Orlando Real Estate - Blog

Consumer Reports surveyed over 17,000 readers on the state of their home improvement projects. The results of the home improvement survey point out that you should definitely do your homework before doing the home improvement on your Orlando real estate.

Over half of those surveyed went at least $2,000 over budget for room additions. On basement finishing, 56% spent $1,350 over budget. Kitchen remodeling also had 56% going over budget, by $1,200. Lastly, 45% went over budget by $700 on deck additions. What was the reason? Surprisingly, they all had similar reasons:

• Plan adjustments
• Underestimated labor
• Increased cost of materials
• Special tools needed
• Unexpected system upgrades 

If you plan to remodel your Orlando real estate in the near future, keep these tips in mind so your home improvement goes as planned:

• Do your research – Factor in delivery and removal fees.  Make sure you know which products the contractor should have and plan ahead.

• Don’t deviate – Once you have a well-developed remodeling plan, don’t deviate from it. Those who did ended up going anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 over budget.

• Check the contract – Make sure your contractor's contract has a set amount for materials. Some have open-ended amounts, which makes it quite easy to go over budget. Read the contract before you sign it!

• Check up on the remodeling contractor – Get the referrals and then put them to work. In other words, don’t just get a list of numbers and names, and then forget to check up on the contractor. Follow through and make sure the contractor is a good one.

A little remodeling can go a long way in helping you sell your Orlando real estate. Just make sure you know what you’re doing before you hire anyone to do it!

If you’re trying to sell your home, or looking for a great home to buy,we can help. Call us at 407-876-5771 for more information.