, this place is fairly recent. :-)
 I do suspect after my wife retires, she will start to see things
she will want to change.

[nancyjnelson]

I used to live in the Washington DC area, and purchased a one side of a small brick duplex that was built for government workers during the WWII era.  It had been a rental for about a decade and a half before I bought it, so there was a lot of basic stuff (roof, electric, etc) that I had to have done to make it livable. 

After about seven months of living in a construction zone things were finally getting in shape and I had only one more task on my list - to tuckpoint the brick (they used a wee too much sand in the mortar when building the house, and many bricks were in danger of falling off).  Amazingly this was something I turned out to be good at, and I was proud at what it looked like when I finished.

A few weeks later I was laying on my bed, literally thinking about how great it was to be done with all the major renovations, when I looked up and wondered, "What's that amber-colored shit in the lightshade?"

Turned out that there was a giant beehive in the space between the ceiling and the roof (flat roof) with no access to that space.  When I tuckpointed the brick outside, I had accidentally plugged the hole the bees were using and entombed them alive.  They died, the hive disintegrated, and honey started flowing.... through the ceiling light fixture into the lightshade, through the casements and into the windows.  The worse thing were the big dark damp spots that formed in the ceilings of both bedrooms - if I stuck my finger in them I would leave a print.

I was frantic, thinking of how much money would be needed to get a handyman to fix this mess.  But a wise neighbor commented, "If you call a handyman, you'll pay.  If you wait for the ceiling to start falling down, insurance will pay." 

Hmmm.

So we started sleeping in another area of the house.  I took off the lightshade, removed the lightbulb and let the honey drip - for 8 weeks.  When it stopped, I screwed the lightbulb back in and it worked.  It took another couple of months for the ceiling to harden up again.  Then I sprayed  the ceiling liberally with kilz and repainted.  The spots on the ceiling of the kids' bedroom wouldn't be hidden, so I painted the entire room turquoise - including the ceiling - and told the kids to pretend they were sleeping in a fishbowl.

Fifteen years later I sold the house for 3 1/2  times what I paid for it.  I like to think it was because of my tuckpointing skills.