You’ve pulled the trigger. You either purchased your very first property, or you’ve decided on undertaking a renovation project on your home that you bought a couple of years back.
It doesn’t matter. The only important thing is that now you’re on the starting stage of a renovation project — planning. Planning is also the stage when you should make the most amount of decisions.
In other words, during the planning process, you’ll decide on how much money you can spend, what you’ll spend on, and most importantly, how quickly you’re looking to wrap up the renovation on your property.
Small choices like choosing between heat pumps vs. air conditioners will seem like a gargantuan decision that you’ll have to make. And while we’re on the topic of air conditioners, it’s time to jump on the first thing on the list. Namely…
Make Sure You Decide Between A Heat Pump Or An Air Conditioner
Choosing between which to invest is hard, especially if you live in a city where you have super cold winters and melting warm summers.
If you’re living in Los Angeles where the weather is always sunny, it’s easy — get yourself an air conditioner, and you’re good to go.
If you live in Alaska, get yourself a heat pump, as it will warm your home. In fact, if we had to easily differentiate what an AC is and what’s a heat pump — the air conditioner can only cool the room, while a heat pump can do both.
Invest In A Key Lock Box If You’re Renovating A Property That You Don’t Live In
Sometimes you purchase a home, and you want to quickly renovate it through and through before you move in.
This often requires you to work with contractors who can do more complex jobs for you. But it also means that someone should let the contractors inside the property, and if you’re working a full-time job during the renovation, or you don’t live close to your new property, this can become somewhat of a hassle.
That’s why property developers have been using what’s known as a key lock box to store the key in and still freely provide access to contractors even if you’re not on location.
Do Extensive Research On Contractors Before You Decide With Who To Proceed
And while we’re on the topic of contractors, make sure you do extensive research on them. If possible talk with previous clients, see references and previous projects, and most importantly — request at least three quotes from three different companies in order to ensure you’re getting the best deal.
And if possible, get yourself a contractor who can do more than one thing for you. It’s better to work with someone who knows the layout of your property, rather than hiring different people who have to spend time to make a plan before they start working (time you’re paying for).
Plan To Spend More Than What You’ve Budgeted For, As During Renovation, The Unexpected Always Happens
And while we’re on the topic of paying, make sure you are prepared to meet some unexpected expenses. In other words, be prepared for the unexpected, as everything you don’t expect to happen will happen.
Set aside around 30 to 40% on top of what you’re planning to spend. You don’t necessarily have to spend it, but it’s good to know you have some type of safety net that allows you to cover any expenses.
Make Sure You’ve Made The Final Decision On The Interior Design Of Your Property Before You Start
And before you start researching the contractors and buying all the furniture, you should focus on finalizing all the small things that need your attention and decision during the planning stage of the renovation.
That means you have to know what you’ll be doing interior-wise before you start doing the work. Our advice is to hire an interior designer to create the project, and you finalize every little detail you want to be made before you commission the first stage of the renovation. That way, you’ll ensure everything is done as quickly as possible and things that could be done easily won’t become hassles in the future.
Buy Appliances For The Future In Mind Rather Than Looking For Ways To Same A Couple Of Hundred Bucks Now
And finally, it’s about how you buy the appliances you’ll be putting in your home after the renovation is done.
See, the thing is that appliances are always expensive and never existing to buy. Yet, they’re something that’s necessary and something that can increase the worth of your property if you buy quality appliances (hence, buy with the future in mind).
Featured photo by Monica Silvestre from Pexels.
