A recent study conducted in August of 2008 shows that homeowners in British Columbia are planning to upgrade their homes instead of selling and buying new as reported by the CNW Group newswire. It follows November’s Toronto Life cover story that despite the perilous connotations, reports a similar trend -  Torontonions alone spent 7.1 billion in 2007 (a sizable increase from ‘06) on home renovations.

Despite the world wide economic woes, home improvements are a sound investment as new additions or upgrades are proven to bring value to the home.  It makes sense when most of us don’t have a clue where to put our savings.  In a recent article from MoneySense about an investment group of teachers, the main interviewee spoke on how people tend to do the opposite when it comes to investments at a time like now.  Instead of being more conservative and buying less, it’s a good time to buy more because prices have dropped.  Can traditional market theories hold true with possibly looming black swans?

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If perhaps you’ve decided that the 10K loss in your RSP this year might better be made up through putting this year’s money into some home renos, make sure you find a reputable contractor.  The website www.hiringacontractor.com has useful information.

If however, you might think that you can save even more with a DIY project, there may be some things to consider before you go ahead:

• Have an overall budget in mind and be realistic in assessing your finances

• Try and leave some flexibility as unexpected situations during the project may cause you to incur extra expenses

• Define a reasonable timeframe for completion

• Give yourself some time to do your research in order to find and hire and your Designer / Decorator, contractor, and all other the necessary workers

Although the focus is more on decor, there are some valid points to go over in the rest of this article where the above was taken from.