We decide to do some improvements to our home over the past 5 months as we have realized that we will be in our house a little longer than we wanted and everything we are doing is good for an eventual sell anyway.

Things we did ourselves (We decided to do these ourselves because we could and it saved money)
-Paint entire main floor
-New front and back door with frame
-New shutters
-Stained and repaired backyard wood fence
-Backyard city garden (still finishing)
-New floor boards on roof deck

Contracted out (Things we couldn't do ourselves)
-New brick front steps
-New appliances (dishwasher, stove, and frig)
-Added lights in the kitchen over sink

I have been very happy with everything we have done. Thankfully we really didn't have any issues with the work. The new shutters were a pain because we had to get a ladder for the upper levels and it was a little dicey up there, but it was worth the work. While it sounds like a lot of money spent, it really wasn't that bad since we did most of it ourselves and they weren't big jobs. We were going to tackle the steps ourselves, but realized we were probably just asking for trouble. I would say, only if you truly able, do most of the work yourself.

I think all told it was about $6K-$7K, but the changes were well worth the cost. The changes made us a little happier to be sitting put until things get better. Plus, the improvements are going to help when it's time to sell anyway.

How do you find good contractors?

The answer to this is something that most people don’t even consider when thinking about home improvements but is surely makes the most sense. Why not talk to your local neighborhood Real Estate Agent? Maybe it was the agent who helped you purchase or sell your last home or maybe it is an agent that has signs all throughout your community. Either way, Real Estate Agents absolutely have to have contractors who do everything. They need to have contractors who are electricians, drywall contractors, painters, plumbers, handymen for small jobs (punch-out contractors), window and door contractors, home inspectors, termite inspectors, granite installers, kitchen and bath designers, interior decorators, home stagers, water proofing contractors, roofers, structural contractors, landscapers, appliance repair technicians, etc. Their contractors need to:

1. Have a very quick turn-a-round time since there is not a lot of time between the inspections and settlement or preparing a home for the market and listing it.

2. Provide an exceptional finished product and have an excellent quality of workmanship, because it will ALWAYS reflect poorly on the Real Estate Agent if the buyers or clients are not happy.

3. Have reasonable prices since the Real Estate Agent probably sends them a lot of work they can offer the buyers, clients, or customers bottom line prices.

How do I know all of this stuff? Because I am a real estate agent and if you ask any of my clients I am always telling them to CALL ME BEFORE THEY PICK UP THE PHONE BOOK! I tell them if they have anything that they need to have done around their home I probably “HAVE A GUY” for the job! The best part is most of the contractors have done several jobs for me including full home rehabs and renovations and are already battle tested and approved. Most of my guys are not in the phone book and don’t drive Hummers & other flashy cars when they come to give you estimates. What does that mean for you as a consumer? If you find them in the phone book, see them on television, and they pull up in a fancy car with all the bells and whistles, I can assure you that the ads and cars will be padded in the price they give you because that is how they bought the ad space and the fancy car to begin with!

Michael Klijanowicz is the top office individual producer for both listings and sales at his Long and Foster office in Perry Hall. He serves the Northern and Eastern areas of Baltimore County, all of Harford County, and most of Baltimore City. If you have any real estate related questions, feel free to contact him directly from his website at WWW.ISELLMDHOMES.COM or via email at mikek@lnf.com

We want to do some minor remodeling 1) just to upgrade and make it a nicer place to live, and 2) to gradually improve things so it's easier to sell when we move a few years from now.

We have the money and the ideas, but honestly, we haven't done anything yet because we have NO clue how to find a contractor that's both reputable and reasonable. We just don't know enough homeowners to get good referrals, so feel totally stuck.

I just bought my house 1 year ago and its fairly new so we don't have any major areas that we want to improve but there are a few thing that we want to do that new houses lack that won't cost us a ton to do:

1) Put up a backsplash in the kitchen

2) Custom closet organizer in our MBR

3) Landscaping

We plan on taking on all these projects ourselves so it should be fun

One of the best source of good contractors or installers is simply talking to your friends. With all the home renovations going on, if your friends haven;t done a similar reno, one of their friends probably has!

Hi Jamie,

I wanted to add one more thing to finding good contractors. Make sure that the contractor is fully insured and can produce the insurance certification that their insurance is up to date.

It's great to find a super low price contractor who does great work. But if they don't have the correct insurance and things go sour or they hurt themselves everyone is financially in trouble.

Try looking up local contractors and then ask them for references. Also ask friends and family if they could recommend anyone. By doing that you should be able to narrow it down.