Renovation on a Budget
You’ve been keeping a close watch on those home makeover shows and now you think you are ready to tackle the challenge of renovating for yourself. Okay, so that’s great news. Keep in mind if you’re making any major structural changes to your home, there are often times you’ll need to check on necessary council reports, and gaining council approvals first. However, if your renovations are strictly cosmetic, then there is usually no need to go to these extremes.
Renovating your home can add some excellent value to your asset, as long as you keep a few factors in mind. Following are Accent Estimating’s tips and advice that will help you achieve a great renovation on a budget.
1. Keep the Return in Mind
Expert renovators, like Australia’s leading renovator, Cherie Barber, say you should aim to get a minimum $2 return on every dollar you spend on renovations. It’s a good idea to concentrate your efforts on areas that will offer added “wow factor” to your property.
2. External Wow Factor
A good starting place for renovation value return is outside the home. Cement rendering or re-painting the outside of your home can bring in as much as $10 to your original $1 outlay.
Often, gardens and external projects are left unfinished and these areas can benefit from a tidy up before you look to master anything inside. Trim up palms and plants to give them a refreshed appeal, look at getting new garden beds, and give your paths and driveways the once over with a gurney. You might like to consider some paving paint as well.
3. Small Things, Big Difference
Don’t forget about, or ignore, the small jobs, odds and ends. Cleaning dusty exhaust fans, giving a sparkle to doorknobs and handles, and re-painting doorframes, can all be areas that draw in the eye of the potential buyer. A little TLC goes a long to omitting a well-kept feel of your home.
If you are replacing lights, opt for energy-efficient types like LED’s. They might cost more initially, but they will recover their cost on savings to run them, which also makes for a better sales pitch too.
4. It Pays to Shop Around
If you need to replace something that is beyond repair, shop around for scratch and dent sales or discontinued lines that often offer bargain prices. If you need some minor building supplies, you could check online for used or surplus building supplies as well.
5. There’s an App for Everything
In a connected world, apps are never too far away. Check out some of these apps we found that could make your renovation load a little lighter.
- Paint My Place: check out over 30,000 paint colours from the best-selling brands. Just take a photo of the area that you need to paint and the app will offer a virtual view for you. Limited labour and fuss involved!
- DIY Handyman Toolbox: undertakes common handyman calculations; swaps between metric and imperial measurements; works out square or cubic metres, which is super useful when you need to buy materials for floors for example, or concrete and painting.
- Houzz Interior Design Ideas: search heaps of interior decorating ideas and save your favourites to a virtual scrapbook.
If you are looking to get an overall estimate for your renovation, you could employ the services of a quantity surveyor to run a survey report for you. With affordable and effortless section 94 council reports, the team at Accent Estimating can assist. To avoid those nasty renovation surprises or blowouts, contact us online to secure your peace of mind.
ation on a Budget
You’ve been keeping a close watch on those home makeover shows and now you think you are ready to tackle the challenge of renovating for yourself. Okay, so that’s great news. Keep in mind if you’re making any major structural changes to your home, there are often times you’ll need to check on necessary council reports, and gaining council approvals first. However, if your renovations are strictly cosmetic, then there is usually no need to go to these extremes.
Renovating your home can add some excellent value to your asset, as long as you keep a few factors in mind. Following are Accent Estimating’s tips and advice that will help you achieve a great renovation on a budget.
1. Keep the Return in Mind
Expert renovators, like Australia’s leading renovator, Cherie Barber, say you should aim to get a minimum $2 return on every dollar you spend on renovations. It’s a good idea to concentrate your efforts on areas that will offer added “wow factor” to your property.
2. External Wow Factor
A good starting place for renovation value return is outside the home. Cement rendering or re-painting the outside of your home can bring in as much as $10 to your original $1 outlay.
Often, gardens and external projects are left unfinished and these areas can benefit from a tidy up before you look to master anything inside. Trim up palms and plants to give them a refreshed appeal, look at getting new garden beds, and give your paths and driveways the once over with a gurney. You might like to consider some paving paint as well.
3. Small Things, Big Difference
Don’t forget about, or ignore, the small jobs, odds and ends. Cleaning dusty exhaust fans, giving a sparkle to doorknobs and handles, and re-painting doorframes, can all be areas that draw in the eye of the potential buyer. A little TLC goes a long to omitting a well-kept feel of your home.
If you are replacing lights, opt for energy-efficient types like LED’s. They might cost more initially, but they will recover their cost on savings to run them, which also makes for a better sales pitch too.
4. It Pays to Shop Around
If you need to replace something that is beyond repair, shop around for scratch and dent sales or discontinued lines that often offer bargain prices. If you need some minor building supplies, you could check online for used or surplus building supplies as well.
5. There’s an App for Everything
In a connected world, apps are never too far away. Check out some of these apps we found that could make your renovation load a little lighter.
- Paint My Place: check out over 30,000 paint colours from the best-selling brands. Just take a photo of the area that you need to paint and the app will offer a virtual view for you. Limited labour and fuss involved!
- DIY Handyman Toolbox: undertakes common handyman calculations; swaps between metric and imperial measurements; works out square or cubic metres, which is super useful when you need to buy materials for floors for example, or concrete and painting.
- Houzz Interior Design Ideas: search heaps of interior decorating ideas and save your favourites to a virtual scrapbook.
If you are looking to get an overall estimate for your renovation, you could employ the services of a quantity surveyor to run a survey report for you. With affordable and effortless section 94 council reports, the team at Accent Estimating can assist. To avoid those nasty renovation surprises or blowouts, contact us online to secure your peace of mind.