WEBVTT - Renovating on a Budget #059 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.200 Welcome to how to Money. I'm Joel and I am Matt, 0:00:03.360 --> 0:00:06.880 and today we're discussing renovating your home on a budget. 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:27.560 All right, Matt. Before we get into all that stuff, 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:30.600 I want to mention that my friend Katie, she sent 0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:33.920 me an email based on our Frugal Versus Cheap podcast 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:36.680 when I talked about buying a fan for our rental 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:39.280 property that was super super small, yeah, with the uber 0:00:39.280 --> 0:00:43.240 short fan blades. Yeah, so I kind of gave myself 0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:45.440 some crap for that, and that was definitely a cheap 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:48.200 out as opposed to a frugal purchase. Yeah, it looks dumb. 0:00:48.640 --> 0:00:51.680 It looks terrible and actually is incredibly ineffective. It doesn't 0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:53.880 really move the air quite as well. No, because it 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:55.880 looks like it belongs in a four by four room 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:57.800 as opposed to a twelve by twelve room, which is 0:00:57.920 --> 0:00:59.320 kind of what it's in. I think a desk fan 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:02.680 mounted to this. Yeah, it looks so ridiculous. So she 0:01:02.720 --> 0:01:05.200 sent me this really interesting article from this site called 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:08.000 young house Love dot com. And it turns out I 0:01:08.120 --> 0:01:10.720 know that site. Oh really, Yeah, dude, that's the house 0:01:10.760 --> 0:01:14.360 renovating sort of site John and uh Sherry Kate and 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:16.280 I used to you like buddies of these people. No, 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:17.800 but Kate, I used to keep up with that site 0:01:17.840 --> 0:01:19.440 all the time back in the day when we first 0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:22.280 got our house. They were constantly doing sort of these 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:24.440 d I y projects and they would inspire us to 0:01:24.440 --> 0:01:25.920 to try stuff out at home. But then they kind 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:27.800 of stopped blocking for a while, so I guess they 0:01:27.840 --> 0:01:29.680 fired it back up. So cool. Yeah, So I don't 0:01:29.680 --> 0:01:31.440 know if I don't know if this was a recent 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:34.280 article or what, but but this is an awesome suggestion. 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:37.720 I guess they too found themselves in a similar spot 0:01:37.720 --> 0:01:40.520 where they had a fan that had fan blades that 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:43.559 were way too short and just didn't circulate enough air. 0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:46.520 And what they did was they reached out to the manufacturer, apparently, 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:49.120 and they asked if they had fan blades that were 0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:51.440 longer that would fit this exact same fan. They sent 0:01:51.520 --> 0:01:54.280 them the model number, and the manufacturer just sent them 0:01:54.400 --> 0:01:57.520 some new, longer fan blades that fit perfectly and the 0:01:57.560 --> 0:02:00.680 fans still worked fine. So awesome. Now I'm going to 0:02:00.760 --> 0:02:03.080 reach out to the manufacturer of my fan and see 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:04.480 if I can do the same thing. See if I 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:07.040 get some free fan blades and just make make that 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:10.799 thing work properly. That's awesome, man, I love that. Well, 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:13.400 this is gonna sound ridiculous, but I actually reached out 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:17.000 to the manufacturer of one of our fans because the 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:20.040 led panel for the light went out and it's sat 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:21.640 there for a little bit with sort of this half 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:24.600 dim light and mood lighting. Some people call that with 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:26.480 this half dim light. Yeah, that's right. And we knew 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:28.919 it wasn't working properly, but I was just kind of lazy. 0:02:29.000 --> 0:02:31.720 But I finally reached out to the manufacturer with a 0:02:31.720 --> 0:02:34.000 part number, and we had to pay for that part. However, 0:02:34.360 --> 0:02:37.440 it was only fourteen bucks, and because that we basically 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:40.280 got our lighting back in our living room when before 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:42.640 it was totally dark. That's something I've never really done before, 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:45.120 actually reaching out to the manufacturer. I think maybe in 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:46.680 a previous life I would have looked at that and 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:49.120 been like, the fans gotta go in a couple of years, 0:02:49.320 --> 0:02:51.079 just let's just get rid of it. I remember doing 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:53.600 that a while back with a caraft for a coffee maker. 