Cost of materials and demand for contractors. Even if you DIY it, everything is 3x as expensive as it was before covid. The price of lumber never really went back to where it was before covid. Its clearly price gouging.
this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2024
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Yeah, it sucks and really fucks with the "building equity in your home" narrative that updating/remodeling has. Now every fucking thing costs so much, that is very unlikely I get back out what I pay for updates in a home sale price later on. It seems like even maintaining your home is for the ultra-rich, now.
Building equity through improvements has pretty much always been a lie, the win was enjoying that improvement. The vast majority of improvements don't actually net a higher sell value than their cost.
The price of lumber never really went back to where it was before covid.
https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/lumber
The price in at the start of 2020 was ~$377.55 per thousand board feet.
https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm
$377.55 in January 2020 is $460.34 in July 2024 dollars.
The price of lumber in July 2024 was $423.27.
So it's gotten back down to and fallen below pre-COVID-19 prices in real terms.
It does look like the price has risen from July 2024 to November 2024, so it's presently higher, but it has not stayed above pre-COVID prices since the end of COVID-19.
See my response to the reply above this one.
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We livin in a new gilded age, bruh.
By February, I will have put $100k into a house in stuff that's nearly invisible - replace fence, repair leaking pool equipment, stabilize foundation, repair plumbing, and replace exterior 'wood' that was really watelogged mdf. My mom paid $220k 11 years ago. I've inherited it - and the $130k mortgage balance. My son is helping me by living there and covering the mortgage payment and I'm pulling money out of retirement to make repairs. It would likely take another $100k to update the 1980s kitchen, bathrooms, electrical, and 20 yr old hvac. Oh yeah, plus $10k/yr in taxes and insurance! Anyone want to buy a house?
repair leaking pool equipment
You have a pool. You are already head and shoulders above most people, including people who are also mortgaging a property.
It's green and has been unusable for most of this year. It's essentially a pond.
But you're building equity! /s
Yeah, but, after X years you own your house.
After X years of renting, you got nothing.
Depending on where you live, much or all of that value goes away if it's 35-50 percent more expensive to own. Especially if you choose to invest the savings.
That’s some rich dad poor dad BS. Means nothing if you can’t afford the additional y cost over renting, plus with interest rates where they’re at…..so much of that monthly payment is still going nowhere.
You don't have to pay the mortgage in thirty years and eat the entirety of the interest. I paid mine off in three.
There's no way I'm not saving money over renting at this point. I pay less than $1000 a month to live in a place that would cost $4000 a month to rent.
What year did you buy your home, and what cost? What is it worth today on Zillow or your site of choice?
I bought in early 2020 and it's now worth about 50% more than it was.
I kinda lucked out, because I bought right before everyone realized that we were screwed with COVID and were going to be stuck in their houses because the government had no idea what they were doing. I say "kinda lucked out" because I watched Trump deliver a speech as the stocks tanked in the corner, and realized he had no idea how to handle it. After watching it I turned to my spouse and said, "I know it sounds crazy, but I think we should buy a place right now." I also had been looking for some time and realized that mortgage rates were near all time lows.
All time low rates + stuck in small places = everyone that can buy a bigger place will buy a bigger place.
Ah, very wise. You must see how people didn't get matching 50% raises, matched with even higher interest rates... unfortunately the time of paying off your home early might be behind us, at least for a long while.
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My house is paid for so I’m gonna say nope - even with maintenance and taxes, etc
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