Renovating a home can be exhilarating and fun, but it does involve a lot of work. Though it keeps you busy, there are a few helpful tips to turn your house renovation into an exciting activity that helps you achieve a perfectly marketable house to lucky buyers.
Make A List
The most important aspect of engaging in a home renovation or remodeling is the preparation that happens before the project ever gets off the ground. There is a lot that goes into renovating a home, so as a real estate investor planning your optimal strategy for a renovation, your best starting place is to sit down and make a comprehensive list of everything that you will need to do for this project and everything you will need to make it happen.
When the volume of work gets too cumbersome, it is very hard to retain every little detail in our minds alone, even to someone who fancies themselves as having a stellar memory. Lists help us organize our ideas, thoughts, and necessities while helping us remember to address all the other little things that we might otherwise forget with too much going on.
Think of lists as maps or spec documents of all of the important points we wish to hit in renovating a home. Lists are also essential in keeping your general contractor from forgetting or sidestepping any essential steps, and it helps to prevent smaller things from being overlooked. The job won’t be done until every item on the list is checked off as accomplished.
Finally, lists keep a running tally of all of the materials you need to acquire, track your spending budgets, and of course, establish a timeline within which portion of the project should be completed.
Organize Everyone’s Role
During a house renovation, there are a lot of different ‘cooks in the kitchen.’ In other words, many different professionals are all contributing to helping get the house fixed up to your liking, and an organizational method helps to keep track of everyone’s responsibilities. It’s easy to lose track of who is responsible for what, so an organizational chart assists in keeping everyone in the know about their specific tasks.
Consider also that certain things must happen before other things can. An organizational plan will ensure that there are not frequent overlaps between different professionals working on the home renovation and that they don’t get in each other’s way. By setting up a plan and working with various vendors, you can get the job completed easily and accurately.
Planning Ahead
Before starting on the renovation project, everything should be planned ahead of time. Before any construction or remodeling begin, settle on your exact plans and fixtures. Failure to do so will only lead to indecision and stress in time-crunched situations. When you have everything planned out, the process can be much more fun and far less time-consuming.
Suppose you haven't prepared ahead of time. In that case, you can find that your ability to choose what you want becomes more limited as more of the renovation gets completed, causing headaches and disappointments. Going into a project fully prepared with a vision for what you want to see happen during the renovation will save you a considerable amount of time, stress, and money.
Never Assume
If you are a real estate investor, never assume that someone else will know what will look or fit best in the house. If you leave the decisions to general contractors, they may still do a great job, but not necessarily how you foresee it. Remember, this renovation is your vision and your investment, so you need to own it. Don’t worry about being too picky with your details; you are just being specific about what you want to get out of your investment.
Too many details are never enough. Whether it’s which way your tile runs, what color you want your grout to be, what shade of white you need the trim painted, and any other aspects that seem like minutia, should be explicitly stated and communicated so that you get exactly what you seek.
Conclusion
Organization, planning, and clear expectations are the ultimate keys to a successful remodeling project. Always remember, this is your investment, so it is to your advantage to have your vision plotted and mapped out before any of the renovations begin.
It’s your money and your dream, so the burden is on you to clearly communicate your desires to your general contractors. By having your mind made up ahead of time, you will have much more fun with the project. We hope these tips helped you in your planning stages, and we bid you happy renovations!
If you have a renovation project coming up and would like a free estimate, give us a call at 281-901-0707.
Comments