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:55.799 He kind of busted, like he just kind of fell apart, 0:02:56.200 --> 0:02:58.160 and so I reached out to the manufacturer. I told 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:00.040 him the model number I was working with, and and 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:02.240 I was like, I really really love the coffee maker. 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:04.239 I don't really want to buy a new one. Yeah, 0:03:04.240 --> 0:03:05.919 there's a lot more life in this thing if only 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:09.000 I had the glass paper exactly. And so they sent 0:03:09.000 --> 0:03:10.560 me another one free of charge, which is super They 0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:12.480 hook you up. Yeah, dang it. So I feel like 0:03:12.760 --> 0:03:15.120 pay for my light, dude, that's well, four teen bucks 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:16.400 is not too bad. It's not bad. I was. I 0:03:16.440 --> 0:03:18.440 was pretty happy with it. But that's the downside to 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:20.720 LED lights in general. Right, Like they say that, oh 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:22.680 l eds, they're you know, they're gonna last for twenty 0:03:22.720 --> 0:03:27.480 thirty years, unlike traditional incandescent lights. However, the electric boards 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:29.920 will sometimes kind of short out. And it's not that 0:03:29.960 --> 0:03:33.359 the LED itself is going bad, but the circuit tree 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:36.160 sometimes may not be quite up to snuff. But I 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:38.520 think it's really important to realize that it never hurts 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:41.000 to ask. Right, maybe I can reverse my cheap ways 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:44.800 turn into a frugal wind. I mean, it's a beautiful thing. Yeah, man, 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:47.880 I love the discussion between frugal versus cheap, right, it 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:49.400 makes me think. A couple of weeks back, we had 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:52.200 a listener in our Facebook group at how to Money, Ben, 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:55.240 He said, frugal are cheap. My daughter has outgrown her 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:57.280 sippy cups, and I used them to take milk to 0:03:57.320 --> 0:04:00.240 work because I hate the powdered creamer they provide for 0:04:00.240 --> 0:04:02.480 the coffee. I fill up the milk at home and 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:04.440 place it in the fridge in the office break room. 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:07.760 What do you think about that? Man? I love it. 0:04:08.800 --> 0:04:11.200 I love it. Man. We've got so many freaking sippy 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:14.520 cups around our house, and my girls, for some reason 0:04:14.640 --> 0:04:17.039 love to love to still use like some of the 0:04:17.040 --> 0:04:19.320 ones they used as babies. They just think that's the 0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:21.880 coolest thing ever. And and you know what, I should 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:23.679 probably take some of them to work and do something 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:26.000 with him, something a little more creative. Yeah, But I 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:28.320 love that that Ben's not putting him out the pasture, 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:30.479 tossing him in the garbage, and he's getting getting a 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:32.760 second life out of him. And I just think it's 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:34.960 funny because if I was his co worker, I would 0:04:35.000 --> 0:04:37.159 probably ask for an explanation, but why is there a 0:04:37.160 --> 0:04:40.280 sippy cup in the fridge? Right? But then I would 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:42.719 have a good laugh and and probably use the creamer 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:45.200 that he brought, because he's right, powder cream sucks well, 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:47.200 added bonus, if no one ever knew that that's what 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:49.920 was in its his coworkers wouldn't steal the creamer because 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:51.960 I guarantee they probably think it sucks too, and they're like, 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:54.360 powder creamer? Do we hire a baby around here? Where's 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:56.720 this baby? Man? I've got my boss baby going on. 0:04:57.600 --> 0:04:59.240 All right, Joe, let's go ahead and mention the beer 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:01.680 that we're gonna have on the show today. It is 0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:04.960 from Prairie artisan Ales and this beer is called Apple 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:08.880 Brandy Barrel Noir. This is an Imperial Stout aged and 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:11.800 apple brandy barrels. And before we kind of get to 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:13.839 the what it tastes like, I wanted to mention that 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:16.560 this was donated to us from Jeff and Val of 0:05:16.760 --> 0:05:19.960 Monday Morning Pancakes. Dude. They wrote us a note and 0:05:20.000 --> 0:05:22.400 sent a couple of amazing beers and a few things 0:05:22.440 --> 0:05:24.880 they mentioned in the in the letter any pancakes too, 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:28.040 you know? I wish, although I don't think they hold 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:29.800 up very well in the male. Yeah, I don't think so. 