How To Budget For Home Renovations?

Are you renovating your new home? Or are you drinking your morning cuppa and can’t help but notice renovations are in order?

If your first thoughts are, “where do I begin?” or “can I afford this?”, we have all the answers you’re looking for. While a home renovation can be expensive, there are strategies you can take to budget for home renovations and get the funds you need to make it happen.

This blog will give you tangible advice on how to budget for home renovations to avoid breaking the bank.

How to budget a home renovation

We all have the same end goal for a home renovation — to increase your property value without your bank account suffering the cost. To give your home reno the best possible chance of success while staying on budget, we strongly suggest taking the following steps:

1. Plan your reno

First thing’s first — close your eyes and visualise your renovation project. Then, grab a pencil and paper and roughly mind map what you’re thinking for your reno. Take a room-by-room approach to decide which rooms or spaces to renovate to remain on budget. If you’re on a tighter budget, you may need to prioritise certain rooms to renovate. You can present this rough plan to your tradies at a later stage and work closely with them to ensure a detailed plan from the get-go. That way, you can avoid unnecessary spending and help prevent unexpected renovation surprises.

2. Decide on your home renovation budget

While the idea of budgeting might feel stressful at first, it’s essential to set a budget as realistic as possible to avoid breaking the bank. If you’re considering using money from your savings, you should remember that it’s important to have rainy-day savings in case of emergencies. If you don’t have enough saved to fund your project, a home renovation loan will help.

Include a 10% contingency plan to cover unexpected costs or overspending, such as the potential cost of moving out and renting a place for a large-scale reno, takeaway food expenses for kitchen renovations, and storage costs to store your belongings for major renos.

3. Choose how to fund your home renovation

When it comes to funding your renovation, you must consider your individual circumstances to make the decision that works best for you. If you don’t have enough savings, why break the bank when you can seek other funding methods and avoid hefty upfront payments? You can also finance your home renovation by leveraging your equity to borrow funds for your renovations, which would likely incur extra fees.

Alternatively, apply for a secured or unsecured home renovation loan from Finance One. An unsecured loan involves borrowing cash, depending on your lender’s assessment, versus a secured loan with lower interest rates and personal assets used as collateral. With a home renovation loan, you’ll have the extra money in your pocket to help you budget. Why settle for less when building the home of your dreams?

4. Shop smarter

If you’re new to home renovations, it’s even more important to shop around, retrieve estimates from multiple builders, and ensure you’re getting the best deal. Never settle for the first builder or tradesperson you speak to.

This principle of shopping around should also be applied when buying materials and appliances. Spend the necessary time to find the best market deals for you and ask for price matches to get the best possible deals.

5. Hire tradies to get the job done right

While a DIY reno might be tempting, hiring professional tradies is a far better long-term investment. Cutting corners and attempting renovations yourself will only cost you more time and money for larger-scale jobs like plumbing or electrical work. Hiring professionals is the safest bet since they have the qualifications to maintain safety and get the job done right the first time. However, for smaller tasks like changing cabinets or door handles, a DIY job is satisfying and saves money.

Apply for a home renovation loan from Finance One today

Now that you know how to budget for home renovations, why not fund your home renovations with a home renovation loan from Finance One? What separates us from our competitors is we offer loans between $5,000 to $25,000*, no matter your previous credit history.

Normal lending criteria apply. Fees and charges are payable. Terms and conditions apply.

*Secured Personal Loans between $5,000 – $25,000. Unsecured Personal Loans between $5,000 – $15,000.

**48 hour approvals are subject to satisfactory documentation being provided to assess the application.

Finance One means:
Fin One Pty Ltd – ABN: 80 139 719 903
Australian Credit Licence: 387528

Disclaimer: The information above is of a general nature only and does not consider your personal objectives, financial situation or particular needs. You should consider seeking independent advice regarding your legal, financial, taxation or other needs, to check how the information relates to your particular circumstances. We do not accept responsibility for any loss arising from the use of, or reliance on, the information. All loan applications are subject to normal lending criteria. Fees and charges payable. Terms and conditions apply.