Tips to Keep Your Home Renovation Project on Budget
So, you’ve decided to renovate your home. Perhaps you want to sell it and you’re looking to increase your resale value. Or maybe you aren’t selling right away, but you are interested in upgrading your living space. You will be pleased to learn there are steps you can take in controlling costs on home renovation projects. You can definitely keep within your budget and still have amazing results.
Tips to Keep Your Home Renovation Project on Budget
1.) Decide on your budget and stick to it.
Before you call a single contractor or start DIYing yourself, create your plan and be sure you are clear on the scope of work. Your plan can include what you need and additional wants. This way you can be sure you take care of what you need first and if the budget has room, you can start working on the list of wants after.
2.) Decide if you are going to do the work yourself or hire a contractor.
If it’s DIY, make sure you are knowledgeable of what needs to be done. Some projects, such as plumbing and electrical work, are best left to the professionals. If you do decide to hire contractors, get referrals from neighbors or online. Get several estimates before you make a decision. Most experts suggest that you should avoid the least and most expensive contractor.
3.) Plan for the unexpected.
Unexpected expenses never fail to come up in every home project. There always seems to be some issue creating extra work. Don’t let this throw your budget off. If you plan for 20% of expenses to cover unexpected issues, you will be all set. And if miraculously, none come up, then you’ve managed to go under your budget. You can either save that money or use it for something else on your wish list.
4.) Do some work yourself.
Even if you’re hiring contractors, you can do some of the upfront work yourself. For example, if you’re redoing your kitchen cabinets, you can remove the old ones yourself. If you’re getting new flooring, you can take up the old tile on your own.
5.) Buy finishes yourself.
The finishes are the parts of a home project that you can see such as flooring, tile, paint, and cabinetry. You can save money by buying these yourself and not through your contractor. Your contractor will probably mark up the prices when selling to you.
6.) Keep track of expenses.
As the project is ongoing it is easy to get lost in the details. Keep a log of your expenses to help yourself stay on budget.
After you’ve upgraded your home, you may be interested to see how much value you have added. If you are interested in selling, JAM Properties, LLC can help you with all of your real estate needs. We make selling your home easy and convenient. We can help guide you through the complicated process of selling your home. We even offer cash for homes in “as-is” conditions. We provide you with an offer and you have the choice to accept or reject it.
Give us a call today at 949-438-4343 if you have any questions. We’d love to hear from you!