When Renovating A House Where To Start – Michelle’s quick note: Today I have a great blog post from Elizabeth about refurbishing a bodice with fixings. She writes about designing a beautiful life on a budget, and today she’s going to talk about the ways she saved money when she renovated an upper — an abandoned 115-year-old house. Her before and…
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When Renovating A House Where To Start
Michelle’s quick note: Today I have a great blog post from Elizabeth about refurbishing a bodice with fixings. She writes about designing a beautiful life on a budget, and today she’s going to talk about the ways she saved money when she renovated an upper — an abandoned 115-year-old house. Her before and after photos are amazing. Enjoy!
New Home Vs. Renovating The House: What Is The Best?
HGTV sweethearts Chip and Joanna Gaines have captured the hearts of millions of viewers and serendipitously inspired people across the country to go out and buy a “FixerUpper” of their own.
My husband and I fell into this camp when we inherited his late grandmother’s 1901 cabin. With my background in interior design and my husband’s affinity for carpentry and construction, we were struck by the romantic idea of renovating an old family home.
In the end, our misguided renovation estimate FOUR-DOUBLE over the course of the three-year project. We had inherited what you would call a “money pit”. 🙂 (If you haven’t seen the movie The Money Pit, it’s so good.) This forced us to get really creative when it came time to find affordable finishes.
Not to fear! Not all fixer uppers require as much work or money as ours did to create a diamond in the rough.
Where Do I Start? 😭
Property investment can be a lucrative – albeit risky – source of income. It has allowed my husband and I to be completely debt free.
We bought our first home in 2011 for $183,000, made minor cosmetic improvements, rented it out for a few years, then sold it in 2016 for $285,000.
The housing market in our neighborhood exploded during those five years and we were able to use that equity to pay off all of our loans. Buying an affordable, outdated home and renovating it yourself (even over time) can be a very nice way to make money when you sell it if you make smart choices and leverage your sweat equity.
I am by no means a real estate or renovation expert, but I hope others can learn from our experience renovating properties and use it to their advantage on their journey to financial freedom.
Renovating Vs. Rebuilding: Which Should You Do?
Whether you’re looking to redecorate your home for you and your family on a budget or thinking of investing in a property to redecorate and flip, here are some tips and advice we’ve picked up over the years:
If your new home requires significant amounts of work and you need the help of a professional contractor (or subcontractors), make sure he or she is licensed, insured, and reputable.
The last thing you want is to give thousands of dollars to someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing; it will cost you so much more in the end.
Just as you would in an everyday budget, it is important to allocate every penny in the renovation budget. For our renovation, I created a budget spreadsheet that included material costs, labor/estimates, sales tax, and a buffer.
How To Organize A House Renovation
I would include a 10-20% buffer of the entire project to cover surprises like termite damage, asbestos, mold, or items you forgot to account for (nails and grout can get very expensive, very quickly).
In my budget, there were two columns: one for “estimated costs” of an item and one column for “actual costs.” After a material was purchased, I would enter the “actual cost” into the spreadsheet.
In this way, I had a running total of what was used and could quickly calculate what was left and whether we were keeping to budget.
For example, our kitchen cabinets were scored under a 20% off sale. We also bought all the tiles for our shower for $17 since it was an end product (normally it would have been around $200). All of our interior doors were 75% off as they were a special order return. Keeping an eye out for deals and being patient with things to sell can save you big money. Be sure to shop for the rear end pieces in stores as this is often where the clearance product will end up.
Livelovediy: The Basement Renovation, Part One: The Demolition Begins!
Don’t forget to use Ebates and Honey for Online Shopping for even more money back in your pocket!
When we changed our address with the USPS, they sent us a package filled with coupons from major home business retailers. Some of these include Wayfair, Bed Bath & Beyond, Big Lots, and Lowe’s. The Lowe’s coupon was very helpful because we used it when we bought our new appliances (saved us about $200). Ten percent may not seem like a huge discount, but when you’re doing a complete kitchen remodel, it can save you hundreds of dollars.
I’m not one to promote credit cards if you don’t feel like you can use them responsibly, or if you already have a lot of credit card debt. But if you’re comfortable with credit cards, you can take advantage of some of the perks when renovating.
We have a business credit card that we use for all our transactions (and pay in full each month).
Home Renovation Mistakes That Too Many New Homeowners Make
Over time we had accumulated a decent amount of points and decided to redeem them for Lowe’s gift cards to pay for our cabinets – a $1400 expense we didn’t have to put a dime of our own towards! We also have a Lowe’s credit card that saves us 5% on all purchases.
Over time, that 5% will really add up. (For example, you could save $1,000 on $20,000 worth of materials.)
Let’s say you’re a web developer and need your house painted – why not offer to create a professional website for the painter in exchange for him or her painting your house? I once gave an interior design consultation to a professional photographer in exchange for new headshots for my website.
Think about what skills you have and offer a trade. The worst they can say is “no”, but ideally you can save a decent amount of money in exchange for your time.
What’s The Difference Between A Home Renovation And A Remodel?
I’m not a fan of trying everything in a renovation even unless you’re a licensed professional (we usually hire out for big things like electrical, plumbing, plumbing, roofing, and structural repairs), but simple cosmetic tasks are totally doable.
Things like painting, tiling, flooring installation, landscaping, trim and cabinet/vanity installation are ways you can save a boatload of money.
You can easily find tutorials on YouTube or DIY blogs with instructions. This is where you can really create the “sweat equity” in a property – by eliminating a lot of the labor costs, you’re essentially putting money back in your pocket.
Some things can be easily saved and refreshed with paint, trim and other light cosmetic solutions. If you have solid cabinets, try painting or staining them to breathe new life into them.
Saving Money When Renovating A Fixer Upper
This will cost a fraction of the cost of replacing. We added trim to our outdated cabinets to create a Shaker look instead of ripping them out and saved about $2,000.
In the same mindset, instead of ripping out outdated tiles, try reglazing them. There are many ways you can update existing fixtures; you just have to be a little creative.
It’s so easy to get into a “keeping up with the Joneses” mentality when renovating your home. Popular TV shows, Pinteresters, and bloggers often feature impressive renovations with custom cabinetry, marble tile, and designer lighting that may be out of your price range.
The last thing you want is to pay for your remodeling project in 20 years! We chose stock cabinets, vinyl flooring, utility grade hardwood and laminate countertops and couldn’t be happier with our choices. We got the look we wanted without blowing the budget or going into debt to pay for it.
Best Home Remodeling & Renovation Ideas For 2024
I think it’s very easy to watch “Fixer Upper” and similar shows on TV, think they renovated that house in a short amount of time and it’s something you TOTALLY could do (speaking from experience here).
I remember watching a specific episode where they tiled a shower and made it seem like it took a leisurely afternoon to complete. When we tiled our own shower, it took two of us five days in a row with 12 hour shifts.
If you’ve never picked up a hammer before and plan to do a lot of the work yourself, think carefully about whether this is something you want to get into. Once your feet are in, it can be difficult to jump back out without losing money .
Hello! I’m Michelle Schroeder-Gardner and I’m the founder of