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:32.080 They said that they were in a rut financially and 0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:35.119 had since been inspired to start their blog, Monday Morning 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:38.599 Pancakes to document their path to a better lifestyle and 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:42.040 financial independence. I'll tell you what, man, Sometimes just starting 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:44.400 a blog or some sort of diary, anything to kind 0:05:44.400 --> 0:05:46.760 of track your progress and put it down in writing 0:05:46.839 --> 0:05:48.720 can kind of help you not only to gather your 0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:52.400 thoughts and get started in a specific direction, but then 0:05:52.440 --> 0:05:55.240 also kind of hold yourself accountable as you're going through 0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:57.200 the process. And so I love that. I love that 0:05:57.240 --> 0:06:00.400 they started something, and they started something together to kind 0:06:00.400 --> 0:06:04.359 of turn inspiration into like application, really right, Yeah, I 0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:05.760 love that. And what a great way to get on 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:08.520 the same page as your spouse, right by starting something together. 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:10.800 And what a great way to gain our favor by 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:13.320 sending this beer. So I was really excited because I 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:14.880 didn't tell you what beer this was. But have you 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:16.560 had this before? Well, now I have to look at 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:18.240 the label. I don't know. I don't think I've ever 0:06:18.240 --> 0:06:19.800 had this one. Cool. I just know when I read 0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:22.320 that label, I thought, holy crap, this might be one 0:06:22.320 --> 0:06:24.000 of the best beers that we've had on the show 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:27.480 in a long long time, just based on the name alone. 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:29.880 So you are having a sip right now, and yeah, 0:06:29.920 --> 0:06:32.120 what are your thoughts, man? Yeah? I did just have 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:35.520 a sip and you might be right, Matt, that's a 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:39.400 phenomenal beer. The word I'm going to use this week 0:06:39.440 --> 0:06:43.080 to describe this beer is barrel. And I know we 0:06:43.160 --> 0:06:45.200 say that almost every week, that oh, this is such 0:06:45.240 --> 0:06:48.000 a good beer, but for real, this beer is fantastic 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:50.440 and my word is going to be apple. And all 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:52.440 the other times we were just lying like none of 0:06:52.480 --> 0:06:55.360 those beers have been good, completely joking, but this one 0:06:55.480 --> 0:06:57.520 is good, right, Yeah, did you hear my word? I 0:06:57.520 --> 0:07:00.320 said apple? I did, yeah, for it, Honestly, that's the 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:02.760 word I almost went with, oh really, but I was like, 0:07:02.800 --> 0:07:04.840 it's a little too straightforward, because no, man, I take 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:06.839 it right on the notes. So yes, So we'll describe 0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:08.760 a little bit later on the show exactly why we 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:11.680 use those words. And no, we weren't lying in episodes past. 0:07:11.800 --> 0:07:14.760 We just honestly drink good beers every week. Super thankful 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:16.520 to get a drink good beers with you, my friend, 0:07:16.720 --> 0:07:19.680 and do the show alright, Joel, But onto the topic 0:07:19.720 --> 0:07:22.160 at hand. Huh you did that nicely. Yeah, that's how 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:24.840 you do it. And so this week we are talking 0:07:24.880 --> 0:07:27.720 about specific tips when it comes to renovating your home 0:07:27.840 --> 0:07:30.160 on a budget. What are the specific tips you can 0:07:30.280 --> 0:07:32.360 use to save yourself money and to keep you within 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:34.760 your budget. And last week we discussed the pros and 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:37.280 cons and the factors that you should keep in mind 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:39.920 when considering if you