How To Keep Your Renovation Flexible

Hi guys! It’s Naomi Findlay here, your rapid renovation expert.

You have dealt with all of that nitty gritty stuff; finding the property, working out the paperwork and the finance. It’s almost done. Yay!

And now this is the moment you have been waiting for. You’re finally onto the actual renovation side of things.

So, how are you going to go about with the renovating then?

Have you figured out what parts you are going to renovate? Or are you still stuck on whether those kitchen cabinets really need to be replaced?

I know, this part is exciting. After all that pre-planning and dealing with boring paperwork, all you want to do is pick up the sledgehammer and start knocking down walls.

But trust me, if you let your excitement get ahead of you, you might just regret it. What’s going to happen if you start putting in a grand kitchen and then halfway through, after the excitement has cooled off, you realise that it’s totally the wrong style for your target market? You’ll either have to continue with that wrong style and hope that someone bites at the end of it, or start again. Either way it’s a sure way to waste time and money.

Remember the end goal: to make a profit. How do you do that?

By catering to what your target market wants. If your target buyers are vegetarians, would you try to sell them prime cuts of beef? Probably not. The same goes with your renovating. Always keep your target buyers in mind, because they are the ones that will lead you to your profit goal.

So, put those tools away for now and bury those overalls. You have a bit more planning to do.

Plan and re-plan your renovation.

But Naomi, I have already drawn up the plans! My budget has already been worked out! I can’t change everything now!

These are the thoughts that may be running through your head right now. I’m not asking you to change your plans, sketches and estimates. What I AM asking, is that you double, even triple check that all those original concepts of yours are still ready to put into play.

A soccer coach might have his game play drawn up and ready to go before the game starts, but he will almost always tweak his strategy when it begins. Why? Because there are only so many things he can anticipate beforehand. Maybe one of his star players turns out to have a stomach bug. Perhaps the field is extra muddy from all the rain and he has to stop his players from literally slipping up.

YOU are the soccer coach in this situation. When you were working out how much to pay for the property, there were a lot of different things to consider. I’ve already covered those things in some of my previous posts if you’re not sure what I’m talking about.

Now because there’s a whole bunch of stuff to consider when dealing with the actual buying of the property, it will trickle down to the actual renovating too. For example, if you end up paying a little more for the project than what you originally had written down in your budget, it means that you will most likely have to shift around some of your renovation numbers too. That means those super shiny taps and sinks might have to be re-thought. Or perhaps one of the kitchen walls will have to stay.

You have your profit set at a particular number, and you want to keep it that way. After all, that’s the whole reason for you buying a property in this particular patch, right? But if you don’t juggle around your renovation plans when something in the deal stage changes, you might find that pot of gold a little emptier than you expected when the dust has settled.

Just be sure the changes you make to your renovation plans don’t affect the overall look that your target buyers will be looking for. Rethinking and replanning does not mean switching luxury out for budget if that’s not what your market wants. There are plenty of different vanities in the luxury section of the bathroom store; you can replace a more expensive one for a cheaper one that is still in that high-end section, and still keep your target market interested at the end of the day.

So, how do you know what’s worth changing up, and what needs to stay put?

Focus on the most alluring features, downplay the least.

How do celebrities do it? How do they look so radiant in the spotlight, with perfectly accented eyes and cute button noses? They use highlighters, eyeliners and beautifully shaped dresses to draw your attention to their best features. And then they use spanx and concealer to hide their worst.

Just like these celebrities, you are the makeup artist and beauty stylist of your renovation project. When you are planning out your renovation, you need to hone in on the standout features of your property.

Is the property from the Art Deco era with high ceilings and intricate cornice work? The last thing you would want to do then, is remove these details or add kitchen cupboards that will make the place seem small. The ceiling detailing and height are what make people walk in and go wow! So, add some vintage lighting to draw attention to those features and watch your sale price and end profit go up.

Now I’m not saying that you should be hiding the not-so-good features. I’m not talking about putting a cupboard in front of a giant crack in the wall, or using a rug to cover up the rotting floorboards in the bathroom. You just need to work out how to offset them, and how much it’s going to cost. This way you can also see whether it’s an absolute must or just something that can be left alone because the highlights will outshine it.

There’s a handy worksheet in my Rapid Renovation Formula that will make working out these highlights and lowlights a breeze.

So, there you have it. Remember to plan and re-plan and when something changes to avoid going down the wrong renovating path. And also, be sure to work out your highlights and lowlights to really get a good price when it comes to selling your renovation project.