For Barbara Mathews and her husband, Bruce, home renovations help keep the love alive.
“It’s the glue to our marriage to rip down walls,” says Ms. Mathews, 51, who has made more than $150,000 worth of renovations on her 1919 Toronto home, with more to come.
The couple, both teachers and artists, do much of the labour themselves, and are in the process of gutting their third floor to create a master bedroom with an office, studio and walk-in closet. Last year, they took advantage of the Home Renovation Tax Credit when they had their windows replaced.
“Our house is our really big investment and we also live in it. We can enjoy it and we always like to make our homes more energy-efficient, more beautiful, more comfortable, and then when we sell it, hopefully we’ll make more money as well. So it’s not just about what we can save through the government incentive.”
For some Canadians, however, the end of the Home Renovation Tax Credit and the elimination of the Energy-Efficient Home Improvement Tax Credit have dealt a blow to their renovation plans.
A new Harris/Decima survey commissioned by Bank of Montreal reports 32 per cent of Canadian homeowners say they can either no longer afford to renovate or have had to delay their renovations due to the tax credits being eliminated. One in four respondents said they are moving forward with renovations as planned.
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Thinking of renovating?
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Laura Parsons, area manager of specialized sales for BMO, says despite the finite timetable for the home renovation credits, a lot of Canadians, herself included, were surprised that the government did not extend the credits to further stimulate the economy. “We all expected the government to ‘new and improve’ it, much like they did with the first-time home buyer’s program, because it had such a great influence.”
Once people get past their disappointment over the tax credits, however, Ms. Parsons believes they will reconsider their renovation plans.
“For me, I’m thinking of renovating and I don’t care about the tax credit, I’m going to renovate,” says Ms. Parsons, 50, who, along with her husband, works out of her Calgary home. She is planning to refinish her wood floors, repaint, buy new appliances and maybe even add a hot tub this year. “I wake up to it every day, so I want it the way I want it.”
Some things to take into account, she says, are how much value a renovation will add to your home, whether it will make your home more sellable and whether you can afford it. Financial planners and mortgage experts can help answer those questions, she says, but in general, homeowners get the biggest returns from investing in kitchen and bathroom renovations. Online renovation guides are a great resource for determining the potential return from a renovation.
Another consideration is urgency, says Steven Stewart, a 47-year-old computer programmer who unexpectedly had to replace his furnace when it broke down last year. While he was glad to be able to take advantage of both the renovation and energy-efficiency tax credits for his 20-year-old house in Brampton, Ont., he says certain home improvement decisions should not be based on tax credits.
