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Angie Hicks, Angie’s List founder: “If you are considering updating your house this year, consider remodeling the kitchen or the bathroom. Those two rooms get the best return on your investment- about 85 percent. But the key here is not overdoing it, but keeping up with the Jones’s. So if you’re the only house in the neighborhood without granite countertops then it makes sense to add them, if you’re not – skip out on that extra.”

Phil Gettum, Gettum Associates, Inc: “We talk about what you want to do, we come up with a design that satisfies those goals, and then the process goes from there depending upon the cost, and the cost involved and what selections need to be made and then we execute the project with our staff and then of course service after the sale.”

Angie Hicks, Angie’s List founder: “To make sure your remodeling project goes smoothly, the plan is plan, plan, plan and communicate, communicate, communicate. Plan ahead, lay out your budget, have ideas ahead of time, and then communicate with your contractor regularly – that starts with the estimate, documenting in the contract, all the way through the entire project.”

Angie’s List Tips:

• Establish a budget.
• Outline the scope of your project,
• Get 3 estimates that include the same items.
• Communicate regularly with your contractor.