Home renovations can quickly get complicated if you don’t go into the process with a plan. Many homeowners make the mistake of breaking complicated projects down into small pieces that they tackle over months or years in the home. The best way to plan home renovations has always been to run full bore at the problem you are facing and handle multiple renovation projects all at once. Whether you’re currently looking into picking a kitchen backsplash, installing new windows, or putting down all new flooring throughout the home, bundling these and other projects together is the best way to tackle as much of it as possible together so that you can return to living life the way you want.
Start with your finances.
Financing home renovations is often the trickiest part. However, there are a plethora of options for homeowners seeking out ways to viably afford major home renovation projects. The industry for home upgrades is absolutely huge: Americans spend more than $400 billion every year retrofitting their homes to fit their precise and individualized visions. This means that the housing renovation industry is a healthy and flourishing one, and this includes financing. Your financial institution is often more than willing to extend a line of credit for homeowners who are current on their mortgage payments. This can often be taken out at a largely favorable interest rate as well.
Alternatively, you can tap into the equity that you already own in your home with a home equity loan or second mortgage in order to free up some of this static capital. Many homeowners find that refinancing their home loan is a great way to take advantage of a shifting market that suddenly presents interest rates that outstrip their current loan terms while simultaneously giving them access to additional capital for home improvement projects or other major purchases that come along in life.
John Foresi, Venterra CEO is a great source of information on these and other home finance issues. As a professional realtor, Foresi and Venterra Realty are well versed in the intricacies of home mortgages and lending practices. What’s clear to all, however, is that refinancing a mortgage is often a great idea for homeowners, regardless of how they may choose to spend any additional capital that is extracted from the value of the home.
With the coronavirus pandemic depressing financial markets all over the world—not just in the United States—interest rates posted by central banks across North America, Europe, and beyond have fallen through the floor. This means that a refinancing opportunity is upon homeowners looking to reduce their overall debt burden by eliminating a higher interest rate from their ledger. Refinancing, of course, will create new fiscal burdens in the way of a new origination fee and other related expenses. But the savings that are often available during a down market mean the saving of thousands, or even tens of thousands, of dollars over the life of the loan as you continue to pay both the principal and accrued interest on the loan. Mortgages are tricky, but they can often act as a powerful capital tool when looking to finance multiple home improvement projects all at once.
Keep up with major repair work.
Every home has weak points in the spaces that touch the exterior of the home. The roof, windows, and doors are all vulnerable to the elements—not to mention the exterior walls, foundation, and basement if you have one. These spaces are rife with creeping issues that can suddenly present themselves after what seems like years of proper functionality. The roof and windows are particularly vulnerable to this problem if you don’t keep up regular maintenance practices on these surfaces. Your windows and roof must be repaired and cleaned on a regular basis and replaced at specified intervals. Hiring Grand Rapids window contractors to replace your aging windows is the best way to head off any long term problems that you’re seeing with these glass surfaces.
Your windows provide natural light to the interior of your home and make the space inside feel more open and inviting. Your windows are also the primary source of heat loss during the cold winter months. This glass structure helps diffuse the heat that your AC unit is producing all winter long, and old windows often leak heat at an alarming rate. This puts an increased strain on your air conditioning unit, threatening a breakdown in this all-important piece of equipment. Leaky windows also cost you an arm and a leg in heating and electricity spending. Old windows are terrible for transferring heat out into the open, cold air, making your system work double-time to provide a comfortable climate within the home. Handling this problem before it metastasizes is of the utmost importance to homeowners at any time of the year. This problem, of course, reverses in the summertime when your system is working hard to keep the interior cool against the blazing heat of a summer’s day.
Plan for the renovation period before it arrives.
The timing of any renovation work must be carefully choreographed in order to get each element finished on time and out of the way of the next segment. A great way to ensure that there are no slowdowns in the process is to rent a 24 hour storage space. Finding a storage unit that allows you to come and go as you please is the best way to keep your belongings safe while contractors trudge through your living room, dining room, or kitchen. Protecting your belongings is an important aspect of the renovation process for your own peace of mind, but it’s also important for the team that’s working on your home as well. Moving your belongings out of the home during this period of work helps your contractors complete the job as quickly and efficiently as possible while not having to worry about breaking or moving your personal items that can easily wind up in the way of the job’s progress.
Organizing a brief period of chaos in the home is the best way forward with renovation work. Get your contractors, finances, and plan in order before you break ground.
