Lazy Man and Money

Easy and Cheap Home Remodels

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Wrapping up a surprise
Wrapping up a surprise

This article was submitted by the Handyman, author of Handyman Fix Home Repair (rss feed). He strongly belives in cheap kitchen remodeling. If you like the guest post please check out his website and consider subscribing to his rss feed.

With the state of the housing market and values for homes dropping across the country, there has never been a better time to think about remodeling. This is a quick and easy way to add value to your home and avoid heading into negative equity territory. There are many easy and cheap home remodels that anyone can do without breaking the bank. These little refreshments for your home can have a big impact not only on the overall value of your home, but they can also provide you with more functionality and you’ll just feel better about your house.

  1. Give your appliances a facelift. If you have always wanted stainless steel appliances, but can’t quite swing the cost, there is an easy way to get that same look at a mere fraction of the cost. Purchase contact paper with a stainless steel finish and simply affix it to your appliances. The process generally takes less than an hour, and if you are careful and follow the directions exactly, the results look just like the real thing. Or if you like to be more practical try Chalkboard Contact Paper
  2. Replace your flooring with peel and stick tiles. If your kitchen or bathroom floors have seen better days, but you can’t quite afford to get them completely redone, you may want to consider adding peel and stick tiles. These are available at most home improvement stores as well as discount stores and it will usually cost less than $150 to complete an entire room. The installation process is very easy and the finished result will look very professional.
  3. Replace kitchen, bathroom and interior hardware. Simply buying new door handles, and drawer pulls can have a big impact on how your house looks. There are literally hundreds of different finishes that you can choose from and most are relatively inexpensive. This is an easy fix and installation should take only a few minutes for each door or drawer you are updating. Consider going with stainless steel hardware for a modern look, or you can even find hardware that looks like wrought iron for a fraction of what the real thing would cost.
  4. Overhaul appliances to make them more efficient. Even forced air furnaces need to be cleaned every once in awhile and doing so can greatly impact how efficient they are and how much money you spend on energy costs. In addition, if your fridge is crammed full, cleaning it out will help it function properly and you can end up saving a significant amount of money on electricity. If you have window air conditioners, clean the filters to keep them functioning properly.
  5. Install new window treatments. Nothing dates a room faster than old window treatments. Consider ditching the mini blinds for a new set of drapes, or throw out those old curtains and install a brand new set of roman shades. There are many available options that can provide not only beauty, but also energy savings. Thermal backed window treatments can make a big difference in the comfort level of your home both in summer and winter.

These easy fixes certainly won’t break the bank and you’ll be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor, knowing that you saved a ton of money.

If you are interested purchasing various tools for you DIY projects please consider starting your shopping at the Handyman Fix Home Repair stores: Hardware Store, Garden Store, and Discount Appliances

Angie’s List: Any Good?

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Longtime readers know that while I live near San Francisco, my wife and I own rental properties in Boston. We didn’t set out to buy them as an income stream. She owned her place before she met me. I bought my place soon after we started dating. While neither one of us intended to move to San Francisco, my wife’s career stood to significantly benefit from relocation.

As you may have heard, it’s not a good time to sell homes. Having bought out homes in 4 and 7 years ago at near market highs, there wasn’t a lot of money to be made by selling. In fact, my condo would sell for about $20,000 less than what I paid for it. As such, we decided to keep the properties and instead rent them out. My theory is that in 30 years, we’ll have no mortgage and a nice income stream – even if things look “break even” today.

Unfortunately being a landlord 3000 miles away isn’t easy. While we’ve been blessed with good tenants, the place is going to need maintenance from time to time. Bath tubs don’t caulk themselves. It’s not very economical for me to fly back, so I’m in the search of a good handyman in the Boston Metro West area.

This is when I saw an ad for Angie’s List. I’m already a huge fan of Craig’s List, so why not give Angie a shot? When I got to Angie’s website, though, there was a surprise. It wasn’t a free service like say 1-800-Dentist as I suspected. You have to pay monthly fees to be a member and find a handyman. The first month they even hit you with set-up/activation fee. I’ve joined a lot of websites in my time, and I can’t imagine what set-up/activation they have to do. It seems clear to me that this is a way to get someone to spend around $25 up front when they just want the name of a handyman (as in my case).

I’m not against paying for something, but give me a demo or something so I can see what the service does and how it works. Let me know how many handymen are in the area that I want. My wife’s place is close to Worcester, MA which is a good hour from Boston. Angie’s List’s Boston community may or may not be helpful in that case. They should at least tell me that up front.

To Angie’s List credit, they offer a 110% price protection… if you are not satisfied you get your money back… and then 10% on top of that. However, I’m always skeptical of those deals. It seems like there would be a lot of hoops to go through and if they decide not give you your money back, are you going to hire a lawyer to recoup your $25? Of course not. It’s much easier to keep the $25 in your wallet until you know what you are buying.

I’m starting to think that Angie’s List isn’t very helpful and that I should look other places for my handyman. Before I give up, I thought I’d put the question out here. Do you use Angie’s List? Where do you find a good handyman if word of mouth fails (as it has for me)? Perhaps Craig’s List is the answer for this too?