should renovate or if you should move, 0:07:40.320 --> 0:07:41.840 and we came to the fact that both can be 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:45.240 just as stressful and expensive. But you know, if you 0:07:45.280 --> 0:07:48.160 want to renovate, or you think that you will ever renovate, 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:50.800 this is the episode for you. Yeah, Matt, And I 0:07:50.800 --> 0:07:52.400 think they're gonna be a lot of like big picture 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:54.440 things for people to take away from this episode, but 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:56.720 they're also going to be these small things that seems 0:07:56.920 --> 0:08:00.600 insignificant potentially, but could be the difference between having a 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:03.200 contractor that does a good job for you or one 0:08:03.280 --> 0:08:05.920 that takes your money and runs. And there are so 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:09.320 many horror stories of people that decide to move forward 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:12.880 with a renovation and they hire a contractor based on 0:08:13.120 --> 0:08:16.240 very little knowledge or or a word of mouth from 0:08:16.320 --> 0:08:19.120 one person, and and and and guess what, You pay 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:21.200 a lot of money up front for them to start 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:23.640 the project, and then you never see him again. And 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:26.160 I've just heard and read too many of those stories 0:08:26.400 --> 0:08:29.080 from people. And that's a huge reason why we're creating 0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:32.080 this episode is to help people not only figure out 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:34.760 how to save money maybe d I y some things themselves, 0:08:34.960 --> 0:08:39.400 but ultimately also to avoid that potentially tragic circumstance where 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:42.160 you lose a ton of money by giving your money 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:44.120 to a scam artist. So we're gonna get to all 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:56.480 those tips right after this break. All right, Matt, let's 0:08:56.520 --> 0:08:58.640 get right into it first. Are you sure you want to? 0:08:58.920 --> 0:09:01.040 I mean, renovating a house is a pain. We talked 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:03.240 about it last week, so certainly there are a lot 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:05.360 of benefits, but there are also a lot of costs 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:08.440 and headaches associated with a major reno. You might be 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:11.960 able to instead, possibly spend a fraction of the renovation 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:15.280 costs you're considering on storage and organization to save a ton. 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:17.520 That's something we mentioned last week. I just wanted to 0:09:17.559 --> 0:09:19.960 briefly say in this episode in case you missed that one. 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:22.320 Now let's get onto some actual tips for how you 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:24.360 renovate your home on a budget. The first tip that 0:09:24.400 --> 0:09:27.200 we're gonna cover is to keep in mind that it's 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:30.640 gonna cost more and it's gonna take longer than you expect. 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:33.720 I've never heard that about a renovation. This all the time, 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:35.800 but you gotta keep in mind because it is duded. 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:37.600 Is so true. I'm thinking of some friends of ours 0:09:37.640 --> 0:09:40.480 who live pretty close by. They would also say the 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:43.280 same thing. The project went a couple months over than 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:46.040 what the contractors said, and so did the price, and 0:09:46.080 --> 0:09:47.520 so in their case, they kind of had the double 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:50.319 aamy going on, man, which is not uncommon. Yeah, it's 0:09:50.320 --> 0:09:52.800 not uncommon, but it's just something to keep in mind. 0:09:52.840 --> 0:09:56.360 You need to set some expectations and chances are that 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:58.520 one of the two of those are going to go over. Yeah, 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:00.640 you're going through a home renovation right now, so you 0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:04.040 have some particular expertise at this moment in Yeah, that's right. 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:05.960 And so I think we're pretty much on time, which 0:10:06.040 --> 0:10:08.760 is pretty crazy, right, the fact that we're on this 0:10:08.880 --> 0:10:11.760 the time schedule that our general contractor had had said 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:14.640 was gonna be the case. But we are going over 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:17.520 budget for reasons that we'll get into later in this episode. 