Think This Before Your Renovation

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Are you thinking about renovations? Cool! But before you start planning too much about color, shape and different material choices, you should set up a budget, a timetable and decide how everything will be financed.

Why are you renovating?

There are of course different reasons for renovating. Your particular reason is decisive for how much renovation is required and how much money it will cost. If you have intended to stay for a longer period of time, you can put a more personal touch on what is being remodeled. If, on the other hand, you are thinking about selling the home soon, it may be better to choose solutions that can be liked by many in order to get as much as possible in a sale.

Start by asking yourself what you want to renovate – and why!

It is old and worn

Maybe it is not your choice to renovate, but you have to renovate because it is currently so old and worn that it has started to leak from the roof. Then there is neither time nor reason to think so much – it needs to be fixed.

Increase in value before sale

You are planning to sell the home and want to freshen up with the hope of being able to make a better deal. It could be anything from the larger renovation where the kitchen and bathroom are redone, to the smaller renovation where you spruce up with new details such as surface layers, repainting, new doors and the like. Keep in mind that not everyone has the same taste, so try to keep the renovation fairly neutral.

For fun

Of course, there doesn’t have to be any other reason than that you simply renovate because you want to. Some people always have a project going and see it as a hobby. Perhaps a renovation would raise the quality of life and do that little last thing for you to feel comfortable in your home.

Plan the renovation

As with many other things, it is important to plan! With thorough planning, you ensure that you do it right from the start, which provides better conditions for keeping both budget and schedule. Another advantage of a clear plan is that the end result will correspond to your expectations better and that you will avoid unexpected costs.

Set a budget

An important part of planning is budgeting. How much will materials and any tradesmen cost? Will you be able to afford the renovation yourself or do you need to apply for a renovation loan to finance all or parts of the project?

Make a schedule

It can be nice to have a good idea of how long different steps will take. Both to be able to follow the process and calculate an approximate labor cost, but also to be able to more easily plan everyday life around the renovation. The schedule should show step by step what is to be done, when it is to be done and who is to do what. For example, if you want to hire different craftsmen for different parts of the project, it makes it easier to clarify when the different parts are to be carried out.

Decide who will do the renovation

Will you or someone else do the work? Of course, it will be cheaper if you have the opportunity to do as much as possible of the renovation yourself. Keep in mind, however, that many parts of a renovation often require certified craftsmen so that it is done correctly. Then you also get quality documents that show that it was professionally done, both for insurance but also as a security for future buyers (if you were to sell in the future). So you shouldn’t bother with, for example, running electricity and putting waterproofing in bathrooms yourself, but maybe you can at least prepare for the craftsmen by tearing down all the old material so that it’s free for them to get started later?

A renovation loan can be a good idea if you need help financing all or parts of your project. But it is important to remember that borrowing money costs money. The best is of course if you can save up money to finance it yourself. If the project is not on fire, maybe you can actually wait a few months and save up so that you can finance a large part of the renovation yourself and supplement with a private loan? In that case, think about how much you could save each month and make a plan based on that.

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