Are you planning to do a home makeover? When done right, this will not only improve the value of your home, but it can make it super comfortable and functional as well. A home makeover involves lots of things. You will have to buy materials and work with different contractors. For things to move from one step to the next smoothly, you need a budget. This is how you can properly manage your dream home make over cost.
Stay Organized
One of the ways to come up with a sound budget that you can stick to is to make sure you are organized from the get-go. If you don’t know how to budget, you should take a look at online tools that allow you to get cost estimates and come up with a budget for your dream home makeover. Such tools can also enable you to bookmark ideas, and that makes it super easy to keep track of important documents. Some of the documents you may need include permits, contractors, receipts, and manuals.
Itemize the Budget
Even if you are working with a general contractor for the project, you need to know which item costs what. You must also be aware of the cost of labor per hour. This will help you ensure that the billing of your contractor squares with your budget. The general idea is to have a clear picture of the dream home make over cost.
For each of the items on your list, you need to track how much you have to spend. You must also look for estimated costs. This will come from research. Once you have the estimated costs, you shouldn’t stop there. You must look for the actual cost of the elements, materials, and contractor rates you would have chosen. This will help you come up with the total cost of the project. Before you settle on specific contractors, you must do lots of research. You need to vet your contractors thoroughly.
Go through customers’ reviews and talk to past clients to find out more about their experiences with the contractor you will be interested in. Ask lots of questions. For instance, did the contractor stick to the time schedule and budget? What was the quality of the work like? Were there any mistakes, and did they charge more money to correct the mistakes? You should do the same with architects and designers. Even when you are looking for a 24 hour plumber, reviews are crucial.
Stick to Your Decisions and Choices
When it comes to creating a budget and figuring out your dream home makeover cost, you must avoid changing your mind several times. This will set you back. Remember that any changes you make once the project has started will likely attract a fee. This means your budget will be affected. Once you change your mind, you may have to return some materials you would have bought. Unfortunately, there’s almost always a return fee charged if the seller accepts returns, to begin with.
Another cost you may not be considering when you change your plans is the cost of backtracking on completed work. The contractor will still charge you for their time, so you will be basically paying for something that won’t benefit you in any way. This is why you need to stick to the plan. Once you create your budget and Pinterest board, avoid more research. This can distract your initial plan.
Consider Off-Season Renovation
The majority of contractors consider the colder months to be off-season. As such, you will find that a lot of them will try to offer discounts so they can drum up business when there’s not too much work coming in. You should try and find out from prospective contractors if they offer discounts during particular times of the year.
Determine Financing Before Finalizing Your Budget
Before you set the budget for your dream home makeover, you must determine how you will pay for it. If the plan is to pay in cash or take out a loan, you will need to consider how much you will get so you can budget within the limit of the funds you have. Once you figure out how much you have to spend, you should set aside about ten to 20% of your available funds for unplanned expenses. This is crucial. Something may go wrong, or you may find that you underestimate the cost of materials or labor.
When you set aside a percentage from the start, you will have an emergency fund that you can use to finish your project even if something unexpected happens. If you hire a contractor to handle some demolition work, you don’t know the amount of work that they’ll end up needing to do. In most instances, clients tend to want contractors to handle other work once they come to their homes. If you have money set aside for this, you can easily accommodate anything you may not have planned for during the planning stage.
Prioritize Projects
Obviously, if there is a particular area in your home that’s out of what and giving you trouble, you’ll have to prioritize that project first. Or if you think your sitting room should look a certain way, you’ll want to go for that first as well. But if you don’t really have a priority, you should consider starting with the things that add more value to your home. That way, you know you’ll be satisfied when you are done.