0:10:17.760 --> 0:10:19.959 But from a time standpoint, we seem to be pretty 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:21.959 much on track, which is pretty freaking awesome. But it's 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:25.640 not always the case. Yeah. So, speaking of budgeting and money, 0:10:25.880 --> 0:10:29.920 start saving now. Paying cash is the most ideal way 0:10:29.960 --> 0:10:33.520 to pay for renovation. I realized that is a high standard. 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:36.280 That's a difficult thing to live up to. But if 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:38.920 you find yourself thinking right now, oh man, in a 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:40.640 couple of years, I feel like we're gonna want an 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:43.600 extra bathroom, or we're gonna want to remodel the kitchen, 0:10:43.679 --> 0:10:45.400 you know, whatever it may be. If you can think 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:47.640 about it ahead of time and start saving for that, 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:50.360 then you don't have to worry about banks. And that's 0:10:50.400 --> 0:10:52.520 really nice to not have to go through a process 0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:55.520 of taking out a home equity line or loan or 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:57.680 doing like a cash out refight, because those can just 0:10:57.760 --> 0:11:00.320 be a pain, a lot of paperwork, a lot of documents, ation, 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:03.160 and any way that you can avoid that is awesome. Yeah. 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:05.360 Or even on top of that, man, construction loans. That's 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:06.959 the product that's out there that a lot of people 0:11:07.080 --> 0:11:09.520 use to renovate and like do a big renovation on 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:13.280 their home. But with those come a lot more work. 0:11:13.520 --> 0:11:16.200 The bank sends out their own inspectors and so it 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:19.079 really slows down the work. You have to not only 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:22.000 get the work inspected by your local government for permitting 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:24.520 and whatnot, but the bank has to also approve the 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:26.520 work because they're the ones that are funding the work, 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:28.960 and so it really kind of slows the process down 0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:30.959 and as a layer of complexity to the work that 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:33.480 you're having done on your place. Yeah, and so if 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:35.400 you do need to get a loan, the type of 0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:38.199 product that you want to get depends on the amount 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:40.080 of time that it's going to take you to pay 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:42.240 off that loan. So if you end up getting an 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:45.240 adjustable rate loan like a home equity line of credit, 0:11:45.800 --> 0:11:47.880 you are only gonna want to do that if you 0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:50.560 feel like you can pay that off in a shorter 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:53.880 amount of time. Because chances are, in an environment where 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:56.280 interest rates are rising, you're likely going to pay more 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:58.559 in overall interest if it takes you a longer time 0:11:58.600 --> 0:12:00.360 to pay off. And so if that's the case, if 0:12:00.400 --> 0:12:02.400 it's going to take you a longer time to pay off, 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:04.600 and I'm saying greater than a three to five year timeline, 0:12:04.679 --> 0:12:06.840 you're gonna want to go with something that locks in 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:09.360 your rate, like a whole equity loan or potentially that 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:12.560 cash out refinance because interest rates are still overall at 0:12:12.559 --> 0:12:14.839 a pretty low level, and so if it's going to 0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:16.840 take you a while to pay off, well, it's best 0:12:16.840 --> 0:12:19.520 to lock that interest right in now when you're considering 0:12:19.600 --> 0:12:22.240 taking out funds for a renovation, Yes, that's right, man. 0:12:22.280 --> 0:12:23.760 You want to have a plan to pay that off 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:27.160 as soon as possible. Next tip, if it's a job 0:12:27.320 --> 0:12:29.920 that's going to be bigger, you want to consider hiring 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:34.720 an architect to get some detailed drawings. Otherwise, not having 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:37.720 decisions made ahead of time could cost you way more 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:40.400 money and cause the project to run longer than expected. 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:42.240 And when you do this, you want to make sure 0:12:42.280 --> 0:12:45.559 you tell them your overall budget, because you might have 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:48.640 architects who can do some incredible work and they might 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:53.120 draw you some amazing plans right for a renovation that 0:12:53.200 --> 0:12:55.679 you could never afford, and you might think to yourself, well, 0:12:55.679 --> 0:12:57.640 how the heck am I supposed to even know my budget? 