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Brock's newsletter  |  OCTOBER 31, 2025
 
To Reno or Not to Reno. 🥀
We are almost through the mini-renovation at our house. It started with adding a bathroom for our daughter.
 
Then my wife caught a nasty case of the “might-as-wells”: Might as well redo the pantry! Might as well expand the laundry room! Might as well replace the plumbing fixtures!
 
I think there’s a lot more “might-as-wells” being added that I’m not aware of, and frankly, I don’t want to know.
 
As was highly predictable, our construction budget has doubled from our original bid.
 
I have very mixed feelings about renovation.
 
I have watched people spend every cent they have designing and renovating their homes, unwisely, in my opinion.
 
On the other hand, I have bought great “value-add” buildings (our house being one of them) that have allowed us to keep our property taxes and mortgage payments low and, for the investment properties, get great rents post-renovation.
 
But they sure suck up cash.
 
The Problem With Renovation.
 
Two things: You can’t finance it. And it’s gotten really expensive.
 
Between COVID, rising labor costs and inflation, construction costs have risen dramatically over the past decade - estimated at 40% higher than costs in 2020. And with rising tariffs, I anticipate that number to increase dramatically (anecdotally, we have a friend who is an interior designer who was importing a $25,000 fireplace from Europe that now will cost $50,000 - cue client panic).
 
And you can’t really finance the renovation of a single-family home without incurring significant out-of-pocket expense. 
 
In the good old days (prior to 2022), you could renovate and immediately do a cash-out refinance and get your money back at your same rate, or lower. Not so easy anymore with the current higher interest rates. 
 
So you’re mostly paying out-of-pocket, after-tax dollars for your million-dollar renovation. Which (maybe) would have been better spent in your retirement account or as a down payment on an investment property.
 
But it Adds Value, They Say.
 
The truth is that personalization does not add value. In 2013, stark white everything, subway tile, white oak flooring, and matte black hardware was all the rage. We see that now? Flipper special. Outdated. It’s only been ten years!
 
Now we’re all about maximalism, which I am very into, by the way. But the love of wallpaper and heavily veined marble and color-drenching won’t last forever… I’ve been in this business long enough to know that trends don't last forever.
 
At the end of the day, the value of a home is largely determined by its location, lot size, and the big numbers (square footage and the number of bedrooms and bathrooms). If you’re adding square footage, or bedrooms and bathrooms, you’ll generally see that reflected in the sale price when it’s time to move.
 
Personalization, on the other hand, does not add value, especially if you are not selling. Because when the time comes to sell, your au courant design will likely be dépassé.
 
There are Ways to Personalize Without Breaking the Bank.
 
Just listen to my wife!
 
When we sell a house, before going to market our team gives the house a “pre-listing glow up” to make the house shine without breaking the bank. This generally includes painting, changing out fixtures (pulls, knobs, lighting), furniture (staging), plants, and landscaping. We’re also big fans of tile reglazing (as opposed to re-tiling) and tile restoration in historic homes. 
 
And you can do this even if you're not selling in lieu of a full-blown renovation. You can get 80% of the desired outcome for a fraction of the cost of hiring a full-blown construction crew.
 
For Sellers, the value add is 3:1. If you spend $50K (our average), we guarantee you are getting $150K more on the sale price… at least.
 
You Gotta Live.
 
Like our clothes and our cars, our houses say something about us. Our homes tell a story of who we are. I get it.
 
But don’t go broke telling your story. If you are going to renovate your house, make sure to budget for it. And by budget, I mean get a bid from a seasoned contractor, and then increase the budget by 30%, because you will get a case of the “might-as-wells” and you need to account for that.
 
Our house actually looks pretty nice. And Lori is happy (while secretly scheming to redo our landscaping and windows 🙄) - happy wife, happy life. I'm just glad the plastic sheeting, drywall dust, and parade of workers are history.
 

 

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