Maybe we're not completely crazy?

The Times says now is a good moment to renovate. And the Times is always right. Right?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/garden/23renovation.html?pagewanted=1&hp

The Makeover Moment


By JULIE SCELFO

Published: April 22, 2009

LAST year, after Michael Perkocha and Tina Stott asked several contractors for bids to remodel a dilapidated bungalow they had just bought for $630,000 in the Glenview district of Oakland, Calif., they decided to wait before going ahead with the project.

Although the couple, both 49, had renovated several houses before and felt sure they would eventually be able to rent this one out at a profit (he’s an architect, she’s an urban planner, and restoring old homes is a hobby and source of extra income), the contactors’ estimates for the renovations were all in the range of $250,000, far more than the couple could afford.

But when Mr. Perkocha sought bids again in January, “it was a really different story,” he said.