These days, it can cost you a fortune to renovate your home. Even if you only focus on renovating a couple of rooms or changing one area in your house, you can end up spending a lot of money. Getting your home to look and feel the way you want can be a challenging but rewarding undertaking. Being your home, you want it to feel as comfortable, relaxing and natural as possible. And while it might be hard to budget for a home renovation while you are trying to save money, there are a few things that you can do to ensure that you save as much money as you can while improving your home.
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Get a quote first
Sometimes to get the best deal you have to shop around. If you can compare a couple of quotes for a job from a few different people or companies, you will be able to find the best person to do the job within your budget. For example, you may need a plumber to install a sink, and there may be a few good ones in your area. Comparing prices from each of them will help you to narrow down your search and find someone who will do the job for the price that you can afford. Looking at reviews online can also help you to get a sense of how good someone is at their job, so you can figure out which person is the right fit for your job.
Remember, one of the points of a renovation is to add value to your home. This comes with advantages when it comes to selling the house or if you can improve your loan to value ratio you will have more success getting a loan that draws into your homes equity, for example. Getting the most value from your renovation starts with getting a great quote.
Try to pay with cash
When it comes to paying contractors for big jobs like tiling, painting, plumbing and electrics, most people will offer a significant discount if you can pay in cash, rather than electronically. Most of the people in charge of such jobs like to be paid in cash because it is easy and immediate. Cash payment means that contractors won’t have to wait for funds to come through or go chasing anyone for any money that they owe for a job that has been completed.
Although not everyone is able to pay in cash, if you can, your tradesperson may be able to lower some of the costs for the job, so ask your tradesperson and if you are able to do so, you should consider paying cash. If the discounts are significant, it may be worth considering a personal loan where you can use the cash to pay and save. Personal loans are a great way for you to borrow a little money when you need it from a trusted source but be aware of how much interest and fees will cost. Finding ways to save money like this can make a real difference on the overall renovation.
Don’t move plumbing and electrics
Moving plumbing and electrics in your home can be a costly and time-consuming job. If you can keep things in the same spot, rather than moving them around to different, new locations in the room, you will find that your renovation will be a lot cheaper and will probably be completed a lot quicker, because there will be less to do.
If you have to install some new items to complete your renovation, like a sink or a shower for example, the job will take a lot longer to complete if you have to move some of the pipes around the room. If you need to move some of the plumbing or electrics in your home, speak to a plumber or an electrician so that they can decide if the job is necessary, doable and how much it will cost you. It’s important, and in most places, a legal requirement that you get a trade professional to work with electricity, gas and plumbing. This ensures the work is up to industry standards and safe for use.
Give things a facelift
If you don’t have a lot of money to spend on renovations, you can consider trying to do a quick job and give things a ‘facelift’, rather than a complete overhaul. For example, if you have some old kitchen cupboards, rather than taking the whole piece out and replacing it, you could just change the front doors of each of the cupboards instead.
An even simpler way could be to repaint the cupboards, giving them a fresh look. This will save you a lot of money and it is a lot quicker and easier than a full-on overhaul of your home. Things like a touch of paint here and there or replacing some furniture and fixings around your home can make a big difference to your space. Updating your space rather than completely changing it will not cost you a lot and you can get the result that you want for your home with a lot less effort, time and money.
When it comes to renovating your home, there are a lot of things that you can do that can help you save money. If you can plan out as much of your renovation as you can before you begin to make any changes, you will be able to track anything that is happening in and around your home, as well as how much you are spending on each job that is being completed. If you need help planning things out, try talking to a professional planner, so that they can give you advice on how to spend your money on your renovation, so that you can make sure that your home is at the standard that you are after.
