How to Minimise Your Home Building or Renovation Costs Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6229397

So you've decided to build a new home or renovate / remodel an existing home, you're on a budget, want to minimise your building costs and get the most value for your money.

The best time to save money is before you start building. Pre-planning and defining your home building or renovation project is a key factor in minimising your home building cost. Once you have employed and signed a contract with a home building contractor, the chances to save money on your home building cost is reduced significantly.

You will never get all the details of any building project 100% perfectly planned before you start, however you can certainly remove many unknowns and have a chance to minimise the home building cost.

Also remember that the cost is not just the money you hand over to the contractor, it includes ancillary costs which can occur if the project is delayed like additional rent in another place or the emotional cost of waiting for the project to be completed which can stretch even the best relationships to breaking point.

The main ways to minimise your home building costs are:

1. Define what you want - Take your time to think through what you want for your home renovation or building. The clearer your definition of what you want is before you sign the contract the less variations to the contract which will occur and so the lower will be your home building costs.

2. Overall Total Home Building Costs - select the best contractor for your project, this may not always the cheapest. Too often in building large projects, for various reasons, clients have decided to accept the lowest initial cost from a builder, when clearly at the end of the day it would cost my client more with hidden extras, delays and stressful negotiations to resolve issues. The building process is stressful enough don't add to your potential problems and always consider the overall total home building costs.

3. Money - the financing cost of any project can be significant whether you have the cash in the bank or you are borrowing it from the bank. When making decisions on which contractor to employ, sometimes it will be beneficial to not always employ the lowest home building cost contractor as they may take longer and cost you more in things like interest, alternative rental costs and more.

4. Set time aside to Manage the Process - any building or renovation project is going to take a significant amount of your time prior to construction, during construction and to a lesser extent after completion. This will occur no matter how good your contractor, architect or project manager are at their jobs. Don't start the project until you have the time to dedicate to be available to make decisions on what you want in the project on a daily basis.

5. Be Decisive - Time is money in any project for both you and your contractor. By being decisive you will allow the project to keep flowing, which ultimately be one of the key factors which will determine how long the project will take.

6. If Unsure about Advice - if you are getting "contrary" advice or if the advice you are receiving from experts does not feel right, do not be afraid to call in an independent expert or friend to help you clarify any issue. Trust your instincts and gut feeling as people involved in a project can sometimes become too close the project and lose their objectivity.

To get the lowest overall home building cost is always a matter of balance, however if you consider these 6 ways to minimise your home building cost you will be along way to successfully achieving your dream home building project.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6229397