How Much Should You Budget for Home Renovation?
Why are we all so hesitant to tell someone our renovation budget? Is it because we think it will be too big for the job required and this person may take advantage of us? Or is it because we think it is too small and we may feel embarrassed?
When it comes to renovations I believe most people use the wrong metrics. They try to figure out what their renovation budget will be by looking through the daily flyer at your local hardware store, they listen to television programs telling them what some celebrity renovator says they can renovate for which is not ideal. Even better they speak with a friend who renovated sometime in the past who did not do the same quality job they are looking for and this also doesn’t help.
There’s a lot of factors in a renovation that we don’t think about sometimes. Are you living through the renovation? This will affect how you cover and protect the house, as well as for deciding practical working hours. Are you looking for a high end/mid/low-end renovation? These will all come at a different price. Are you looking for a well-designed renovation? Everything you add to your renovation adds to the cost of your renovation. The other thing a lot of people don’t factor in is if you’re planning to sell in the next 2 to 5 years think about how your house will stock up within the market. Do you really want to invest money into it with your current rate of return? If you’re planning to spend the next 15 or 20 years in the house and you spend more than what you think the market will handle – that’s fine because now you’re renovating it for you. All the conveniences, bells and whistles that you enjoy are justifiable.
Spend some time chatting with some different companies on the phone to see if they can meet your needs, if they offer what you’re looking for they should also be able to give you a ballpark as to what someone could expect to spend for their services.
The renovation budget is like a house budget
A realtor recently told me whatever you think it’s going to cost you, bring more! Lol but it’s true. Once you get in the zone and you start learning about all the stuff you had no idea was an option all of a sudden – you’re over budget. Over budget is definitely a relevant term because if your initial budget is too low it will be very easy to go over. It’s always a better surprise to start with a higher budget to later find out the project was less than you planned for. In the usual sense of the word or phrase over budget I mean not being prepared for when your older Home has some additional challenges, you didn’t anticipate.
When I’m talking to clients and I ask them what their budget is, I’m asking for two reasons.
- The first is because I want to know if they have the kind of budget that will allow them to achieve the high-quality result of their desired project
- The second reason is that I am looking to see how much I can take that budget and provide them as much possible bang for buck according to their wish list.
Hiring a professional contractor who provides a quality service should be similar to that of a professional service from an accountant or a lawyer. If you didn’t trust that your lawyer had your best interest in mind you wouldn’t hire them, this is the same thing for your contractor.
I strongly believe that if you think your project is going to take six months and the warranty offered by your contractor is two years, you should be excited for the next 2-1/2 years working with this professional or find someone else. When you trust that your contractor has your best interest in the forefront of their mind, you’ll be more excited to get started and you’ll love your renovation process.
