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We have big plans for this house, well, they’re big for us at least. There are quite a few things that we need or want to do immediately, but there are others that will be projects to complete along the way. Either way, we need to stay organized, keep our renovation on track, and keep on budget.
Here are some things we are doing to keep this project under control:
1. MAKE A LIST.
After we finished the inspection, we definitively decided that we are going through with the deal. At the same time, we were feeling a bit overwhelmed by the steps we needed to complete before closing. We didn’t want to miss anything. That’s when we made a list of the tasks we needed to get done to buy the house. At the same time, we wanted to start planning for the renovation and made a list of projects as well. This is the first step to staying organized and on track.
We started by just listing every project we would want done, without thinking about our budget just yet. This was to get an idea of what kinds of changes we would like to see and to give us a good overall picture. We then went through and prioritized our list. What projects need to be done before we can move in? What are the “if we have the time/money” projects? We actually each made a list, Jason likes his lists on his notes app on his phone, while I like a paper copy in my journal
At this point, it’s also a good idea to think about what logically makes sense as well. If we want to open up walls, we should do so before the flooring goes in or we’ll have to patch. We had to also think about this for the kitchen. We need a new stove (it’s tiny, only 2 burners work, and the oven doesn’t work at all), but we can’t fit a full sized stove with current layout (unless we don’t want to go outside or downstairs…). This is going to mean a lot of slow cooker meals for the first few weeks of living in this house. Also, that the kitchen reno has moved up on our priority list.
2. SET A BUDGET.
With a home reno looming in the near future, it was important to get a hold of exactly where we are financially. We had already pieced out how much we have in terms of purchasing the house, closing costs, monthly expenses, etc. However, now that we had (almost) exact numbers, we could think about how much we were willing to spend and how much we had available to spend on a renovation.
First, we wrote out exact balances from our relevant bank accounts (we didn’t include our emergency funds or checking accounts). We added these up and subtracted out the closing costs and down payment. Then we went through our project list and started adding up our estimated costs. Now, since we didn’t have the house yet, we hadn’t gotten estimates from contractors who walked the property. However, we just set up a preliminary budget to get an idea of where we stand. We had some numbers from the inspector and a family friend that’s a contractor. So, we had a general idea. Now that we’ve closed, we can measure, get estimates, and we’ll go over our budget again to get a better handle on the price.
If you can get estimates, this will make your budgeting easier. We aren’t contracting out all of our projects, but for those that we are, it’s important to get estimates. For those that we are doing ourselves, we will price out supplies and estimate how much we will need. We will continue to check back in on our budget throughout the project to make sure we’ve stayed on track.
3. TRACK EXPENSES.
If you’re going DIY, keep track of every material you buy. It’s easy to forget exactly how much you have spent on the renovation if you don’t keep track of every penny. If you’re hiring a contractor, know what’s included in the estimate and then be sure to track the final total when the project is complete. I highly suggest tracking expenses as soon as you incur them, that way you don’t miss anything. This will also help to keep you on track as the project progresses.
I love making spreadsheets. I have a spread sheet for pretty much everything, especially when it comes to this house hunt. The reno is no exception. You can download the expense tracker I’m using for this project at the end of this post. In it you can make your budget categories and find a space to list every expense related to your project. Since this is our first house, we needed to also budget for buying furniture and all the little things you need around the house. This tracker is super flexible and feel free to use it to track whatever you need to make your project go as smoothly as possible.
There’s a lot of work that goes into a renovation and hopefully these simple steps can help you keep your home project or renovation on track. Let me know how it’s going below!
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