SourceRenovation is one of the most costly things you can do in life, after buying your house in the first place, of course. So when the mood strikes you and you need to make a change within or around your home, you need to do some pretty hefty saving up for it! But how can you get started with building a budget when it could take months to put a sizable amount together? That’s what we’re here to help with. Here are our tips for budgeting for renovations, no matter how big or small.
Prioritize by Function
For a renovation project to come first, it needs to be something you cannot live without. Say a new kitchen if it’s been damaged or a new bathroom if the plumbing went bust. And while a new bedroom is a nice thing to dream about, if you can still safely sleep in your current one, best save it for later when you’ve got more of a budget to splash around. Put function first, and then aesthetics right behind it.
Decide on a Hard Limit
The hard limit on your budget is the absolute top price you can fork out for. For many people this is a simple matter of deciding when the cutoff point is, which is usually when your savings account runs out. However, the hard limit should also encompass your potential need for this money later on down the line, and the necessary wiggle room in case a project goes wrong. You’ll need a bit of cash to fix things, and a hard limit will help you decide how much to keep behind for such purposes.
Double Check Your Current Value
The current value of your home is very important at a moment like this. You can’t proceed with any renovation works without knowing a concrete number. After all, if your renovations end up costing more than around 20% of this top value number, they’re not going to be worth it at all! So say you want to hire a residential roofing company to put a new roof on; when you’re considering the best materials to use, keep a number like this in mind. You don’t want to breach past the metaphorical ceiling here!
Your First Quote Shouldn’t Be Your Only Quote
This is the best thing to do. It’ll be hard to truly settle on a budget without a price example. Get out there and talk to a contractor. Get a quote from them for all the work possible and then compare it to the sum in your head. Then talk to another contractor and see what they say. Then push this cycle on and on until you’ve got about 5 quotes altogether and have prices to bounce off each other. What’s the average? And how does it line up with your budget?
Final Thoughts
Planning a home renovation is all in the budget. If you know what you can spend, you know how far you can go.
