10 Reasons to Invest in a Whole Home Renovation - Onsite Construction & Restoration (2024)

Let’s face it, a whole home renovation can be time consuming, costly, inconvenient, and honestly, a pain in the you-know-what. But sometimes it’s just the right thing to do. If you’ve purchased a “fixer-upper”. If your home is over 25 years old and is looking worn and tired. If your family is expanding and you need more living space, another bathroom or bedroom. Or if the number of people living in your home is reduced.

A full home renovation includes structural improvements, new appliances, new plumbing, a new roof, and a new and upgraded HVAC system. It also includes changing or adding to the layout of your entire home. You may also want to investigate an eco-friendly “green” whole house renovation, while you’re at it.

The first thing to consider is cost. The average cost to gut and renovate a house in the Tampa, Florida area varies with the square footage. If you have a 1,000 square-foot home, a whole home renovation will most likely cost between $10,000 and $60,000. If you own a 2,000 square-foot home, the renovations could cost between $20,000 and $120,000 or more. That’s a pretty big investment.

On average, whole home renovations can give you a 70% Return on Investment (ROI) once they have been completed. Renovating your entire house is one of the very few investments that can improve your quality of life, increase and upgrade your living space, and add to the value of your home for future sale. Home improvements that offer you the best ROI are those that add more functional space and square footage.

Some of the best examples of more functional space are adding additional bedrooms or bathrooms, taking down walls, opening up living areas, and gutting and fully remodeling kitchens. In addition, full house renovations can add to your quality of life.

The next thing to consider is time. While every renovation project is different, you can typically expect a whole house renovation project to take anywhere from 4 months to 6 months or longer. Where will you and your family live during the renovation? Can you stay with family or rent an apartment or house nearby? This is another first thing to be considered.

Another important factor in your decision to do a whole house renovation is the location of your home and the neighborhood that you live in. You don’t want to upgrade yourself out of the real estate market. Consult a realtor, look at the “comps” around you. Take a drive around and determine just how much you want to change and update your home. As with starting any new project, research is your friend.

1. Bathrooms are always in high demand within a home. Kids getting ready for school, adults preparing to go to work. It can be a real hassle. So why not replace broken or outdated fixtures? Add storage space and closests, install more lighting, a vanity, a modern style sink? You can enlarge the room, add an additional bathroom, paint the walls a different color, install a low flush toilet, remove the bathtub and add a walk-in shower. As for your kitchen, when you renovate and significantly remodel your kitchen, you can improve its functionality. Think about moving your current appliances or installing new ones, adding a kitchen island and stools, or building a sunroom or breakfast nook as a positive and comfortable addition. You can increase storage by adding cabinet and countertop space, open the layout, remove a wall, hang drop lights, or install a window to brighten up the space. Because every homeowner needs a bathroom or two and a kitchen, these rooms are 100% functional and filled with necessary appliances and fixtures for use in your daily lives. Renovating your bathrooms and kitchen is the most expensive part of a whole house renovation. But since they are the rooms that are used the most in your home, investing in major upgrades and completely redoing these entire rooms makes a good deal of sense. And it translates into a higher ROI for home value and a future sale. In hot markets like Tampa and surrounding communities, you can expect a return of 100% or more on the cost of
   these room renovations.
2. The Federal Reserve has repeatedly raised rates this year to impede rampant inflationthat has reached 40-year highs across the globe. If you need to get a first or second mortgage to do your whole house renovation, do it now before interest rates go up again. Mortgage rates so far this year are hovering in the 6% to 7% range. Higher than we’ve had, but still affordable. If you’re considering doing a whole home renovation, now is the time to start (and finish) your project. Make some calls. Get a construction company in to give you an estimate. Come up with a workable plan. Review the original blueprints, make new ones. Ready, set, go!
3. Curb appeal. In every part of life, your first impression is always the most important. It can win or lose a sale, help you get a job, impress the people around you, and well sometimes, even find you the love of your life.
4. First impressions, or curb appeal, when it comes to your home are also important. Enhancing the look of your property with new impact resistant windows and doors, updated roofing, new siding or re-painting the cement exterior, getting new pavers, and improving and consistently maintaining your landscaping. All these renovations can improve the look of your home, increase its efficiency and ensure your security.
5. Completing a full exterior renovation, while you’re renovating the interior of your home can deliver an 80% ROI. Not a bad deal. And your first impression will improve considerably too.
6. A full home renovation will add longevity to your house. By replacing and upgrading pipes, HVAC ducts, electrical wiring, fixtures, paint, flooring, roofing, siding, and other things within your home, you will ensure that everything is brand new and fully functional. No potential or ongoing leaks. No cracks or holes. No uneven countertops or floors. No compacted or degraded insulation, bowed walls, or cracked tiles. Renovation equals: peace of mind, an increased comfort level, and a better resale value down the road.
7. You can make improvements that incorporate energy saving, energy efficient home appliances, electronics, thermostats, insulation, HVAC systems, windows, doors, and security systems. You can turn your newly renovated home into a “smart home” with electronics and systems that respond to a touch of your finger on your smartphone. A smart home allows you to remotely control the function of appliances, pool pumps and heaters, interior temperatures, lighting, security systems and cameras, as well as other networked devices throughout your home from wherever you are. Just down the street or in another part of the country or on holiday in the French Riviera.
8. Are you happiest when you’re sitting outside on your lanai listening to the sounds of the birds chirping, or your kids laughing in the pool? Do you like to entertain outside, firing up the grill and opening the wine refrigerator to see which special red wine goes best with filet mignon? If your answer is “yes,” while you’re doing a whole home renovation inside, you can let your creativity and imagination run wild outside your home too. Here are a few good reasons for outside renovation:
   – You can build a bigger, better outside kitchen. Add a deck or patio, expand your outside living space.
   – Entertain to your heart’s content.
   – How about building a fire pit, an outside gas fireplace?
   – Or adding a pizza oven?
   – Install sliders that open wide onto your lanai, increasing the perception of much more space.
   – Add ceiling fans or a TV or music system.
   – An upgraded or newly constructed or renovated outdoor living space is a place where friends and family come together to relax, create memories, laugh together, or share quiet moments. Think about it.
9. Are you expecting? Have your grown kids gone off to college or gotten married? Is your mom coming to live with you? Adding or subtracting the number of family members in your home can affect the type of renovation you’re planning. Think about enlarging a smaller bedroom into a full-sized, luxurious master suite and upgraded bathroom. Build an ensuite addition so that your mom or dad have some privacy (and you do too) as they grow older. Add an apartment over your garage. Turn a smaller room into a nursery. Raise the ceiling for better airflow.
10. One of the greatest advantages of whole home renovations is that it creates increased property value. And these total home projects can boost your home’s aesthetics, comfort, enhance your lifestyle, and increase your family’s safety. They improve the appeal of your home to potential buyers when you’re ready to sell. And it’s much less expensive than moving and buying property—especially in Florida—and building a brand-new home. The cost of building a new home in much of Florida ranges from $240,000 to over $500,000, with the state average at $385,000. This number doesn’t include the cost of the property to build on, excavations, permits, and other expenses. But home building prices in many areas of Florida can reach the millions, depending on the type or style of the home, interior and exterior customizations, and whether your property is on the water. It also depends on where in Florida you choose to live. The average cost per square foot in the Tampa area is $256. The average per square foot cost in the Naples area is $200 to $400. In Ft. Lauderdale, it’s $110. per square foot. And on Marco Island, the square footage cost can be as high as $881. Whoa! How does a whole home renovation look to you now?