When boomers bring their elderly parents into their homes to live, usually adding space to accommodate them, universal design comes to the fore again. “[We provide] handicapped access to the bathroom, wider areas for wheelchairs, cabinets with the bottom halves removable for wheelchairs, lower outlets and receptacles, lower countertops, and private entries and exits,” says Ed Cholfin of Advanced Kitchens and Advanced Contractors, in Marietta, Ga. Cholfin says that such a remodel ranges from $120 to $180 per added square foot, depending on materials, trim, and labor. And this is a remodel desired by 26% of the boomers in Hanley Wood’s survey.
LUXURY In 2005, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies, baby boomers accounted for $76 billion of the U.S. total of $143 billion spent on remodeling. “Boomers represent more than half of the remodeling market and the majority of high-end projects,” Bendimerad says. “They are pioneers in terms of massive and high-end remodels. As they get closer to their real senior years, the mix of projects is likely to change more to include aging in place, but this is not exclusive to luxury.”
Bendimerad’s statistics are supported by Hanley Wood’s survey, where one third of the respondents desired luxury during retirement in their homes. All 2,000 respondents were between 50 and 60 years old, too — more proof that aging boomers will still want the best.
“The best” is why the boomer clients of Teevan Restoration, in San Francisco, want luxury. These customers, who are younger boomers, “don’t want super-flashy design,” says company president Ben Ladomirak. “Most people want luxury for quality’s sake.”
On the other hand, Ed Cholfin’s boomer customers, whose kids usually have left or are leaving home, want luxury for its own sake. “Luxury is number one,” he says. This means that master bath remodels ranging from $30,000 to $100,000 include heated floors, “fancy” tubs, whirlpool baths, and custom cabinetry, and kitchens are designed with beautiful accessories and high-end appliances.
During the last three years, Cholfin’s average remodel for the 65% to 75% of his clients who are boomers has ranged from $75,000 to $125,000. With the kids gone or on their way out, “boomers are making a deep initiative to give themselves what they want,” Cholfin says.
Both Terry Quinn, of Almar Building and Remodeling, in Hanover, Mass., and Anna Mavrakis, of Mavrakis Construction and TNL Design Build, in Canton, Ohio, see their boomer customers of all ages wanting more space. For one boomer client, Quinn enlarged a kitchen for $46,000, and for another he completely remodeled a 2,000-square-foot basement for $100,000.
In late 2005, TNL Design Build completely gutted a 1930s home, added two new kitchens and three new bathrooms as well as a first-floor laundry room. The company also redid all the floors, paint, draperies, and furniture. Mavrakis says, “On most of our work, customers want the ‘wow’ factor.” For this project, that included a master bath with a Jacuzzi tub, ceramic flooring, granite counter-tops, high-end plumbing fixtures, and a claw-foot Victorian tub.
Boomers want new products and “anything that’s different that their neighbors don’t have,” Mavrakis says. TNL does about six whole-house remodels each year for $250,000 to $400,000 each.
FINDING AND KEEPING BOOMER CUSTOMERS Word-of-mouth referrals are the best way to bring in boomer customers. “You can’t do a hard-sell to this group,” O’Connor says. “Cultivating word-of-mouth referrals and using ads with testimonials increase credibility and show that [remodelers] understand the market.”