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Equity buildup, low rates fuel home improvement craze

St. Louis Daily Record & St. Louis Countian, Aug 19, 2005 by Bernadette Starzee

This article originally ran in the Long Island Business News, Long Island, N.Y., another Dolan Media publication).

When Lynda Ireland bought her Sag Harbor home nine years ago, it was a very ugly contemporary sitting on a sand pile on top of a hill, she said. No one knew what to do with it. Over the years, she has put on additions, cedar shingles and has landscaped, creating a beautiful, traditional postmodern look.

Ireland added two bathrooms, bringing the total to five. She knocked down walls, creating an open floor plan. She enlarged the master suite - putting marble in the bathroom - and created a second- floor balcony off the master bedroom, accessed by French doors, that overlooks the back yard. She added wider base moldings and crown moldings, and granite countertops in the kitchen. She put slate on the floor and around the inside of the fireplace mantel.

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For the exterior, Ireland brought in shrubs and large trees, creating privacy; she added planters and flowers, and she put in a back deck and an in-ground pool. Much of the landscaping was done to prepare for her daughter's wedding, she said, which was attended by about 150 people.

Ireland, who now sells real estate in the Bridgehampton office of Prudential Douglas Elliman, drew on her extensive knowledge from her prior profession, building and renovating houses. Now that the renovations are complete, no one can believe the house is 20 years old, she said.

Throughout the United States, the home improvement craze continues. According to Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies in Cambridge, Mass., spending on home improvements in the second quarter of 2005 increased more than 4 percent over the second quarter a year ago. According to the center, homeowners spent $133 billion in home improvements over the past four quarters, and in the past decade, remodeling spending has increased by about 5 percent per year. Fueled by the ever-increasing real estate market - in which homeowners have a greater amount of equity in their homes, low interest rates and attractive home-equity loan and line of credit products - Americans continue to improve their homes.

The Coldwell Banker Luxury Index, a survey of U.S. homeowners with an income greater than $100,000 who have purchased a house valued at more than $1 million over the past two years, found that 31 percent of respondents said they would expand or remodel their residences in the next year. About 64 percent said that recent increases in interest rates will have no impact on their luxury purchases. When asked what high-end amenities they plan to put in their homes in 2005, the top responses were, in order, topiary/ landscaping, a home theater system/room, a gourmet/designer kitchen, a hot tub, an in-ground pool and a wine cellar.

There are countless other ways to renew and refresh your home, and many of them do not require that you take out a second mortgage or that you be a master builder. Small changes can make a house feel cleaner, prettier and newer.

Traditionally speaking

Inside the home, there's a trend toward traditional styling, with wood as a popular ingredient. The darker tones of cherry wood and mahogany have become popular choices for kitchen cabinets. More homeowners are pulling up carpeting to uncover hardwood floors.

Refinishing hardwood floors is fairly inexpensive, said Lawrence Paul Finn III, director of corporate services for Coach Realtors. And doing so can really make the house gleam.

As Finn notes, nice baseboards and crown moldings add to the traditional ambience. Many homeowners are painting their walls in neutral colors like beige and burgundy and contrasting them with stark white trim. Recessed lighting, and under-cabinet lighting in the kitchen, can cast a lovely glow. Ireland said that putting wainscoting in the bathroom, halfway up the wall, creates a traditional, early-American, cottage look.

Take old paneling off the walls, add a window treatment; there are so many new decorating stores out there that are more accessible to the public, said Finn. Home Depot Expo is booming. And Home Depot itself is carrying more traditional, classy looks.

Inside

As always, bathroom and kitchen renovations are high on homeowners' to-do lists. Houses built 20 or 30 years ago need their kitchens and bathrooms updated, said Priscilla Garston, a licensed sales associate in the Sag Harbor office of Prudential Douglas Elliman. Styles have changed so much since then.

As Garston noted, higher-end kitchen renovations feature amenities like Viking stoves, Subzero refrigerators, farmhouse sinks and granite or marble countertops. Crisp stainless steel appliances and wood are popular in the kitchen.

In high-end bathroom renovations, big-showers, with two showerheads, Jacuzzis and his and her sinks are de rigueur, said Garston.

It doesn't stop there.

The Suprans bought their Plainview house 10 years ago, and, as Eileen Supran put it, they have gradually hit just about every room in the house in terms of renovations.

Equity buildup, low rates fuel home improvement craze

St. Louis Daily Record & St. Louis Countian, Aug 19, 2005 by Bernadette Starzee

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