The Money-saving Guide to Property Renovations

If recent media reports are anything to go by, most of us are spending more on our homes than ever before.

Property renovations, as satisfying and potentially lucrative as they can be, will always be expensive though.

Bearing this in mind, today’s blog post is all about mulling over some of the key considerations that you can think about in a bid to lower, or sometimes eradicate, your renovation costs.

It doesn’t always need huge alterations

Firstly, it’s worth mentioning that some homes don’t require the huge alterations that some homeowners devise. Think of the following examples:

• Are you renovating your home to boost its value? If so, will this renovation truly help? Have a read of this guide to help you along your way.
• Are you considering a new kitchen? What’s wrong with the room? Could you go halfway and replace the cupboard doors as an example, and save heaps in the process?
• Do you even need to do any renovating, or is it more about getting better at using accessories? For example, let’s take a look at Avas Flowers. The Avas Flowers Twitter page has hoards of examples of homeowners who have used flowers to decorate a space and transform it without the dust! There are some further Avas Flowers examples here as well.

As you can see, the examples are varied to say the least. The point we’re trying to make is that you should think before pledging big money towards your renovations – as there are quite often savvier alternatives.

The three-quote rule

Next, let’s talk about getting quotes from contractors.

As we all know, this can be a tough game. Some contractors can be difficult to deal with, and they have got negotiating down to a fine art.

The best advice we can give you is to increase your options. Obtain at least three quotes for a service, unless you are confident in a particular tradesperson for an element of your job.

You can then plainly compare all the quotes, and draw your own conclusions, without succumbing to any savvy negotiation tactics.

Take advantage of day rates

We’re now going to move onto economies of scale. These are usually referred to in relation to tangible goods at a store, but the same rules apply here.

If you can arm yourself with the day rate for a contractor, you immediately receive a lot of negotiating power. If a job has taken half a day, have a list of smaller jobs that will consume the rest of the day and won’t affect your overall price.

If the contractor in question does increase the cost, you have every reason to question why.

Make YouTube your best friend

We’re going to end today’s article by turning to YouTube. So far, we have been focusing a lot on contacting, and getting more competitive prices, from any tradespeople.

However, particularly nowadays, a surprising number of jobs can be completed via your own DIY efforts. Sure, some people are better than this than others, but the rise of YouTube means that a large number of jobs are more attainable.

Sure, you’re probably not going to be laying any foundations for an extension, but you might be able to do some once-advanced jobs on your own and save significant sums on the cost of hiring contractors.