CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- In order to sell a home in many places throughout the country, sellers need their homes to outshine the competition, must be very negotiable on price and be prepared for a months-long stretch on the market. It's enough to make some sellers sit this season out, waiting for conditions to improve.

But some homeowners will take it one step further, figuring that if they can't sell their home they might as well make it more comfortable during the time they're living in it.

"There is a lot of attractiveness to thinking about staying put and making changes to the current home," said Kermit Baker, senior research fellow at Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies.

Overall, the center is expecting remodeling dollars spent this year to decline, considering the home-price decreases in many markets, Baker said. But there is likely a substantial group of homeowners that will put some dollars into their homes anyway -- granted they have the money to spend, he said.

Those who are following through with remodeling plans are saying "based on everything out there, I'm going to hunker down and make the best of my current living conditions," said Craig Smith, CEO of ServiceMagic, a company that connects homeowners to prescreened service professionals through the Internet.