0:12:57.679 --> 0:12:59.640 But a way that you can get some ballpark numbers 0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:02.040 is to reach out to some contractors, have them come 0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:04.520 by your place and generally go over the score footage 0:13:04.520 --> 0:13:06.959 that you're looking at, adding the general finishes. Most of 0:13:06.960 --> 0:13:09.480 the time you're gonna match your existing house, and they'll 0:13:09.520 --> 0:13:12.000 give you a range. With that range, you can then 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:14.600 take that to the architect before you pay them thousands 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:17.480 of dollars to come up with incredibly detailed plans that 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:20.280 you can't actually do anything with. Oh and another quick 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:22.960 tip when you're talking to your architect is make sure 0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:26.920 that you are having things designed and drawn to like 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:31.280 more standard sizes. So, for instance, doors come standard at 0:13:31.320 --> 0:13:33.040 six ft eight If you don't want to be blowing 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:35.160 your budget out of the water, don't have some detailed 0:13:35.200 --> 0:13:37.880 drawings where you've got this custom seven ft two inch 0:13:38.000 --> 0:13:39.880 door in your house, because guess what those are gonna 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:43.160 have to be custom made. Considers standard sizes and your 0:13:43.240 --> 0:13:46.920 architect will know what those are. But ultimately, Matt, the 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:50.520 biggest thing you need to consider when you're jumping into 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:54.679 potential bigger home renovation is a general contract that's right 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:56.839 at a g C. The g C can make or 0:13:56.880 --> 0:13:59.360 break the whole thing. And so we've got a few 0:13:59.360 --> 0:14:02.400 tips and selecting the right one. And it's important to 0:14:02.440 --> 0:14:06.760 ask friends and local realtors for recommendations for local contractors. 0:14:06.920 --> 0:14:10.079 And it's really important to get at minimum three different 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:14.080 quotes from different contractors in your area that will help 0:14:14.120 --> 0:14:16.400 you kind of develop a ballpark of what this project 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:20.040 might cost. And when you're interviewing those contractors that have 0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:23.800 been recommended to you, it's really important to call their references, 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:26.480 to ask for references, right, and then to call those references, 0:14:26.720 --> 0:14:28.600 and then you want to even go a step further 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:31.480 because lots of people do that. They ask for the references, 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:34.240 they read the references. But if you can actually go 0:14:34.320 --> 0:14:37.320 out and look at a job that they've done, physically, 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:40.200 go out to someone's house, see the work right, Yeah, 0:14:40.400 --> 0:14:42.760 that is so helpful in seeing, Okay, how good is 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:44.560 the work? Right? And if you see it in person, 0:14:44.840 --> 0:14:47.480 you can see the little imperfections or the ways in 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:49.960 which that contractor has taken special care to do a 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:52.640 great job. Seeing the work in person and talking to 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:54.960 that individual not just over the phone, but to their 0:14:54.960 --> 0:14:58.520 face where you can actually discuss what the process was like. 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:01.120 You're gonna get a lot more nation about how that 0:15:01.480 --> 0:15:03.800 how they worked with that contractor how easy it was, 0:15:04.080 --> 0:15:06.600 and how happy they are with you know, the final outcome. 0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:08.640 There's a lot more sort of nuance that goes into 0:15:08.680 --> 0:15:11.640 conversation when you're hanging out in person versus say on 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:13.600 an email or a quick text, where they might feel 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:15.280 the needs is sort of gloss over some of the 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:18.120 things that they didn't love so much. But again, like 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:20.040 you said, hanging out in person. That's why we like 0:15:20.120 --> 0:15:22.360 to hang out in person. But they're just you have 0:15:22.400 --> 0:15:24.800 more fun and you're able to communicate a lot more 0:15:24.960 --> 0:15:27.400 just robust lye. Yeah. It makes me think of our 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:30.000 episode Matt that we did about screening a tenant, and 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:33.840 it's very very