You Can Afford to Turn Your House Into Your Dream Home. Here's How.

Image source: Trulia.

Whether you already own a house or just have plans to buy in the future, most people have thought about what it would take to turn their property into their dream home. Whether it's starting over and building from scratch or taking an existing residence and doing extensive remodeling, the thought of having all the amenities you'd ever need while getting rid of those annoying quirks that have grated on you for years makes the prospect of doing home improvements almost irresistible.

Of course, remodeling and renovations can cost a lot of money, and in these days of tight budgets and small or nonexistent pay raises at work, it might make the idea of creating your dream home seem like an impossible dream. Yet there is a way you can put together the financial resources you need to have the home of your dreams without mortgaging your future in the process. The key is an easy-to-understand investing principle that can provide a solid foundation upon which you can build your net worth.

What it takes to build your dream home If you've never looked at the costs of remodeling, prepare for a shock: The price tags involved can make it seem like you'd be better off starting from scratch. Starting at the low end, there are a few projects you can do without breaking the bank. For instance, adding a deck to your home costs an average of about $9,300 for a midrange home, according to figures from Remodeling Magazine . Window replacements also run in the $10,000 range, and a bathroom remodel typically costs around $15,000.

But once you start looking at some more ambitious projects, the dollar amounts you'll see start to get really serious. Thinking of remodeling your basement? Expect to pay around $60,000. A major kitchen remodeling can run $50,000 or more, and putting in a sunroom carries about a $70,000 price tag. And if you want the master suite of your dreams, you can start thinking of six-figure sums.

Image source: Trulia.

Moreover, if you already have an upper-end home, then remodeling projects get even more expensive. A luxury kitchen remodeling can easily take you over the $100,000 mark, while adding a master suite in an upscale house costs an average of $220,000.

If you're like many homeowners, it's easy to justify those expenditures to yourself by arguing that they enhance the value of your home. In theory, you should therefore get your remodeling expenses back when you sell your home.

In reality, though, you can only expect to see a fraction of what you pay on a remodeling project to flow through to the value of your home. Such projects typically add between 50% and 75% of their cost to your home value. And, disappointingly, the projects with the highest price tags are often the ones that pay off the least .

One danger with home remodeling projects is that it's easy to overextend yourself. Most banks are happy to offer home equity loans or lines of credit to finance remodeling projects, and the interest rates are low enough to make maintaining the debt look deceptively easily. Yet if you're not careful, relying too much on debt to build the home of your dreams will leave you regretting having made the decision in the first place. After working so hard to get your home just right, financial regret is the last thing you want.

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You Can Afford to Turn Your House Into Your Dream Home. Here's How.