RENOVATION – Renovate; Renew;
Restore; Refresh; Rejuvenate ……

to
Renovate,
suggests renewing by cleansing, repairing, or rebuilding ….to Renew,
implies a restoration of what had become faded or disintegrated so that it seem
new ….to Restore, implies a return to an original state after depletion
or loss …..to Refresh, implies the
supplying of something necessary to restore lost strength, animation, or power
….to Rejuvenate,
suggests the restoration of youthful vigour, powers, or appearance.

Whatever the state of your property is, Renovating a
building is usually the most cost efficient way to improve is value, it’s live-ability,
and it’s use of space, but the biggest challenge facing anyone who
wants to renovate, especially with their home is

Where to
start? … Where to stop?

You may be considering a bathroom renovation. Perhaps
only replacing the kitchen. Or you may intend to renew the paint. Whatever it
is you hope to do, it is the perfect opportunity to consider the optimum
outcome you want to achieve. Regardless of your plans, or your budget, your
long term strategic goal should always be to optimize the potential value of
your home.

You need to somehow forecast where your home could be
in the future – design wise. You have to activate and identify its optimum
value – that dream – that potential, and synchronize it with where your
lifestyle is potentially heading (short term or long term).

To do so, you need to ask yourself two questions.

1
Is this Renovation a property Investment? (i.e.
short term capitalization)

2
Or is this an Investment in the Family Home? (i.e. your long term lifestyle)

The two situations don’t necessarily align … they have
different design outcomes, and each requires specific long or short term
planning.

If the goal is to enhance the facility of the family’s
lifestyle, that lifestyle impacts the planning in a fundamental manner. Family
circumstances, for instance could make it necessary to create a stable
environment for young children to complete their schooling. The family would
probably need a base. You may simply love the community and the neighborhood is
where you want to be. It could be close to the family, schools … everything
could be just right. It would make sense then that you consider your renovation
to be a lifestyle investment. An Investment in the family.

If the long term design is then done by a
professional, and the potential of the property has been optimized, it is not
likely that you would over capitalize, because it is difficult to put a fixed
value on your family and your lifestyle.

This happens more frequently now, because the baby
boomer practice of turning over property every 7 years seems to be over … it
doesn’t happen all that much anymore.

If your motivation for renovating the property is
financial, you really need a professional to help you get more bang for your
buck.

Once you understand the importance of qualifying your
motivation for the renovation, you can transcend the narrow focus of your
original approach. You are no longer thinking only about that deck extension,
or that kitchen remodeling. You are thinking about the property as a whole. You
can plan for the whole home and optimize the potential value of whatever you do
to it. This in turn will help break down the overall work into effective stages
or design elements, into the 'Need' & 'Want' categories
to realize your current budget requirements, and hence limit any wasted
expense, and control the potential over-capitalization of certain zones, or the
property as a whole.

If you do that, you will maintain the integrity of the
property value and vision, regardless of circumstance, and avoid ever being
stuck with an uncompleted project. Then, even if you sell, you are handing over
the long term property plan,
vision and investment to someone else.