Are you thinking about remodeling your kitchen, bathroom, or even your entire home?
Maybe you aren’t.
Maybe you’ve considered it at one time and threw the idea out the window because you’ve heard horror stories about other companies charging nearly double of what their initial bid was after the project was finished for the “additional expenses”.
Maybe you’ve heard a story about a company taking an initial payment, and doing absolutely nothing at all, except for changing their phone number and buying a new Rolex with your hard earned funds.
Or maybe you never even knew that any of those things happened!
Well, everything you need to know to successfully remodel your home is right here. Welcome to part one of The Remodeling Survival Guide. This section is for those of you who are just getting your feet wet. You’re in The Exploratory Stage, possibly the scariest point in the remodeling process. Here are the survival tips that you need to follow to make it to the next stage.
Survival Tip 1: Don’t let your prejudgments prevent you from remodeling
When you picture your newly remodeled home in your head, immediately a masterpiece comes to mind, but that thought does not last very long. That bright new kitchen is quickly replaced by an evil banker with horns and a pitchfork, demonically laughing while your entire life savings is thrown into a pit of molten lava!
Ok, your imagination may not be that vivid, but you get the point.
In most people’s mind, remodeling a home equals $$$. No, I am not about to put a Santa costume on and say “Ho, Ho, Ho. Free home renovations for everybody!” However, there is a good chance that it only costs $ instead of $$$ to transform your dream into a reality.
Survival Tip 2: Approach with caution
Have you ever seen a 19-year-old use a power tool for the first time? It’s a scary sight.
Let me you a quick, yet important history lesson. The industry used to be flooded with inexperience, a lack of professionalism, and a lack of credentials. Everyone owning a screwdriver was claiming to be a renovation phenom. Finding a true professional that provided quality services, good pricing, and a great level of personal care was not easy by any means. The odds of finding a great remodeling professional prior to 2009 was somewhere in between winning the lottery and trying to find a small piece of hay in a giant stack of needles while blindfolded.
So what changed?
Survival Tip 3: Don’t let history repeat itself
What ultimately caused a significant shift in the industry as a whole was a combination of consumer’s frustrations and The Great Recession. Too many horror stories about terrible home remodeling projects led to a plunge in consumer trust. As a result, consumers started to become weary about going with the first “remodeling” company that came knocking on their door, and even today door-to-door sales is a very common practice that scammers utilize. Yes, I know it’s 2017, but for whatever reason scammers still heavily rely on door-to-door sales. Caution: Do not tell them that it is 2017! We do not want them to figure out that it is not 1998 anymore and that there are more effective ways of communication! Now it is common practice to check the remodeler’s licenses and insurance.
The combination of light starting to shine on the real professionals and the Consumer Confidence Index dropping to an all-time low of 37.7 worked synergetically with the recession. Consumers were not as quick to pull out their checkbooks to just anybody. Most of the fakes could not withstand both the awareness about their scams and the tough economic times.
Harvard’s Kermit Baker states that “The contractors who are still standing are more likely to be those who have been around longer, who are more professional, who produce more accurate bids, and who are better at customer relations.”
While many frauds were wiped out, there has been a slight resurgence as of late. It is still important to understand that threats that are out there; there are still more than 3,000 cases of home-repair fraud reported annually.
Survival Tip 4: Versatility is essential
The skill set that the remodeler has is crucial. The ideal remodeler has the versatility to handle everything from design to final construction. If you cannot seem to find one (Hey I found one!) or if you do not go with a company with design and construction experience, then a remodeler with a close relationship with an independent architect or designer will be the next best option. Letting your remodeler coordinate the entire job limits (or eliminates) the potential problems and errors in a project.
Congratulations! You have survived the Exploratory Stage! This is only part one of The Remodeling Survival Guide, so make sure that you subscribe to stay in the loop!
