Should you renovate a NEW home?

Most people think I am crazy for wanting to reno my near new townhouse. But not you. No, if you are here and reading this lil' blog, it's because you (like me) have an insatiable need to experience home beautification and perhaps your mind (like mine) is always consumed with how you can make your space better. Or at least that's what I'll tell myself.

Is my home new-ish? Yes. Is it beautiful? I think so. Is it ME? Not yet. Each project I undertake is a small step toward making this builder basic home more custom, more tailored to moi! The ever present argument I get from friends and family is twofold: 1) If you're only going to be in a "starter" townhome for a few years, why put money and effort into customizing it, when you could save those resources for your next DREAM home? and 2) What if the design decisions you make are not favourable to buyers when you choose to sell?

Well, I have thought about the first one. I have thought about having to one day leave behind my gorgeous carrerra marble backsplash when we ultimately sell this home; about eventually spending some big bucks for my sparkly new white kitchen cabinets only to leave them behind with some other lucky homeowner. But truth is, I don't know when we will be selling. I see us here for at least another couple years, if not more. So why not enjoy this lovely home, the way I want it to look like, for the next few years instead of hoarding my design materials and ideas for the next one? Life if short. Live it and enjoy it!

And finishing off with the last and more controversial argument, I truly (truly truly) feel that the non-recoverable changes I make to this home WILL help sell it. There are almost 200 townhomes in our one community, surrounded by over a thousand within a 2 mile radius, so setting our home apart from the others CAN'T be bad. I do not condone breaking the bank to customize a generic townhome in the hopes of flipping it for a much higher price, however. Working in real estate, I know this is not how it works. BUT when we do go to sell, ours will stand out from the others. Ours will hopefully sell quicker, and for closer to our asking price. So if we spend $5000 over 5 years customizing this home, I do not think it will affect our ability to sell, and actually believe the opposite. I know there is a wifey out there just DYING to have a white kitchen with a marble backsplash..... and so am I!