You just bought a house, and the list of things you want to change is longer than the list of weekends you have. Some of it matters now. Most of it can wait, and a few things will cost you significantly more if they do.
This is the order we walk new homeowners through: safety and systems first, then a realistic budget, then the changes that affect daily life, and finally the ones that are purely about how the house looks. The sequence matters more than the individual projects — spending on a kitchen before fixing a roof is how a good renovation budget gets wrecked.
At Lamont Bros. Design & Construction, we’ve guided countless homeowners through the challenges of improving a newly purchased property. With years of experience in custom home remodeling, we understand the intricacies involved in making a house truly feel like a home.
In this article, we’ll walk you through the essential steps to prioritize your home improvements effectively. Once you’re done reading, you’ll have a better understanding of how to prioritize your home improvements after buying a house.
Home Renovation Checklist:
Before you move in — safety and systems
- Address anything flagged in your home inspection as a safety issue
- Roof — repair or replace if it's leaking or near end of life
- Structural and foundation issues, including seismic bracing in older homes
- Electrical — replace knob and tube wiring, upgrade an undersized panel
- Plumbing — replace lead or failing supply lines
- HVAC — repair or replace if the system is unreliable or unsafe
- Test for asbestos and lead paint before disturbing any pre-1978 surfaces
First 90 days — establish the budget
- Set an out-of-pocket number you're comfortable with
- Decide whether a renovation loan or HELOC makes sense
- Separate what must be fixed from what you want changed
- Get professional input before committing to a scope
First year — functionality and comfort
- Kitchen and bathroom layout changes, if the layout doesn't work
- Flooring and paint
- Lighting and electrical additions
Ongoing — appearance
- Cosmetic refreshes to spaces that already function well
- Landscaping and curb appeal
Here are each of those steps in greater detail:
Step 1: Address the Necessities
The top priority in any home improvement journey should be to tackle the necessities. These are the projects that make your home livable and safe. From ensuring your roof keeps you dry to updating old or dangerous mechanical systems, these improvements are the non-negotiables of home improvement.
For most of these projects, your home inspection should have provided you with some insights into the status of your new home’s main safety challenges before you purchased it. After buying a house, these are the types of home improvements you should prioritize before you move in.
Roof and Structural Repairs
Roofing and structural issues with the home should be at the top of your list. An old or leaking roof can lead to more costly issues down the line, such as water damage, dry rot, and mold. Many homebuyers include roof repair as a contingency to the home purchase, requesting that the seller make the repairs before the sale is finalized. If you discover that your roof needs repair after the fact, it’s still important to address this issue quickly to avoid further damage to the home.
Our good-better-best guide to roofing options covers what a replacement actually involves at different budget levels.
Older homes often have foundations that don't meet current seismic codes. A seismic retrofit can address a compromised foundation, and if the home has settled or shows cracking, knowing when foundation repair is warranted is worth understanding before you budget for anything cosmetic.
Heating and Cooling Systems
A functional heating and cooling system is essential for both comfort and safety in your home. Old or inefficient HVAC units can inflate utility bills, compromise indoor air quality and in some cases, impose risk of fire.
Especially in the Pacific Northwest, which sees major temperature fluctuations throughout the year, a reliable HVAC system is crucial for handling extreme seasonal temperatures. Upgrading your HVAC can also add to your home’s resale value and help you comply with energy-efficiency regulations.
Electrical and Plumbing
Ignoring electrical and plumbing deficiencies in your home can be equally dangerous. Faulty wiring, such as outdated knob and tube systems, poses a serious fire hazard and should be replaced. Knob and tube is common in Portland homes built before roughly 1950, and many insurers will not write a policy on a home that still has it. If your inspection flagged it, treat it as a pre-move-in item rather than a someday item.
Similarly, the presence of hazardous or faulty materials like lead or CPVC in older plumbing systems can lead to health concerns and flooding risks. These types of outdated plumbing and electrical systems in the home should be updated to avoid safety hazards and potential damage to the home.
Hazardous Materials in Older Homes
If your home was built before 1978, assume lead paint is present until testing says otherwise, and have any popcorn ceilings, old flooring adhesive, or pipe insulation tested for asbestos before disturbing them. Both are manageable — neither is a reason to walk away from a house — but both become expensive and dangerous when discovered mid-demolition rather than before it. Our guide on dealing with asbestos during a home remodel covers what testing and abatement involve.
Step 2: Establishing Your Budget
When trying to prioritize home improvements after buying a house, establishing a budget is a crucial step that dictates the scope and quality of the projects you’re able to do. Here’s how to go about it:
Understanding Your Out of Pocket Budget
The first step is to understand how much you can afford to spend out of pocket. Take a close look at your savings, monthly income, and other financial commitments. Once you have a clear picture, you can set a cash budget that aligns with your financial comfort zone.
Before you assign dollars to any single room, it helps to know what these projects actually run in the Portland market. Our cost guides cover what a kitchen remodel costs in Portland and what a bathroom remodel costs, and our cost calculators will give you a scoped estimate for your specific space.
Consider a Home Renovation Loan
If you’ve just bought a fixer-upper, you might want to consider a renovation loan. This type of loan allows you to borrow more than the home’s purchase price to cover the cost of improvements.
For example, if the home costs $600,000, but the cost of renovations is expected to be $300,000, you could get a renovation loan to cover the entire cost of $900,000. Financial institutions can guide you through this process.
There's more than one way to fund a renovation, and the right structure depends on how much equity you have and whether the work happens before or after you move in. Our guide to securing home improvement financing walks through the options.
