How Do I Save Money On My Home Building or Home Renovation Project?
Great Question! We outline some commonly-used tactics that we recommend to our clients to save some money
One of the major realizations that our clients make when planning their large home renovations, home additions, and custom home builds is that it is a substantial financial undertaking. $400 000 home renovations and 1 Million Dollar + new home construction projects are now the norm and are likely here to stay as we deal with material price increases, inflation, and higher interest rates.
The big question that we get asked is, “how do I save money on these substantial residential construction projects? And do so without sacrificing quality and my needs?”.
With our experience as a General Contractor and Home Builder in Toronto over the last 25 years, we give you the comprehensive list on how to save money WITHOUT sacrificing on quality. It comes down to working with a General Contractor who is flexible, patient, and experienced to ensure you are making your dollar go as far as possible.
Cost-Saving Tactic #1: Fully-Transparent and Itemized Project Budgeting
With every project BVM Contracting quotes (that has working drawings) we pretend like you are already our client, and give you a detailed scope and budget breakdown so you can see the actual costs for your renovation, home addition, or new home building project. Now this sometimes comes with wasted time for our in-house estimating team with people who immediately skip to the subtotal and total costs without reviewing the level of detail we created, but most times it is a way for us to open a dialogue about where you can save costs. Since everything is itemized by construction activity (from demolition to finishes) the entire project is on paper for you to review, a sort of step-by-step guide on how the project should be completed with associated costs.
When we create our preliminary scopes and budgets we include anything and everything we think of that may be needed (or might happen) during the course of construction. As we get more details from the homeowner and designer about certain design intentions we can then make the appropriate cost-saving recommendations. This may involve adjusting building materials/wall assemblies, adjusting electrical/HVAC/plumbing scopes, or dialing the scope of work back in a few areas that are not necessarily needed to move back into the house, or can be deferred to a later date.
Our goal is to budget for the worst case scenario then try to work back from that worst case using a process called value engineering. Since value engineering takes time to properly be completed this requires a certain level of buy-in from our potential clients, which is why we end up being a good choice for clients that want to see their dollar go as far as possible.
Cost-saving tactic #2: Sweat Equity will always save you money
It is a well known fact that labour makes up a huge portion of the cost when hiring outside trades. This means that there is a huge opportunity for a homeowner to save money by doing work themselves. Now, to do renovation work yourself (even smaller projects) requires a certain level of time and skill commitment from a homeowner, but this is a commonly used tactic for our renovation and home building clients that have the know-how and time to complete certain tasks for their residential construction project.
We usually work with our clients to see if there is anything AFTER the drywall phase that they can take on, whether that be installing vinyl flooring, installing pre-hung doors, or painting the entire home (because professional painters are not cheap!). With our flexible and itemized budgets these changes to the scope are easy to implement and allows the client to understand exactly what we are managing and exactly what they are managing for the project.
Cost-saving Tactic #3: Homeowner buys/sources finishes
When you work with BVM Contracting you will notice that one of the first things we mention is that we A) like clients that are hands on (figuratively or literally), and B) allow our clients to shop for their own finishes. This is an important tactic to save money, because if you allow your General Contractor to shop for or source finishes for you they are not going to do it for free. They are going to either charge you the retail cost and buy the materials for their contractor-discounted price, or charge a fee to source/supply the materials on your behalf.
With BVM Contracting, not only do we allow you to shop for your own finishes (and do so wherever you like), we allow you to apply our contractor-discounting wherever we have the means to do so for you. We also have a list of local vendors that you can shop from, which saves you time by not having to drive all around Ontario and usually some money as we have discounts with all of our vendors. It is a win-win for everyone and saves our clients a bunch of money!
Cost-saving Tactic #4: DIY Renovations and partial DIY Home Building Projects
For the more experienced (or cash-strapped) homeowners, this last tactic is the best way to save money. It is a bit different than tactic #2 because you would either be managing the entire renovation project (for DIY renovations) or fully managing a home building project after a certain point in the project.
With BVM Contracting, we have handed over projects to clients after the drywall phase to insure that all City inspections behind walls are complete and in good standing. Once the drywall is complete the more experienced DIY homeowners can take over to complete their project. Now this comes with likely a longer project, but will save you a lot of money if you have the time to spare.
With smaller renovation projects we also offer DIY renovation consultation services that allow even the new-to-DIY homeowners the ability to save money without making the wrong decisions or costly mistakes for your project.
Conclusion
When evaluating whether you can save money on a renovation or home building project always be realistic with the costs and your ability to take on larger aspects of the project. You need to understand that the more your General Contractor or Home Builder manages the more your project is going to cost, and the more detailed the scope of work is the more options you have for finding cost savings! Best of luck with your cost saving journey!
About BVM COntracting
BVM Contracting is a full-service General Contractor or Home Builder located in Toronto. We provide home renovation and building services for major home renovations (kitchen renovations, bathroom renovations, basement renovations, full interior renovations, home additions, lot severances, and new home construction). Our goal is to help guide our clients through the process of renovating their home, from concept to completion.
Further than providing General Contracting and Project Management for major home renovations, we also offer value-added services such as renovation financing, renovation rebate consultations and services, building permit and design services, smart home installation services, and real estate investor services.
To learn more about our offering by visiting our services page.