Remodel Talk. (Again). Let’s go. It’s a hot topic right now with the Nation being in a seller’s market and either buying, staying put and making their home what they want or potentially even remodeling to sell (but that’s a diff topic).

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When our clients want to purchase a home + often times it is NOT exactly how they want it, they tend to ask: How much is that going to cost to change ___(said item in home)?

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And while I have some rough numbers from my own home projects over the years the truth of the matter is—it really does vary on taste!

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Few thoughts:

When you hire a contractor typically labor, materials, time and experience are added into cost, you’re paying at a premium, but good news: they can typically help you organize and remind you of items you may have forgotten about plus their trusted contacts to use on projects.

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When you want to only change countertops or light fixtures and hire someone to do smaller items you’re paying by the hour and the big cost variation is your style and choices.

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When it comes to renovations there are certain items you can splurge on (for me: countertops and backsplash) and certain items it’s ok to cut back on, but I tell clients before making an offer to do a little research and make a spreadsheet of the items to change with price per square foot then maybe add 20% for safety measure.

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Tip: What you like in your initial browsing session is not actually what you end up with but it’s a good baseline to get an idea of your costs/style.

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It is realllyyy easy to get out of control when it comes to remodeling and certain projects are certainly best suited prior to moving in, but definitely outline all items you’d like to change FIRST, and an additional cushion for budget overages (TRUST ME!)

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I also try to tell clients to plan for Murphy. Murphy’s law that is- always want a safety net for when things don’t go as planned (example: a Historical Tx snow storm).

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Here if you have additional questions or input, and more to come on the topic–Lastly: always get more than one bid!