Budget for Functionality over Aesthetics
It’s essential to strike a balance between aesthetic upgrades and functional improvements. If your kitchen is functional but not to your taste, you might focus on other areas of the home with more urgent needs and allocate a smaller portion of your budget for minor kitchen upgrades later on.
Work with Remodeling Design Experts
Consulting with professionals can help you make the most of your budget. At Lamont Bros., we have extensive experience in helping homeowners design projects to get the most value for their money. Whether it’s deciding between a kitchen or bathroom remodel or understanding how to maximize the return on investment of a renovation loan, our team can guide you through the process.
Step 3: Improve the Home’s Functionality & Comfort
After the necessities and budget considerations, focus on projects that will make you happier and more comfortable in your new home.
Kitchen and Bathroom
Typically, the kitchen and/or bathrooms are the first rooms homeowners want to renovate. Because you’ll spend so much time in both of these spaces, they will have a significant impact on your daily life and should be tailored to suit your style and needs.
Typical kitchen improvements include updating the layout, upgrading the cabinets, and replacing the appliances. Depending on your needs and lifestyle, your kitchen may require a larger portion of your renovation budget. A typical kitchen remodel costs between $100,000-$175,000, but they can be more or less expensive based on the scope of changes you want to make.
For bathroom remodeling, many homeowners tend to replace old fiberglass shower-tub combos with custom tile showers or freestanding bathtubs. Most bathroom remodels fall in the $50,000-100,000 range. Half-bathrooms and powder rooms are less expensive, while primary suites cost more.
Flooring and Paint
Flooring and paint are often underestimated but can significantly impact your home’s ambiance and value. The colors you choose set the mood, while the type of flooring affects both aesthetics and functionality. These upgrades are typically more cost-effective and can be completed quickly, offering a high return on investment.
As you consider your options for paint and flooring, keep in mind that lighter shades can make spaces feel larger, while darker tones add coziness. Also, consider how your lifestyle can affect your flooring needs. Whether you opt for hardwood, laminate, vinyl, or tile, the material you choose can impact the required maintenance and durability of your floors. Our good-better-best flooring guide compares durability and maintenance across materials at different price points.
Hardwood floors are timeless and add a touch of elegance but require regular upkeep. Laminate and vinyl offer a more budget-friendly and low-maintenance option. Tile is unparalleled in its longevity, customizability, and appearance, but is by far the most expensive flooring option due to the cost of installation.
One practical question worth settling early: whether you'll live in the house during the work. It affects sequencing, timeline, and cost — and it's easier to plan for than to improvise. We cover the tradeoffs in can I live at home during my remodel, and how to limit remodeling delays covers what tends to stretch a timeline.
Step 4: Improve the Home’s Appearance/Aesthetic
While functional and essential repairs should be your priority, don’t overlook projects that enhance the aesthetic appeal of your home. These upgrades may not be strictly necessary for day-to-day living, but they can significantly improve your quality of life and increase your home’s value.
Cosmetic Upgrades: Small Changes, Big Impact
Cosmetic upgrades can be both affordable and impactful. Consider updating light fixtures to bring a modern touch to your living spaces. LED lights, for example, are not only energy-efficient but also come in various styles and color temperatures to suit your home’s aesthetic.
Improving the cosmetic appearance of otherwise functional spaces a great way to make the home more “you” when there’s extra money in the budget. For example, if you like your kitchen’s layout and features, but want to add some character to the space, a cosmetic refresh is a great option. It’s amazing what a difference it can make to leave your cabinets as they are and simply replace surface finishes like backsplash, countertops, flooring, and light fixtures. Bathrooms are also great candidates for cosmetic upgrades if you’re happy with their functionality and layout.
Landscaping: The First Impression Counts
A well-maintained garden or a new patio doesn’t just look good; it also boosts your home’s curb appeal. Whether it’s a simple lawn care routine, planting seasonal flowers, or installing a water feature, landscaping projects can transform your outdoor space into a welcoming extension of your home.
How Your Plans for Your Home Change the Order of Renovations
The sequence above holds for most new homeowners. What shifts is how much you invest at each stage, and that depends on what this house is for.
If this is your forever home
When you're planning to stay indefinitely, it makes sense to solve problems permanently rather than patch them, and to invest in the things you'll experience daily even when they don't show up in resale value. Layout changes, better insulation and windows, and finishes you actually like are all easier to justify.
It's also worth thinking one stage ahead. Single-level living, wider doorways, and a bathroom that can accommodate future mobility needs are far cheaper to build during a remodel than to retrofit later. Our guide to aging-in-place home adaptations covers the changes worth making early.
If you expect to sell within a few years
A shorter horizon changes the math. Necessities still come first — you'll disclose them or a buyer's inspector will find them — but discretionary spending should skew toward what buyers respond to and away from anything highly specific to your taste.
That usually means keeping layouts conventional, choosing finishes with broad appeal, and putting money into the kitchen, bathrooms, and curb appeal rather than into specialized spaces. Our analysis of whether remodeling is worth it right now in Portland covers how return varies by project type.
If it's a rental or investment property
Investment properties invert the usual priority between durability and aesthetics. Materials that survive turnover matter more than materials you'd choose for yourself, and the cost of a repair includes the vacancy it causes. Systems work — roof, HVAC, electrical, plumbing — is worth doing thoroughly, because a failure mid-tenancy costs more than the repair itself.
Cosmetic spending should be calibrated to the rent the property can command, not to what the space could become.
Not Sure Where to Start?
Your priority will be specific to your home, your needs, and your budget. To see what's possible for your home and strategize about what to tackle first, schedule a consultation with our team.
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