By Samuel Rosenberg From CARIBBEAN360

NEW YORK, United States, Thursday April 30, 2015 – Renovating your own home or that of a close friend or family member can be a difficult and very trying process. It is easy to overrun both the schedule and your budget and unless you have spare reserves in a savings fund, you may be unable to complete the task to your satisfaction.

Renovating any property is often a financial nightmare. Before you carry out this task, speak with people who have renovated their home and asked them about all the problems they encountered on their journey. Almost everyone who tried to complete the work themselves or employed experts will tell you that the job took much longer than they expected and the final cost was over budget.

Where you will be unable to source any extra funds if the renovation is likely to go over budget, you will have to be clear with the contractor from the beginning, so that they know they must complete the task within the budget that you have offered.

To avoid the majority of these problems it is important to plan ahead so that you can spend sufficient time designing properly, comparing prices of all of the items you need to purchase and speaking to a wide range of contractors who will be able to complete the task when it suits you.

Where you are able to carry out due diligence looking at existing work that the contractors have completed, talking to the homeowners will complete the picture of how the work was carried out and whether the contractor managed to stay on schedule and within budget. You should not be afraid to ask all of the tough questions because it is your money and your home at stake.

The most expensive builder will not always be the best, but you can expect that the cheapest builder may struggle to carry out the tasks exactly as you require.

It does not always pay to purchase the cheapest goods to carry out building work because in the long run they may fail and you may need to pay again to replace the original work after a short period of time. Conversely, the most expensive products may not suit your budget and you will have to find a compromise. There is no point in purchasing the finest Italian kitchen cabinetry if you become so short of cash flow that you cannot purchase enough food to cook for your family in your finished kitchen.

Real estate professionals will be able to give you a guide to property valuations in your area, both before you carry out the work and afterwards. It is important not to spend too much money on your renovation because you may never be able to recoup its full value because there will be a maximum that your property can be sold for and however good the granite kitchen surfaces are, they may not be able to increase the selling price of your home.

Experts suggest that it is better to measure correctly to ensure that you purchase items that are of the correct size for your renovation rather than wasting money on products that are too small or too large.

Good planning is essential for you to be able to renovate a home on time and within your budget. The satisfaction you again from upgrading your property whether it is to live in it or to sell on quickly, will be all the better when your contractor works to schedule and doesn’t exceed your budget.

Samuel Rosenberg. The writer is the founder and CEO of Axcel Finance Ltd., the leading regional microfinance institution. Share your thoughts and email your questions to [email protected]

IMAGE: Renovations-plan-740

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