We’ve all seen the renovation shows. The Block, Renovation Rescue, House Rules – the list goes on and on. There are countless hours of TV everyday showing you how you can make your house exponentially more valuable with a bit of setup cash and some hard work. But is it really as it simple as it seems? There are so many renovation horror stories – so many more than there are success stories – so don’t take a reality TV renovation as just what you see in the show, make sure you have all the facts on what costs you’ll have up front, so your renovation dream won’t turn into a renovation nightmare that will costs you tens of thousands of dollars for nothing.
Time
Time is money, and labourers and contractors are very expensive. Just because you saw a room get renovated in a week on TV, doesn’t mean that’s possible in the real world. TV shows get edited to make it look like it’s a week. Even then, contractors and contestants are often working around the clock to make sure they meet the deadline. Sometimes you see 5 people, but on the other side of the camera, 30 people are doing the work. In reality, plumbers, electricians and builders are all day labourers, and they have other clients, too. Emergencies crop up. Make sure that having a room out of circulation for a few months won’t cause a financial strain on your renovations – have realistic time constraints.
Rates
Contractor rates on television don’t always work out to the rate to us non-TV folk have to pay. Whether it’s the network negotiating the rate, or the contractors giving a discounted rate to get some free publicity on TV, make sure you get their rates before you start assuming the cost you saw on TV is the cost you’ll actually have to pay. The TV producers are notorious for bargaining down their rates by even 50% to make the show more entertaining – making you think you can get more for less.
Selling
Selling the house on some of these shows can appear to be a cakewalk. In reality, it can be nothing like that. With the crazy Australian property market, there are no guarantees. If you’re looking to flip your house after a quick-fire renovation, you may get a rude surprise. If you’re banking on paying off your mortgage with the house re-sale, you might get hammered on mortgage fees while you’re sitting waiting for someone to actually buy the house. Give yourself a buffer so the profit you make from the sale isn’t negated by the mortgage fees you’re having to pay until it gets sold, or else your hard work will be for nothing.
At the end of the day, remember, its television. Even if it’s reality television, what you see is not what you get in real life. Use it to get ideas, but do your own independent research to make sure that you’re within your budget for expenditure and time before you commit to a renovation you can’t afford.