CONSTRUCTION BUDGETS AND SETTING PRIORITIES

Images of beautiful homes are everywhere:  on the internet, in home magazines, on television. We may see these beautiful things and want them for ourselves.  Unfortunately, we’re rarely given a sense of what they cost to build and may be unpleasantly surprised when we dig deeper.  

I think it’s only human nature that our wants are greater than our ability to pay for them.  No matter how large our budgets for a new home, addition or remodeling project, there will be things that we’d like to include but aren’t able or willing to pay for. 

If you’re thinking about remodeling an existing house or building a new one, consider these strategies for keeping costs in line with what you can afford:

1. Build no more than you’ll use regularly (for example, consider eliminating the formal living room and formal dining room, unless these are spaces that are an important part of your lifestyle).
2. Determine your priorities:  what is absolutely essential? what would be nice to have but could be eliminated if necessary?
3. Consider using expensive materials, such as stone, in limited amounts in places where you’ll be able to enjoy them every day, (for example, using stone on the fireplace in your family room, rather than on a chimney surround that’s barely visible from the ground).
4. Build what you like and will use, not what you think will increase your home’s resale value (how often will you use that mammoth whirlpool tub and fireplace that you’re considering for your master bathroom?)  This assumes that you’re not building with the intention of selling soon. 
5. Consider lavishing more money on spaces that are important to you, and being more frugal in spaces that are less important (for example, splurging on a special tile backsplash in the kitchen if you love to cook and do it often, but keeping things simple in the bedroom if you use it mostly for sleeping).