Remodeling Report for Chicago 2024, Part 1
Thanksgiving is the start of the interior remodeling season in the Chicago area. Perhaps you’ve been considering a remodeling project. The 2024 Zonda Cost vs Value (CVV) report1 — which details the most common home renovation projects across the nation ranked by average return on investment (ROI) values — cites kitchens and baths in the top 10 remodeling projects. A minor kitchen remodel in the Chicago area yielded 94% ROI, while a mid-range bathroom remodel delivered 69% ROI. If you’ve been dreaming of refreshing your most-used spaces, consider starting your project now so that you can enjoy it longer! In this, the first of our “Remodeling Report for Chicago 2024” series, we share some of our insights and advice on remodeling to help you make good decisions and avoid pitfalls.
Aging in place
Bathrooms continue to be the most popular remodel for our clients. We’ve geared up and become well-versed in Universal Design (what used to be called “Aging in Place”) — Universal Design remodeling involves the adaptation of a home so that it’s safe and manageable for a person to live in regardless of their physical limitations. It can be an alternative to selling a beloved, longtime home and moving.
As the Baby Boomer generation ages, it is confronted with mobility and falling issues (falling in the home continues to be the #1 cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries for older Americans2). Our handymen frequently install new railings and grab bars in our clients’ homes. This is easily accomplished, while other projects require more time, planning and investment, such as widening doorways, curbless showers, walk-in tubs and raised toilets.
Low budgets can lead to big headaches
It is said that over half of residential remodeling companies go out of business within five years, with many failing even earlier in their first year of operation.3 Typically most of the failed companies we see are sole proprietors: a guy with a truck and remodeling experience who means well but gets overextended and in debt. Debts become greater than their cash flow and that begins a downward spiral. They stop paying their suppliers and subcontractors.
For unsuspecting homeowners this can mean a loss of their deposit or having a lien placed on their property and a list of unpaid contractors who will now need to be paid before they can sell their house. The most desperate and unscrupulous of these contractors have resorted to giving lowball estimates and collecting as many deposits as they can in hopes of fending off failure.
Get Dwell has come to the remodeling rescue of homeowners who opted for low-price remodels and got burned. It’s not surprising that in 2024 — more than any year in the past 20 — we’ve been called in to help with botched bathroom and kitchen renovations. Sometimes we step in to replace contractors who simply walked off the job!
Supply chain delays may be largely a thing of the past, but the lack of qualified, skilled and available contractors and workers continues to be a huge factor affecting the remodeling business. The operative words here are qualified and skilled. According to a recent Kitchen & Bath Design News report, “In the Midwest, a lack of skilled labor remains a barrier to proceeding with major kitchen/bath renovations.”4
As the saying goes, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” Homeowners who think they’re saving money by going with a low estimate ultimately end up paying more if they have to call on us to step in and fix mistakes. Two of our projects this year came from homeowners who did not realize that the low bids they received from seemingly “very nice” contractors turned out to be from unreliable, cash-strapped companies. A deposit was paid, followed by project delays, then homeowners’ phone calls were not returned by the contractor.
We’re committed for the long term
What differentiates Get Dwell from other companies is our commitment not only to our clients’ present needs but their future ones as well. We’re in it for the long haul. We keep up with industry trends and know which remodeling projects will yield the best return on investment in the Chicagoland area. We have been maintaining, repairing, improving AND remodeling many of our clients’ homes for the past 20 years, providing services ranging from window cleaning to junk pickup, from repairs large and small to scheduled home maintenance, from improvements such as painting and wallpapering to basement waterproofing, roof repair and remodeling projects both major and minor. Our holistic approach has helped us establish a deep bench of the best teams for all our clients’ needs. With the advances in technology and training, communication and home improvement, project outcomes have also become more reliable.
There’s no time like the present
At Get Dwell, we’ve seen our labor cost for the best, most experienced master carpenters greatly increase over the last 20 years. There’s no reason to believe that materials will not be more costly over time. If you’ve been thinking about remodeling or making your home more user-friendly, schedule time to speak with one of our project managers today and lock in your time slot. This is the right time.
Sources:
- ©2024 Zonda Media, a Delaware corporation. Complete data from the 2024 Cost vs. Value Report can be downloaded free at www.costvsvalue.com
- “Get the Facts on Falls Prevention”, The National Council on Aging, June 1, 2024
- Will, Abbe. “Five-Year Failure Rates for Contractors Exceeded 50% During Downturn”, Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, February 10, 2016
- “Regional Trends Vary Widely, NKBA Report Finds”, Kitchen & Bath Design News, October 3, 2024