You, the largest homebuyer welcoming program in North America, almost 85 percent of the people who buy a home in New York plan to make major home improvements within a year. Among families with children, 86.8 percent cited a need to remodel. Home improvements can add value to a home and make it more comfortable. In the New York Metropolitan are, the Better Business Bureau said home improvement contractors and services generated the most inquires of any industry in 1997 and the third highest number of complaints.
Construction is like plastic surgery.
To make sure it gets done right, it's important for the homeowner to excerpt positive leadership from the beginning. Joe LaBarbera, director of the Putnam County Department of Consumer Affairs, said many homeowners have learned from experience that their responsibilities extend to more than signing the contract and paying the bills. If they really want to be happy with the results, they have to get actively involved with the project goals and finding a contractor who agrees with them. Too often, LaBarbera said, homeowners start a project without doing their homework. Quite frankly, some homeowners can't conceive in their mind's eye what the project is going to look like.