Why A Southern MD Remodeling Budget Really Matters

When remodeling your home in Southern Maryland, you are essentially taking the core of your family’s nest, and giving it a major surgery. It can be a stressful, expensive, yet extremely rewarding experience. Planning ahead can make a huge difference in how hard the process is on your family.

Getting quotes from contractors, making spreadsheets, and setting caps on your spending before even starting the remodel are all good ideas to keep you and your family as stress-free and comfortable as possible. Once walls start being demolished, and contractors come into your living area, you will be thankful that you spent the time to carefully plan your budget, and have one less thing to worry about.

Another reason to plan a budget, is so that you can get the best possible service, and pay the least possible price for it. Taking the time to compare prices and talk with competitors will give you a great perspective on what you want, what you need, and how to get it without being oversold.

You need to have a sort of “boundary line” with your funds. Spending money on something that’s mostly cosmetic and excessive can causes serious problems and may even completely stall the process of you building your new home. A budget is one of the most indispensable tools in your remodel tool arsenal, and like any tool, in the right hands it can work wonders.

Where To Start

Step one can safely be found in simply deciding how much you can afford to, and also how much you are willing to spend your home remodeling. One thing to keep in mind, is how long you plan to stay in your current home. If you plan on moving within the next five years, a remodel could be merely considered an improvement on real estate. Build your budget plan around how much you can are confident you can make back when selling the home.

However, if you plan on staying longer than five, ten years, a more expensive remodel should be considered, within the realm what can feasibly make your family the most comfortably. In the early stages of planning, priority need to be set, and later on, stuck with. This involves having the foresight to expect the unexpected.

Are you going to stay in the home during the remodel? In some cases, this will not be remotely possible and hotel, food, and entertainment costs are going to be something to add to your list. If staying in the home is feasible, what rooms will be affected? You’ll need somewhere to stay while the house is being built – account for that or find a friend to bunk with in the area. Family works great too, especially if you’re on good terms with them. Also consider how the specific parts of the home under remodeling are effecting your life.

Once you have decided on how much can spend, the next step is to break down the costs. Like any task, it’s best to be realized and completed in bite-sized chunks. Getting something done isn’t about taking action on a monumental amount of work in one go, it’s about managing pieces of it and prioritizing. Downloading a budget worksheet is a good first step in figuring out how much goes where and there are many online that are free and available for anyone to use.

Besides for the planned costs, it is also recommended to set aside at least 20 percent of your budget to fall back on (25 percent if you can). Life is full of unplanned events and you’ll most likely encounter them when undertaking a massive project like building your perfect home. Remodels are stressful enough, and expenses that pop out of no where can escalate the tension through the roof. As a rule of thumb, always expect the unexpected, and be prepared for hidden costs.

On the other hand, just the same way that the little things can save you money, they can also add up. In fact, this is one of the hidden costs that most commonly eats into a budget. When vying for a small extra or something that might not be that vital to the big picture, stop and think if it is really necessary. Go back, look at the number you originally wrote down, and try to remember all of the reasons you picked that number in the first place.

It is incredibly easy to a blow a carefully laid budget plan with little add ons and extras, which in one reason why making a spreadsheet can be very useful. Check the spreadsheet regularly, and update with information daily. This will make it much easier to see a problem starting to happen, and give you the ability to nip it. If you’re in a bind with applications that can provide the ability to create, edit and export spreadsheets, there are a ton. Microsoft Office, Google Docs, Libre Office and more exist (Google Docs is completely free!). They are compatible with most file types too, making money management a seamless breeze.

Overall, with a positive attitude and the right mindset, you can create a good budget and stay within it. There’s tons of great information on the web, so don’t hesitate in digging for some of it.

Plan B Remodeling located in Southern MD can help you create a budget or work within one that you’ve already created. Call today for a free estimate on your next home improvement project.