Four money tips for renovations

Four money tips for renovations

Your budget for your renovation is and should be the dominant factor in determining the outcome. However, most people don’t do this regularly and things can go wrong. Here are four key points to help you plan your project.

1.  Why are you renovating ?

Are you trying to improve the comfort of your home environment, or do you have your eye on selling in the future? If the answer is lifestyle, then spending some extra money on two or three special items, is clearly justified. If you are renovating for a future sale, then the economical use of space and materials must be your guide. Also get advice from your local property professional, to ensure you are in tune with what is in demand.

2. What is your budget ?

Currently in Brisbane, renovating is more expensive than building anew. As strange as it sounds, merging your renovation with the complexities of the previous build can be more expensive than starting from scratch. A safe round number for renovating could be $ 2000 per meter squared for extensions. Even this number could be inadequate for some, once the complexity of the renovation is revealed.

3. Do you need cosmetic or structural work done?

Moving internal walls and adding rooms externally would require certification / council approval and would need an engineer to advise on the structural implications. Clearly this is more costly than re-doing the finishes only. Getting a good designer involved can save you money in economising on the use of space, and maximising potential of areas.

4. Can you do some of the work yourself?

Roughly speaking, building costs in SEQ can be broken down into;

25 %   – builder’s costs & profit, insurances, machine hire etc.

25 %   – materials

50 %   – labour

If you are prepared to try your hand at painting, you could shave $ 5000 off the builder’s costs. If you are planning on staying on in the house for a while and you are a handy person, you could register as a homeowner builder and manage the build yourself. Note that all the approvals and sign-off on building and structure still need to take place.

As the saying goes: “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail”, and clearly defined goals and budgets can easily make or break your project.

Feel free to call us to talk through your options.

Gapdesign.com.au