Reap the savings with renovations

If the economy forced you to put that big home-improvement project on hold a few years ago, it might be time for you to reconsider.

The Wall Street Journal writes that some homeowners who are taking a second look at their blueprints are now seeing savings as high as 20% on the same projects.

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Overall, prices for remodels are down 5% to 10% from their peak, but some of the more aggressive homeowners are asking for, and sometimes getting, even deeper discounts. From The Journal:

"Three years ago, if you asked someone for a discount, they'd laugh at you," says Jeff Hunt, vice president of Brothers Strong.

But his Houston company did it for Kim and Chandra Sobieski of Cat Spring, Texas, agreeing to lower the price on a 1,500-square-foot home expansion from the $380,000 it had asked for two years ago to $300,000. The Sobieskis also got a new roof and garage, after the former garage was converted to an entertainment room -- and it was all done ahead of schedule.

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As work slows down for contractors, many are willing to work for less money and take on smaller projects, and the prices for materials such as plywood, lumber and insulation also have gone down along with global demand, The Journal writes.

In addition, the slowdown in home sales after the boom years has led to fewer remodels, which it says usually occur within 18 to 24 months of buying a new or existing home. And tighter lending standards combined with falling home values aren't helping, either.

Which brings me to my other point, that these lower costs come at the perfect time for homeowners who think they might be stuck in their home a lot longer than they had expected.

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Obviously, not everybody can afford to rip a hole in their house to expand it by hundreds of feet, but you don't necessarily have to aim that big to take advantage of the potential savings.

Just two months ago, I wrote about a home remodeling and repair index from ServiceMagic.com (an MSN Real Estate partner) that showed a renewed interest in remodels of kitchens, bathrooms, home theaters and computer rooms.

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"People are looking at their homes as longer-term investments and doing a lot more routine maintenance and long-term maintenance," Chief Executive Craig Smith told me at the time.

If you can afford to make yourself a little more comfortable and improve your home's value in the long run, it sounds like now might be the perfect time to get started.

Tell us about your remodeling adventure and follies. Got any advice?