Incrementalism is a concept that a lot of people in the automotive hobby are familiar with… in theory, if not the word itself.  So, let me give a definition…Clean little Jeep

Incrementalism refers to the practice of just changing things a little bit… over time… piece by piece.

This would be opposed to going “All In” or whole hog.

In my past, when I built my Wrangler, I changed and tweaked and tuned and the re-did all of it.  Several times.  I probably spent the money and time that I achieved with the final incarnation 3 or 4 times over.  I went through 4 different versions of the suspension.  I had a couple of different drivetrain combinations.  And I ended up at the same point.  However, as I was building there was one common theme… “I don’t need to go bigger that [insert the stage one step ahead of where I was].”

Dirty Big JeepI went from 29″ tires to 31″ and then 33″ and 34″ and 35″.  I went from no lift to 2″ and then 3″, 5″ and finally 6″.  It seems that each time i did something, I was undoing all that I had just done… and doing it over.

Of course, I had fun, and my driving and wrenching skills grew with the Jeep.  I enjoyed the journey, and learned a lot.  For the Jeepster Commando I am building, I am skipping straight to the last step… we’ll see about that…

But this isn’t just about Jeeps

It is about houses, too.  I have a client that has redone luxury homes.  In doing so, he pulls no punches and spares no expense to get the result he wants.  He doesn’t put a $200 light fixture in instead of a “similar but not quite as nice” $300 fixture.  He doesn’t put up $5000 in steel gutters when the copper gutters are $8000.  He doesn’t go 75%… he goes 100%.  Consequently, the people in his target market see that everything is done with quality and care.  They don’t see pennies that have been pinched.

Might he make a few thousand more dollars by not going all in on the properties? Maybe.  Maybe not.  He doesn’t have a hard time selling a property.  It blows the comps out of the water.  The care and extra touches are evident to even casual visitors.  He doesn’t have issues with home inspections, or code inspectors.  He doesn’t use the cheapest vendor.  He doesn’t have problems meeting time goals… because his vendors value his business.

While he might not make that extra $5k on the sale price, he often makes it back by holding it for a few months less (we are talking about $500k properties, so the carrying costs aren’t insignificant).

He is removing the desire of the buyer to make incremental changes… and saving them both money

That is a lot to absorb.  You see, the buyers see that everything is done well and with care.  The see that the fixtures are top-notch.  There isn’t a desire to pull a $200 light and replace it with a $300 light… and spend another $100 on the electrician.  That saves the buyer $400, and only cost $100 to do when the fixture was installed.

When he sells a house, it is seldom the cheapest house in the area.  He tries not to be the most expensive… but sometimes he is.  But, discerning buyers see that they won’t have to move in and start upgrading things.  It is done.  They don’t have to think about spending $30k or $40k to tweak the home… it is done.

Buyers (and agents) tend to leave a WOW when they see the houses.

So, I’m not renovating homes…

That’s ok.  Here are a couple of take aways:

  • If you are a builder, walk past the cheaper imitations.  If you can tell the difference, so can your target market.  Build a bit better than your competitors.
  • If you are a home owner, same thing.  If you are upgrading to sell… well, you should have done it a while ago so you could enjoy it yourself, too… but don’t put in the cheapest fixtures you can just to give the illusion of freshness.
  • If you are upgrading or renovating your home and not selling… go up a step.  Put in something a little more luxurious than you would expect in the neighborhood.  It’ll make the neighbors jealous, and when it is time to sell… you WILL shine.

That isn’t to say that a $40k kitchen renovation is right for a $60k condo, but putting in apartment grade appliances and plastic drawer pulls might not be the right strategy either.

Enjoy.

Oh yeah, don’t forget the garage!