In Las Vegas, new homes are being built faster to keep up with buyer demand. The high level of demand presents an exciting challenge for LV homeowners looking to move.
Though it may be a seller’s market, and you are able to sell your current property easily, what if you struggle to find a new home? Rather than taking this risk – and paying all the costs involved with property moves – some choose to remodel their current homes. Whole home remodeling allows you to update and repurpose your property in one go.
Simple whole-house renovation freshens things with new flooring and paint, while more complex projects tackle kitchens, bathrooms, or moving the walls around.
If you’re debating a whole house remodel, success is all in the preparation, and the steps you take long before the first day of work can make all the difference.
Here is our complete guide to planning a remodel for your LV property.
Establish Your Reason for Renovation
One decision must come ahead of fixtures, budgets, and contractors. Are you renovating your home for yourself or for resale value?
If you are remodeling with resale in mind, that will impact your entire approach to the project. Stick with simple, timeless design choices that will add value tomorrow and in ten years. Investing in good quality basics to improve the home is also wise. Even though Las Vegas is currently a seller’s market, smart changes can potentially help you get an even higher sale price.
However, if you’re remodeling for yourself, you can take a different approach. Your design and budget choices may be more flexible since you aren’t worried about reselling value and are working to enhance your living space to fit your custom wants and needs.
For example, a remodel for resale should have simple, good-quality fittings and fixtures. But if you don’t have resale in mind, you could choose to invest in quality luxury flooring and countertops to provide a look you’ve always dreamed of having.
Once you’ve decided how interested you are in the resale value the remodel will add, you can move on to the next step.
How Much Does Whole Home Remodeling Cost?
Where should you set your budget? It’s impossible to generalize. In Las Vegas, remodel costs vary drastically based on size, taste, and timescales. The best way to make a budget is to consult with contractors. With their expertise and experience, they can provide provisional estimates to help you start planning.
Set Your Budget
Budgeting is an essential consideration ahead of a remodel.
Most experts will tell you there’s no such thing as a cheap renovation. Be wary of internet hacks telling you that a home revamp can cost just $20,000, as they are usually severely mistaken. Why?
One of the highest costs of a remodel is labor. In other words, whether replacing a less costly drop-in bathtub or having extensive drywall and flooring work done to install a beautiful freestanding tub, the construction and plumbing work can add surprising amounts depending on the complexity of the work being done. With this non-negotiable expense at the project’s center, you must set aside enough capital to ensure you have both product and labor covered. Relying on an accurate estimate from your contractor is key here.
Put Your Funding Together
To do this, some homeowners choose to take out a loan or dip into planned savings accounts. With your proposed estimate in hand, you can source funds that will help you meet the proposed costs and make informed decisions on what is most important to you before committing to the project.
Set Your Budget Lower Than Your Capital
However you source the funding, you need to have enough to provide extra funding when surprises come along.
As much as contractors can estimate a cost, inevitably, surprises will arise when juggling several rooms throughout the project. If you don’t have money set aside for these surprises, your project could be stopped dead in its tracks.
However, don’t let this scare you into thinking you need huge sums of money set aside that can burden your cash flow. There is another option where you can make smart choices to set your budget under the total amount of cash available. Planning to spend less and never using all your money helps avoid hitting a cash flow wall.
The Value Engineering Approach
But what if you’ve set your budget at your total amount of money already? You can work with your designer to lower costs with a trick called value engineering. It involves finding areas where cheaper options make unnoticeable differences to the final outcome.
For example, was your heart set on luxury kitchen cabinets? Your design team can help you find a similar but lower-cost alternative that keeps the look of the planned space the same. That way, your remodeled kitchen will have the same feel you imagined but with a lower budget.
Outline a Realistic Timeframe
Consult with your contractor at this stage. They will advise how long labor for each stage will realistically take with crucial steps that a first-time remodeler may overlook, such as the time needed for interior demolition. They can also advise on product supply chain issues and potential delays learned from other ongoing projects.
Give yourself some room to allow longer than the initially estimated timeframe provided by your contractor. While projects should run on time, you want to avoid getting caught in a bind if an unexpected issue arises.
Decide Who to Hire
With all this talk of contractors’ input, you may wonder who you should hire. Partnering with one firm from the beginning is ideal. They can take you from the first sketches to the project handover and provide continuity which is essential for peace of mind and less hassle.
What type of firm should you hire? There are contractors, architects, and interior designers to choose from, but for a pain-free process, it’s best to work with specific whole home remodelers who provide these specialists all in-house. You won’t have to source and coordinate with multiple people. Whether you need a specialized tiler or structural engineer, your one point of contact handles everything.
You can sit back, relax, and trust that the best remodeling company is running your project from beginning to end.
Choose the Whole Home Remodeling Experts
Professionals are worth their weight in gold when taking on a project as large as whole home remodeling. They ensure you stick closely to your budget, take on liability for the site, and carry the insurance needed to protect the project.
It is wise to undertake a whole home renovation with experienced professionals with a demonstratable track record and finished projects for you to review before signing on the dotted line.
If you are thinking of a whole home remodel project, we want to help. Please start the process by getting in touch with us today!
