WHAT IS THE COST TO RENOVATE 2022?
What is the cost to renovate? As Auckland’s leading local builders of home renovators, we can build your renovation and construct an extension to turn your house into your dream home.
You might think you want to renovate your home to increase its value, or to make it more energy effective, or just for a update the look or introduce some new style. Regardless what your reason for remodeling or improving your home, it all starts with deciding a budget and how those renovations costs may fit into it.
But before you get on with any building project, it helps to have a clear view of the advantages and disadvantages of renovating.
Cost to Renovate – Advantages of home renovations:
- Increase the value of your home, particularly if you are preparing for sale
- Make your home improved for your unique needs or modern lifestyle
- Update old fixtures and fittings.
- Replace old doors and windows with energy efficient glass.
- Save on moving costs – why buy somewhere else when you can simply renovate your home at less cost?
- Improve layouts, improve design, improve lifestyle
- Set higher rents for improved rental properties
Disadvantages of home renovations:
- You will likely move out while construction underway
- Health & safety risks of your home being a building site for an extended period
- Sharing your home with multiple tradesmen from sun up to sun down
- Unknown risks of finding unanticipated faults that increase the cost of renovations
- Risks of overcapitalising if you have not done your research
Whether your property is going to be rented or if you intend to live there yourself, the return on your investment will matter.
Knowing the advantages and disadvantages, we can help guide on how much it costs to do a home renovation.
How Much Does Home Renovation Cost?
The proportions of your property and the amount of works required will directly impact the cost of renovating your home. The best way to secure your budget is by writing yourself a list of priority items and dividing this list into ‘must-haves’ and ‘nice-to-have’.
As an example, if your old doors and windows are not closing or showing signs of rot, installing new doors and energy efficient windows should be on your list of must-haves. Respectively, if you have a good floor and were thinking about introducing expensive tiles, this might go onto your ‘nice-to-have’ list.
The next vital step is to begin to reach out for quotes from multiple local builders to get a representative idea of the building or renovation costs involved. It’s best to choose local builders and installers as often travel time is calculated into the quote.
Once you’ve compared the quotes based on the scope of work, it is recommend adding another 10% to 20% to create a contingency for unknowns and surprises, which are very common even during the most planned renovation projects. Old villas, by far present the biggest surprises. If you average out the quotes, lets say around $50,000, you should keep an additional $5,000 to $10,000 as a contingency budget.
You should always use the market value of your property as a starting point for calculating home renovation costs. As a universal rule, the amount you spend on your renovations should not be more than 10% of the current market value of your home. For instance, the median price of a house in Auckland is 1.1 Million, according to interest.co.nz. For a house valued at that figure, the renovation budget should ideally be $110,000 or less.
Renovation Costs for Structural vs. Cosmetic Changes
A full structural renovation will cost you several times more than a cosmetic renovation. Any structural works will require a council consent. As such, the 10% rule for renovations is not likely to be realistic. Some building experts suggest that full structural renovation could cost you up to 40% of the current value of your property, or even more depending on the extent of ground works.
With that in mid, if your house in Auckland is worth $1,200,000, a good quality, council approved structural renovation could cost as much as $400,000. This could include changing the floorplan, improving the insulation, improving all services, new doors and windows, new kitchen & bathrooms, cost of hiring an architect and Council fees etc.
A cosmetic upgrade renovation such as giving your house a refresh, coat of paint or changing fixtures and fittings in your kitchen or bathroom doesn’t require a consent, and should cost you as little as 1% to 5% of the value of your home. If you’re looking to add value to your home, with the least amount of fuss or stress, lowest risk of unknown issues popping up, and a quick turnaround for a house sale or improved rental income, a cosmetic renovation will be your best value.
Do you have plans to price or want to know what your renovation may cost? Why not contact us