A Guide to Remodeling Your Home

Remodeling your home can be a great alternative to moving to a new house. If your children are settled in their schools, your commute is easy, and you enjoy living in the community, remodeling your home makes sense. As well as boosting your home’s living space and making your home more usable for you and your family, remodeling can also add serious value to your home’s resale value. So, if you are thinking of a remodeling project, read on for some tips and guidance to make your efforts worthwhile.

• What do you need?

The first step in any remodeling project is to understand what the project needs to accomplish fully. Simply, what are your goals? There will likely be more than one goal that you hope the renovation will achieve, so when you have made your wish list, prioritize them into an order, with the most important as number one. The lower items on your list are the additional bonus features that would like, and the higher placed items? They are the no-deal necessities. Remodeling your home is one of the few situations where you have the end-product or vision and work backward.

There are many interior design websites online that can inspire you. There is just as much value in knowing what you don’t want as there is to what you do want. Jot down your findings so that you can further refine your wish list. You want to get your remodel just right for you and your family, so think of this time research as an investment!

Before you make concrete plans for your remodel, it is a good idea to run them past a local real estate agent. You want every dollar that you spend on your home to add real value to your home. For example, adding a dog bath to your utility may not add the same value as an extra shower room. You may decide that the benefits to your family’s lifestyle outweigh any future financial remuneration, but it is worth checking.

• Budget

Now that you have a clear vision of what your remodel will look like, you are able to create a budget. You need to be organized and structured when calculating the cost of the project. An oversight can spell disaster, so make sure that you include things like permits, building materials, trades, and the finishing touches.

To make your budget accurate, contact local but recommended trades for quotes. They will be able to assess the work that needs to be completed and provide an estimated cost for the job. Hopefully, the figures meet with your expectations, but if they don’t, you may be able to play around with the design to make it fit into your budget. Alternatively, you could take out a loan to cover the shortfall. Before you apply for a loan, it is wise to read FICO vs. FAKO: The Real Deal with Credit Scores, it explains to you about credit scores and how you can check them out. Whether you can access is a loan will influence your remodeling budget, so it’s essential you understand your financial situation.

• Team Build

With a confirmed plan, budget and finance arranged, you are able to build your team. You will already have had contact with some trades for your budget estimates, but it is prudent to get at least three quotes for each trade. When they come to your property, spend time assessing whether they are people that you would like to work with; cost is not the only deciding factor, you also need to consider their punctuality, reliability and work ethic.

If you are taking the DIY route and completing the remodel yourself, you need to go through the plans and apply a date by which you need to have completed each task. Using a Gantt chart is a useful tool to help you manage the project and who you have delegated tasks to.

Remodeling has the amazing ability to throw you a curve ball, so it is best that you prepare and expect the unexpected. If the contractors give you a date for when they are going to have finished the job, add time on to it, to allow for any delays. If you are doing the remodel yourself, be kind to yourself and allow for days that you won’t be able to work. Remodeling always unearths extra costs and suffer from delays, so by expecting them to happen, it will help minimize your stress when they do. Good luck!