Now is a great time to remodel your home or even have one built. Because of the housing slump, the cost of almost everything used to remodel or build a house has gone down in price. You can also get things done much faster than during the heyday of the housing boom. Not only are materials less expensive, such as lumber and drywall, but labor and design fees are less. According to an article in todays Wall Street Journal (The Upside to to the Downturn by Sara Lin) framing lumber is down 24% in price, drywall is down 35% in price and oriented strand board (a plywood substitute that is used for walls and roof sheathing) is down 40% in price. So now is a great time to have that remodeling job done or better yet, do it yourself.
One of the things to watch out for in this time of homebuilders and contractors being in bad financial condition or even going bankrupt is to make sure to have any work done by contractors in decent financial condition. The last thing you want is for them to go bankrupt in the middle of the job, thus leaving you in the lurch and losing money.