similar to that, where that first impression 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:36.480 that you get of a tenant through email or a 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:39.120 phone call can be awesome, and then you meet them 0:15:39.120 --> 0:15:41.120 in person and you can tell a whole lot by 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:43.920 when they show up, how they present themselves, and how 0:15:43.960 --> 0:15:46.640 that walk through the house goes. There's there's so much 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:48.760 that you can gather from an in person visit that 0:15:48.800 --> 0:15:50.920 you couldn't over a phone call. And the same is 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:53.640 true when you're picking a general contractor. Another thing is 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:55.880 that you want to make sure that your general contractor 0:15:55.960 --> 0:16:00.240 is licensed and ensured. Gcs can cost tend to earty 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:03.240 percent of your total project cost, and that's a lot 0:16:03.240 --> 0:16:04.720 of money, so you want to make sure that you've 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:07.000 got one that isn't going to end up being a 0:16:07.040 --> 0:16:10.160 liability for you. Yeah, and this vetting process can save 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:11.840 you a lot of time, a lot of money, and 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:14.000 a lot of heartache. Spend the extra time on the 0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:16.520 front end to save all of those other things on 0:16:16.600 --> 0:16:18.680 the back end. Keep in mind, though, that when you 0:16:18.720 --> 0:16:21.560 get a quote from your g C or potential g 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:24.840 C that is just an estimate, is not a final 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:28.200 bid or or a final price. More than likely there 0:16:28.200 --> 0:16:31.600 are going to be unforeseen things that always arise once 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:34.120 a renovation is underway, and you want a GC who 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:37.480 will address these issues with a change work order and 0:16:37.520 --> 0:16:40.040 not just cut corners, because basically, something comes up and 0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:42.600 you've got two options. If the GC feels that you 0:16:42.640 --> 0:16:44.600 know that you're locked into this price and that you're 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:46.800 not really flexible, well they know that you're not gonna 0:16:46.800 --> 0:16:48.720 want to spend extra money to fix that, and so 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:50.520 they're they're probably just gonna cut corners, or they're just 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:53.200 gonna sort of dry all over that rotten spot or 0:16:53.200 --> 0:16:55.440 whatever it is. You want to g C who will 0:16:55.480 --> 0:16:58.720 communicate with you, have these discussions and hopefully that these 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:01.640 are decisions that you can make together and move forward. Yeah, 0:17:01.680 --> 0:17:04.359 and I feel like that process, Matt, the beginning process, 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:06.439 that getting to know you kind of process with a 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:10.720 general contractor receiving their estimates, seeing how they present themselves 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:14.000 in person to you, whether they're on time, and how 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:16.480 thorough they are, whether they get their estimate to you 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:18.760 when they say they will. That is foreshadowing of how 0:17:18.800 --> 0:17:21.680 things are going to go when the renovation process actually begins. 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:24.840 So take note of that when you're getting your quotes 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:27.920 from contractors. How that process goes down is going to 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:31.400 be very indicative of what your future with that contractor 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:33.639 looks like, Yeah, Joe, I couldn't agree more. Right if 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:35.240 you If you're gonna have to make like five phone 0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:37.360 calls just to hear back from your contractor to get 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:39.800 you a quote, chances are they may not be the 0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:42.520 best fit if you're expecting to, you know, hear back 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:45.720 after one phone call or one text message. You also 0:17:45.800 --> 0:17:48.320 want to have a general contractor who's familiar with the 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:52.000 permitting process of your particular city. So building codes and 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:55.160 our standard and international, the local government they're the ones 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:57.879 who handles the permitting approval process, and they all do 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:01.280 it differently. What documents they expect varies and how they 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:04.000