Homeowners who have either decided to stay in their homes or are considering selling may be helping to build momentum in the remodeling market.

According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the organization’s Chairman, Greg Miedema, said in a recent media statement that, “With more calls from homeowners and more projects under way, remodelers are seeing better activity in their businesses.”

NAHB also reported that indicators for current remodeling market conditions have improved in all regions across the country. “A significant portion of the market improvement came from the measure for major additions and alterations (jobs worth $25,000 or more with a leap to 38.2 (from 32.7),” according to NAHB. The association’s Remodeling Market Index (RMI) measures ranges from zero (very poor conditions) to 100 (excellent conditions) as rated by the remodelers surveyed.

NAHB says several factors could be contributing to better remodeling conditions. “Remodeling does uptick when there are more new homes being built and sold or existing homes being sold because people tend to remodel when they’re moving or when they’re selling. … The other thing that we could be seeing is an increase in consumer sentiment in that people have been reluctant to spend but now are feeling a little bit more confident and more willing to spend. These are things that some of our researchers think might be part of the influencers right now,” says Kelly Mack, Communications Manager for NAHB Remodelers.

Remodeling is, however, a big step for many homeowners. Getting the best value for your remodel shouldn’t come from guesswork; instead, knowing how to find a remodeling company with a solid reputation for delivering quality work throughout the entire remodeling process requires research.

Choosing the best remodeler for your project can often be a tedious process and if you don’t take the time to explore all your options it can result in frustration and too much money spent.

Making sure the company that is doing the remodel asks the right questions, does its homework, and offers full-service design and remodeling under one roof. This will help ensure a quality remodel that meets all your needs.

Some words of advice, from someone that has personally washed her dishes in the bathrub for six weeks in a row, (my husband is still mad about this!). Hire a professional contractor! Ask for referrals from your friends that had a great experience and are raving fans of their contractor. If they had a great experience, chances are you will too. Interview at least three contractor and have your list of questions prepared when you speak to them. Ask them for their job quotes in writing. Don’t be shy, ask for at least 3 references and actually call these references to ask about the quality of the work done and the timeliness in which the project was finished and would they work with this contractor again? Also ask for pictures of completed past jobs.

A little precaution will go along way!

It’s a great day in real estate!