In the life cycle of every property, there’s a time when improvement is needed to keep pace with contemporary living.
Sometimes, you’ll undertake a project to prepare your property for sale or to enhance lifestyle so your home fulfills the vision of when you bought it.
Before undertaking an upgrade, you must know your motivation. This will help manage the scale of your ambition appropriately and keep your budget realistic. The aim is to avoid over-capitalizing your property – that is, spending more on it than it’s really worth.
As your local real estate agent, I regularly advise clients on whether proposed work will add to the value of their property and meet current local buying trends. With remodels continuing to be so popular with homeowners, I’ve made a list of eight tips to help you approach this challenge.
- Scope the work – Carefully consider the work you want to do, and why. This will help decide whether the project is worth the expense. Write down everything you would like done.
- Create a budget – You need to be disciplined with your money, or the costs will quickly get out of control. Use your scope of works to understand all the costs. Then you can identify which are essential and which are just nice to have and cull appropriately.
- Consult an architect – While they can be expensive, they’ll likely prove their value with advice on the best way to make the improvements you’re seeking and then draw up plans. Unless you’re in construction, they’ll have a better idea of the costs and will help you select a contractor.
- Appoint a contractor – If you’re not using an architect, then get a minimum three quotes and ask to see jobs they have done previously. If you can’t separate the candidates on hard numbers and the scope of work, go with the people you like best.
- Be open about your budget – It’s advantageous to share your budget with your contractors as they will do their best to ensure they stay within its constraints. You should set aside 10-15% of the cost for overruns and unforeseen problems.
- Make a deadline – Ensure your contractor commits to a finishing date. An excellent way to do this is to work backwards in terms of how long each element of the remodel will take. Many builder contracts can be vague on a finishing time, so you may need to negotiate on the deadline.
- Do the paperwork – Some improvements require permission from the local authority. Don’t ignore these. A government body can insist on the work, even when completed, is pulled down or reversed in some way because you didn’t have permission to build it.
- Double-down on insurance – Your licensed contractors will have their insurance, but you need to assess your own needs, too. It’s best not to short-change yourself on this.