You can get a lot of things done with just $20,000 in your pocket. You can even do a complete budget home renovation if you spend it the right way. But all of our needs are not the same.
Some would like a whole refresh, while some require a deep bathroom renovation and others might want an extra bedroom. And the rest would simply look for opportunities to boost the house value with minimal expense on their investment property.
Whatever category you fall in, there are enough budget renovation ideas you can choose from. All you need to know is how to renovate within the budget.
How much does house renovation cost?
An average full house renovation in Australia costs between $40,000 and $200,000 at the renovation cost of $2,500 to $4,000 per square metre. It is around the same in the US.
Comparing these numbers, the said budget of $20,000 might seem smaller. But you can renovate a lot more than you think. You can even do significant changes to your house with just $5k. You just need to be wise about where you spend the money. More on that later.
Home is one of the prized possessions and the biggest investments we ever do. To maintain the value of it, for an investment property or the home you reside, renovation from time to time helps.
A well-maintained home not only translates to good money when sold but also adds to your value in every other means. So, it is always worth spending on house renovation.
The renovation cost of every part of the home is going to be overwhelming at first glance. Once you start researching, planning and micromanaging you can surely do wonders within the 20k budget.
What renovations can you do with $20,000? Renovation under $20,000
As said earlier, the possibilities to renovate under $20,000 is countless. It is the needs and the best value for money that makes all the difference. So before knowing what can be done, you must know what kind of changes you want for your home.
The needs can range from anything to just repainting to doing a complete changeover. We can’t say what you need. But we can help you find what you need and make it more achievable within the budget.
Try answering the below questions to narrow down your needs,
What type of property you are looking to renovate? – Your primary house or investment property. Be it flipping the property or rental investments you can look for value for money investment. Why because increasing house value for rental property too will get you a long-term client with good rental income. On the other hand, residential renovation projects revolve around adding comfort, safety, etc.
What kind of renovation are you looking at? – an overall appeal, improving particular space (kitchen, bathroom, landscape, etc) or adding space. This can clearly give an idea of where to concentrate on.
Do you have anything to be repaired or mended? You need to look for leaking pipes, aging roofs before even considering renovation work.
Here are some of the options that you can choose based on your needs:
Once you are clear with the needs, let’s go renovation plan hunting. Do a lot of research, look for inspiration of tried and tested plans. There are a lot of renovations on the internet and on TV shows. Keep in mind, TV shows often skip the margin that the builders charge over the labour and material cost. So, add 15-20% over it to get the final price.
Here are some of the interesting renovation ideas under $20,000 I have done myself or found on the internet,
- Bathroom renovation: $20,000 is an easy budget for bathroom renovation. In most cases, you won’t even need to cut corners if you are spending 20k on the bathroom alone.
- Kitchen renovation: The same goes for kitchen renovation. You can easily cover most of the needs including cupboard refinish, tile work, countertop.
- Kitchen and bathroom renovation: This is where the budget is going to be a constraint. The normal split up would be 65% for the fund for the kitchen and the rest directed towards the bathroom. You can change it based on your needs. But remember you don’t get to replace everything. You will have to compromise like painting the countertop instead of replacing and changing the shower screen and resurfacing the bathtub instead of swapping for a new one.
- Adding a bedroom: That’s a common occurrence especially when the family starts to grow. You might have to skip on the long-planned kitchen renovation to accommodate the extra person. Doing it within 20k you will have to look for existing opportunities to build a new room. In the attic, below the stairs are some great places to start.
- Taking down a wall: Taking down a non-load-bearing wall that has been a divider that doesn’t affect the structure will make the home spacious instantly and effortlessly. You don’t need to spend the full budget even. Taking down can be done even at $5,000. These kinds of projects work wonders in investment properties as you get high ROI in terms of the house value.
- Overall house makeover: Wondering how to do a full home makeover with as little as $20k. Your doubts are valid. You can cause significant changes to your home without breaking the budget. Here is Cherrie Barber from renovating for profit doing a home makeover for 20k under 5 days.
What else do you need to know if you are working with the 20k budget for a home renovation?
The biggest factor that will help you achieve big within the budget is putting in your time. You have to put in your time and effort to shape the renovation project. How far you spend time planning, that sure you can be at finishing the project on time and within budget. So do not skip on the pre-construction stages.
Another way to improve the efficient spending of your money is DIY. You can save a good chunk of labour by doing some simple DIY work like painting or tiling. Do note DIY can cost blowouts too. So, take proper practise and get into action only if you are sure about it.
The contingency fund is the next thing you need to aware of. Though the budget is not big, I recommend having at least 10% of contingency fund especially when you are doing complex renovation gigs.
Insurance can save you from some blowouts. Do not fear to direct a little of the fund towards insurances.
Permits and approvals are necessary for renovation projects that require structural alteration or house extension. Check for the requirement of development approval with your local council.
Grants help you expand your budget. Right now, there are two major grants that you need to check.
HomeBuilder Scheme (valid till Dec 31st 2020)
Early access to Superannuation fund (valid till Sept 24th 2020)
Signing off
So, that’s the short brief of renovating under the 20k budget. You will develop questions and confusions when you are in the research phase. Check out our step by step guide on how to renovate your bathroom for more clarity.
We all so have other articles covering DIY and renovation if you are interested in.
Remember the possibilities are endless.
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