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If you eliminate both the LR and the DR, you're potentially eliminating pools of buyers that are looking for those features. Plenty of buyers look for homes with a formal DR, at least, because they envision having holiday meals there. Now, they most likely will never use that formal DR, but you're trying to live up to their expectations, and by removing both rooms, you're potentially having people not even step foot in your home, solely due to those factors. Furthermore, by converting those rooms into a master suite, you're removing the option for buyers to decide for themselves what to do with those spaces; those rooms now only have one function, as a bedroom, and that's not even getting into eliminating buyers who want all the children's bedrooms on the same floor as the master.
You're conflating what your personal needs and preferences are with potential re-sale value. You're never going to recoup the full cost of investment you make in your home, especially for mechanical issues ; so the changes you'd like to make to the floors, ceilings and windows would probably make your home more presentable, and presumably sell quicker, but a buyer is not going to give you a dollar-for-dollar return on that investment. It's presumed when you purchase a home that the seller has already taken care of these issues. If you want to make all these changes to the home, then make them as soon as feasible for your own personal enjoyment.
If you're planning on never selling the home, then go ahead and make the changes that will make living there more convenient to you. But you say you're planning on selling, even if it's long-term, and the prime rule of selling a home is that you need to appeal to as many potential buyers as you can. By personalizing your home to the extent that you're looking to do, you're possibly eliminating a sizable part of your buyer pool.
To be honest, I don't intend to EVER move from the house. I intend to stay there until my last breath. My husband, on the other hand, envisions moving back to NYC once the kids are grown and out in the world. I once envisioned that as well, but now I'm not so sure I want to move back to NYC at the age of ~52 and expect it to have the same fun/thrill as it did when we lived there in our early 30s. *lol*
To be honest, I don't intend to EVER move from the house. I intend to stay there until my last breath. My husband, on the other hand, envisions moving back to NYC once the kids are grown and out in the world. I once envisioned that as well, but now I'm not so sure I want to move back to NYC at the age of ~52 and expect it to have the same fun/thrill as it did when we lived there in our early 30s. *lol*
I'm a born and bred NYer and I can tell you for a fact that the city has changed so much that your instincts are spot on.
Going back to your situation, you should definitely do the windows, as that should provide you with cost-savings just by making the house more energy-efficient and cutting down on your utilities. The flooring as well, since the carpet is definitely at the end of it's usable life. Painting, the popcorn ceilings and the backyard are DIY projects you can do that will give you big bang for your buck.
I'd hold off on the master suite until you absolutely need to solely because you think you might try to sell down the road; if in 10 years or so, you find that the stairs are really that bad and a first-floor master makes sense, you can then weigh where your housing market is for both selling your home and purchasing a single-level place versus the cost of the remodel. You may find the numbers work for selling rather than remodeling.
I told my husband about everyone's feedback and we've decided not to do the master suite renovation. If it truly gets to a point where my husband is having difficulty with the stairs, it'll be cheaper to install one of those chair lifts on the staircase! And that can be removed if/when we sell.
Instead, we are thinking we'll do a "project a year" - not for resale purposes but for our own edification as we continue to live in the house.
Honestly, I love redecorating and renovating homes, but I agree with others who suggest moving to a home with at least a downstairs master suite, rather than doing such a major change to the basic structure of a house. I agree that for resale, a downstairs bedroom is a plus (even if it's not a master downstairs). But losing BOTH the formal dining and living rooms seems like the negatives will offset the positives. Can you put a guest room in one of those rooms, one that has close proximity to a bathroom downstairs? Or maybe put in a small en suite bathroom? Rather than losing a third or more of your original floorplan downstairs? Or could you convert the dining or living room to the office and put a guest bedroom where the office is?
If not, I think I'd be looking for another house in the general area - one that better fit my needs. Not sure about your area but in our area, no downstairs bedrooms is a big negative by the way - but a master bedroom directly off the front entrance is also a negative. Especially with no formals whatsoever. You will have a four bedroom house (which would appeal to larger families) but no second living area or area large enough to host big holiday dinners.
If you have single pane windows now, then replacing them with Energy Star double pane windows can save a LOT of money on the heating / cooling bills! (Do that first and use the savings to help finance the other projects.)
Honestly, I love redecorating and renovating homes, but I agree with others who suggest moving to a home with at least a downstairs master suite, rather than doing such a major change to the basic structure of a house. I agree that for resale, a downstairs bedroom is a plus (even if it's not a master downstairs). But losing BOTH the formal dining and living rooms seems like the negatives will offset the positives. Can you put a guest room in one of those rooms, one that has close proximity to a bathroom downstairs? Or maybe put in a small en suite bathroom? Rather than losing a third or more of your original floorplan downstairs? Or could you convert the dining or living room to the office and put a guest bedroom where the office is?
If not, I think I'd be looking for another house in the general area - one that better fit my needs. Not sure about your area but in our area, no downstairs bedrooms is a big negative by the way - but a master bedroom directly off the front entrance is also a negative. Especially with no formals whatsoever. You will have a four bedroom house (which would appeal to larger families) but no second living area or area large enough to host big holiday dinners.
1) The office is only 8x8 - not a good size for a bedroom.
2) We already have a four bedroom house. It's a 4 bed 2 1/2 bath house. The renovation would have made it 5 bedroom 3 1/2 bath - which is in keeping with many of the homes in our neighborhood. Or neighborhood has a nice mix of homes between 3 bed 2 bath and 5 bed 3 1/2 bath.
As I said in my previous post, we've decided not to do the renovation after all.
1) The office is only 8x8 - not a good size for a bedroom.
2) We already have a four bedroom house. It's a 4 bed 2 1/2 bath house. The renovation would have made it 5 bedroom 3 1/2 bath - which is in keeping with many of the homes in our neighborhood. Or neighborhood has a nice mix of homes between 3 bed 2 bath and 5 bed 3 1/2 bath.
As I said in my previous post, we've decided not to do the renovation after all.
Sorry I missed your earlier post - I started my response to this thread prior to you posting it but then went off on my own decorating tangent before finishing it! We are in the midst of renovating and redecorating a home ourselves.
I am very glad you decided not to go ahead with the master suite downstairs thing. I think it would have made your house an oddity among the other houses in the neighborhood - not because it would have been a five bdrm but because a four bedroom home WITH a formal dining and living room area is much more in demand than a five bedroom home without those elements in most areas.
I like your idea of the lift if necessary since you can't put a bedroom downstairs. That makes a lot more sense, and now you can focus your attention (and budget) on the other items on your Honey Do list.
1) new windows throughout house
2) new flooring in 75% of house (the 17-yr-old builder grade carpeting has had it)
3) a backyard that REALLY needs to be redone from scratch
4) popcorn ceiling removal
5) new paint throughout entire house
Just my two cents' worth but here's the order I would put your to do list in:
1) New paint (and if you paint the ceilings go ahead and remove the popcorn ceiling stuff but if not, don't worry about it)
2) New flooring
3) Backyard
4) New windows
At the end of the summer you can find some insane steals on outdoor patio furniture.
I once bought a Pawleys Island Hammock and the stand for $75 which the hammock retails for about $150 and the stand $300.
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