If the aim of your home improvement project is to increase home value, you need to prioritize the projects that earn you more money if you decide to sell your home than you spent on them. For instance, projects like adding a new roof and new wood flooring will earn you about six to seven percent more when you sell your home than what you spent. Adding a new roof is ranked among the 20 projects with the highest return on investment, so that’s something you should consider.
you may be renovating for the purposes of enjoyment. If you are more interested in enjoying the results of your dream home makeover, regardless of what you will earn when you sell your home, you should choose projects like closet and kitchen renovation. This score was the highest among projects where homeowners were the happiest with their makeovers.
Outline Cost Estimates
Take out your calculator and get to work. Now that you have made up your mind about what renovation task you will do first, you need to start breaking down the cost of everything. This includes things like materials and labor. Keep in mind that a lot of research will go into this stage. Therefore, you may want to grab a cup of coffee and relax. This stage will give you a clear picture of the dream home’s make over cost.
Keep in mind that you may not be able to get the exact costs until you speak to actual contractors. If you want an arborist or chimney cleaner, you need to call them up to know how much they think your job will cost. Still, a lot of online research will do you some good. It will give you estimate figures. This allows you to be a bit realistic about what you can do with the money you have. If the swimming pool builder is charging lots of money, you may need to set it aside for now. A budget with estimates shows you where to cut costs in some areas. For instance, you might want to skip the new flooring and channel that money toward new countertops instead.
Get Lots of Contractor Bids
When you are ready to start talking to contractors, you should do a lot of research and find at least three who are close to you. Having at least three general contractors is great for comparison. At this stage, you should look into everyone you will need for the makeover. This includes solar panel installation companies and roof repairs if you need any. From each of the contractors on your shortlist, you must request a written estimate. That will allow you to compare the pricing and get an idea of what most people in the industry charge. Making comparisons will give you a chance to lower the dream home make over cost significantly. You must also request project timelines as well.
When comparing bids, you should be careful not to get too attracted to the cheapest ones. While this might seem like a great idea considering you don’t want the dream home make over cost to go overboard, it usually isn’t. Cheaper contractors may not be able to provide the best quality services. As such, you should look for a swimming pool builder or home addition builder who charges a reasonable price and has a history of delivering top-notch services as well. The idea is to strike a balance between high-quality service delivery and cost.
How to Cut Costs as You Budget
A budget just tells you what money you need for certain steps. As you are coming up with yours, you should look into the best ways to lower the renovation costs. One of the best things you can do to cut costs is to handle some of the projects on your own. A lot of homeowners are actually handling entire home renovation projects on their own. However, this may not be such a good idea. Even if your dream home make over cost may be higher if you work with a contractor, at least you will have the best quality outcome.
If you are comfortable handling some of the work on your own, you should go for items that won’t compromise the quality of the outcome. For instance, you can deal with things like demolition. If you want to replace your floors and drywall, you can rip out the old flooring and tear down the drywall on your own. You can also remove cabinetry. Who knows, maybe you can even have a blast doing it.
Another great way to reduce dream home make over cost is to shop for low-cost materials. A lot of homeowners are buying their own materials for renovations and remodelings. If you really want to cut costs, this will give you increased control over how much you spend on materials. However, you must discuss this with the contractor you are working with first. That way, you can ensure that whatever you are going to buy will fit the plan.
Another great way to save money and shave a bit off your dream home make over cost is to find your own subcontractors. If there are lots of contractors involved in your home makeover, your main contractor will not really go for the cheapest. For instance, you may need someone who will handle the hardscaping, solar panel installation, and painting. Instead of leaving the selection of a home painter to your contractor, you can do some research and find someone who is cheaper but still provides high-quality services.
It’s important to take time budgeting for your dream home make over cost. This will ensure that you don’t spend more money than you have. It also helps ensure that the most important projects are tackled first. For you to come up with a solid budget, you need time and lots of research. You should also work with the right people and find ways to reduce costs. A contractor can help you figure out the most important steps to tackle. That way, even if you run out of money at some point, the most important steps would have been addressed. Never get into a renovation project without figuring out the dream home make over cost first. You can end up struggling with debt that you hadn’t planned for.