'Twas only a few years ago, when the housing boom was in full roar, that homeowners didn't have to fret too much over whether the money they invested in remodeling would be paid back at resale time.
Indeed, it was practically a no-brainer: Home sale prices were going up so high and so fast that remodeling the kitchen or the master bath would nearly pay for itself. Some remodeling companies had so much backlogged work that clients passed the time on waiting lists.
"These days, it's a new ballgame," said Sal Alfano, a former contractor who now is the editorial director for Remodeling magazine, a trade journal. "Now, the jobs are smaller, the scope of work has been cut back, and consumers are doing things in phases."
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