Every home will require at least one major home renovation in its existence. At that time, you will require the services of a house renovation contractor to assist you in evaluating the feasibility and the planning for renovating a home.
With the stewardship of a professional Houston house renovation contractor, an owner can confidently tackle the challenging questions that surround taking on renovating a home.
It is all too common when a homeowner faces the perplexing and complicated dilemma of; a) of selling their existing house to buy a new home or b) remaining in the existing house and undertaking a renovation to fit their current and future needs.
In some cases, this decision can be readily made due to the prior established long term family goals.
But in many additional situations the homeowners must sort through and deliberate over the litany of matters that make this dilemma a difficult issue to simplify.
This is where a house renovation contractor can be a very useful asset. They can help you better understand the possibilities and better yet the renovation cost associated with some of the renovating ideas that you are considering.
The house renovation contractor will facilitate the personal exploration and examination of the most relevant question, what are your families’ motives and goals for their housing needs.
This dilemma can usually be classified into tangible and intangible factors. The intangible factors are the tough emotional based elements that require lingering consideration. Intangible factors are difficult to measure but play a significant part in making decisions about housing needs.
The second classification can be identified as tangible factors. Tangible factors are problems that can be measured and quantified. Tangible items normally relate to our dilemma resolution and are commonly numerical or mathematic based factors.
Let’s discuss the many factors that lead to making a comfortable decision to sell or undertake a home renovation.
Learn why your Houston house renovation contractor provides expert advice on all home renovating matters
Intangible Concerns
Lifestyle – Your home reflects your lifestyle. You entertain in your home; you raise your family and you spend your quality time personally refueling in your home. Each member of the family enjoys their own lifestyle in their private space.
Lifestyle issues are not difficult to remedy. There are many cost-effective strategies that can resolve an owner’s needs.
If the house requires renovation or a need for more space, these challenges can be met if this is a relevant concern.
Location & Community – The location and neighborhood of your home is often a significant factor in your dilemma deliberation.
This is even a greater challenge if children’s schools are part of the evaluation. Moving to a new part of your city for the schools can be the driving factor with younger families.
The flip side of this is when a family is considering changing schools as a consequence of buying a new home.
These are difficult prevailing factors and should be carefully measured in your cost benefit assessment.
Changing location has become a major determining factor for the aging baby boomer generation.
AARP reports that 82% of aging boomers prefer to age in place. Although they realize that their current home will need modifications for their personal aging and also addressing the increasing maintenance problems as the home ages with them.
These matters require a house renovating contractor that will act as a trusted adviser in discussing the homes required renovation and associated budget that comes with them.
Updating or Structural Requirements – The average age of a single-family home in metro Houston is 30 years old.
A home this age will require many major products replaced, if not previously addressed. Products like roof shingles, mechanical systems and kitchen appliances represent a few of the more expensive home components that need to be evaluated as future investments.
Other major concerns in Houston would be if the house has experienced any structural settlement.
The soil conditions in Houston are highly plastic and commonly lead to foundation failure. Foundation failure generally leads to the homes walls and ceiling cracking or shifting.
These are key factors in assessing the viability of investing additional funds in home renovation that is experiencing this type of distress.
Lot Value vs Home Value – In the metro area of Houston many of the older homes are experiencing an economic renaissance.
This is a result of a growing demand the past decade for homes in the finer neighborhoods in metro Houston.
Since typically there is little to no available building site inventory for new house construction, price pressures cause the land value to outpace the value of the existing renovation.
These price demand pressures result in homes 55 – 70 years of age being torn down for the value of their land.
The economics of this renaissance place’s larger lots in high demand neighborhoods at a price premium. This new economic reality creates another challenging matter of the sell-renovate dilemma.
Homes in the age range of 35-55 typically require a great deal of updates. So, the question becomes, should the owner make the necessary investment commitment to home renovations or live in the house and sell for land value in the future.
Careful financial research and vetting are required to make this assessment. That often requires a financial feasibility to be conducted by a seasoned house renovating contractor with market price information and construction cost facts.
Tangible Concerns
Financial Feasibility – The financial feasibility consists of a comprehensive analysis of the relevant financial factors that require evaluation in making a clear intelligent decision to conduct a home renovation or sell your existing house.
These financial factors include the compiling and assessment of comparable house values, land market values and realistic construction cost estimates.
These financial factors are compiled to determine the future assessment of your homes market value before and after construction improvements are completed.
Using the last five-year history of the local appraisal district’s market valuation increases can be used to project a reasonable estimate of the future value of the improved homes future market value. This can then be compared to the sales assessment analysis.
The summation of this data is designed to provide the owner with a realistic financial assessment that aids in determining if the projected renovations make financial sense.
The results of this analysis can then be compared to the results of the projected benefits of a sales analysis.
This comparison will provide you the needed financial insights required to measure the tangible concerns associated with a sell or renovate dilemma.
As discussed, there are many moving parts to the home renovating or buy scenario. This is a matter that a qualified general contractor can readably develop for you during your evaluation period.
It is both a powerful decision-making tool and pre development mechanism for preparing for a complete lifestyle assessment.
Types of House Renovation Contractor
There are many types of house renovation contractors in Houston. There are smaller self-performing contractors and those that use subcontractors to perform their work.
Self-performing contractors perform their work with employees, hence their namesake. These contractors are very effective for smaller or tightly controlled projects. They are not effective for projects that require a large amount MEP work to be performed.
MEP trades are required to be licensed. This is why it is hard for a self-performing contractor to carry a licensed trade on their payroll on a full-time basis.
Those house renovators that hire subcontractors for remodel contracting use the standard general contracting business model to execute renovating a home.
The remodel contracting model works best for larger and more complicated projects where large amounts of materials can be stored and the work schedules are not restricted by the owner’s daily schedule.
Hiring a House Renovation Contractor
The hiring of a home renovator requires the owner to carry out their due diligence on the capabilities of the desired contractor.
This means requiring a detailed proposal with a very defined scope of work, a contract agreement, contractor insurance and be able to answer the tough questions of the owner.
It is extremely important that the home renovator be like minded and have the owner’s business acumen.
The primary reason owners hire a professional service provider is because they are experts in their field such as tax CPA or attorneys.
We expect to be able to trust them and look to them for advice during the renovation process.
You should use the same efforts of hiring the home renovating contractor as you would any other professional adviser.
Cost for a Home Renovation
The cost of a home renovation depends entirely on the magnitude of the scope of work and the finishes you wish to use.
It also depends upon what rooms in the home you intend on renovating. Kitchens and bathrooms are by far the most expensive room in the house to renovate.
The cost of a home renovation can accurately be calculated for a bid proposal with a complete set of permit construction documents.
If you are considering a full home renovation, the cost can range from $150/sf – $400/sf. If you are planning on adding a home addition, the cost can also range from $150/sf – $400/sf.
Conclusion
A Houston house renovation contractor is the go-to resource for assisting owners with determining complex questions on the feasibility and constructability solutions for renovating a home.
Their services can extend from assisting owners with home design construction documents to the complete execution of the renovation improvements.
The owner should use the same deliberate approach in hiring a home renovator as they would with any professional service provider and not just hire for price but for the quality and business acumen of a trusted adviser.
