Naomi Findlay reveals what renovation TV shows aren’t telling you. Are you ready?

Hi everyone! Naomi Findlay here, the creator of the Rapid Renovation Formula.

Let me ask you this question:

Have you ever felt that everything seems so much easier, and so much simpler on reality TV renovating shows?

WHAT I’VE FOUND

I found that in some cases, the budgets and costings that they have on these shows can be really underquoted. As a consequence, it makes it really hard for everyday people to estimate their budget when quoting for their own renovations. Why?

Experience has shown me that in complete renovations similar to those on TV, the budget can be up to 3 times more than what is quoted on some of these TV renovating shows.

In fact, I’ve once worked with a client who was trying to replicate a bathroom that they’ve seen on one of these shows. As it turned out, the budget needed was $24K above what was quoted on the show.

THE IMPLICATIONS OF UNDERQUOTING

As you can imagine, this can be really confusing. It can leave a lot of renovators in a position where they’ll go under the budget thereby affecting their end-product. Even worse is that  they may not get to the end of it because they were misinformed about the costs.

To avoid that situation from happening to you, I’m sharing some of my top tips for making sure that your budgets are on track, on target, and that they’re going to yield the product that you’re after.

1. That Property Inspections Jumpstart Your Budgeting

The first thing that’s really important to do is that you complete a thorough inspection of the space. Let’s take the bathroom, for example. You need to complete a thorough inspection of that bathroom and document down all the elements of the bathroom that need fixing, changing, or replacing.

2. That Your Initial Budget Is Based On The Results Of Property Inspection

Second, you’ll need to create a list of the hard items that you need to buy. In our example, you can create a list based on these questions:

• Do  you need to replace tiles?
• Are you going to replace the bath?
• What sort of shower screen do you need?
• How much of the tapware needs replacement?
• What meterage of tiles are you going to replace?

3. That You Have To Consult Tradies For Quotes And Estimates

The third step is to take that list to your trades. You either need to get your estimates or, depending on how you work with them, your fixed quotes on how much that  work is going to cost to complete.

4. That There Are Costs On Top Of Your Proposed Budget

The tricky thing about getting costs and estimates is that many people think that once they have a budget list, there’s nothing more to it. But when they get charged for something more, they call them ‘hidden charges.’

However, I just like to call them ‘ignored costs’ because they’re not deliberately hidden. People just often forget to take them into account.

In our example, ignored costs may be things such as demolition. Often, people think that  demolition just happens. In reality, you need to budget for your demolition. You also need to budget for any repairs needed as a result of the demolition.

Another ignored cost in bathroom renovations can be tipping fees. The old tiles and the old cement slabs can be quite heavy if you need to take that up. That would then impact on your tipping fees.

5. That It’s Your Responsibility To Be In Control Of Your Budget

The last thing is—this is your responsibility—making sure that you add all costs up, that you’re across the plan, and that you’re on the budget before you go demolishing a thing, for example.

FINAL WORDS

Don’t get sledgehammer-happy guys. It’s possible to replicate a great renovation work you see on TV. But when it comes to costs, you have to know that there are differences. So make sure you follow the above steps so you can avoid being left in a position where you have an unfinished renovation due to an unrealistic budget.

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