5 Ways To Save On Your Next Renovation

Here’s five helpful tips to help you save money on your next renovation

Whether you’re in to flipping properties, holding them for the long term, or updating them for AirBnB, renovating is always a balance of cost, value and quality. Here’s a few tips to help you combine all three on your upcoming projects:  

1) Do a “GREEN” demolition

A little-known resource are companies who will do demolition for a small fee or FREE, simply because they want to salvage and sell the useable items like cabinetry, fixtures, doors, windows, appliances, etc. This is a more eco-friendly approach to demo because it keeps reusable items out of landfills and allows them to be repurposed for others’ projects.

The tip here is also to call them as soon as you get the deal to allow for some lead time; they may be booked several weeks out and have certain requirements, but this could save you hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars.

If you’re here in the Phoenix area, a couple of business’ that offer this type of service are X and Y.

https://stardustbuilding.org/request-a-deconstruction-service/

2) Shop your local aftermarket building supply stores for materials

To the same topic, these stores can be a treasure trove for finding reduced-cost building supplies. Most of the time (but not always), the items may be gently used, so it depends on the project if it makes sense to buy brand new or salvaged. These are also wonderful places to find one-offs for a unique feature for your renovation, like a pantry door, antique hardware, etc.

If you’re here in Arizona, here’s a couple resources:

Sale Sumo Phoenix

https://www.salesumo.com/

Stardust building supply

https://stardustbuilding.org/

Tip: Many of these places now have newsletters, feeds on Instagram or accounts on OfferUp, so be sure to follow them to watch the inventory. I get that it can be time-consuming to hunt for bargains, so try to save time and follow their accounts online!

 3) Ask your contractor if he has a Pro account or sign up for Pro accounts

If you only do a couple smaller projects a year, it may not make sense for you to apply for and use Pro accounts at your local building supply stores. In these cases, it could be mutually beneficial for you to see if your contractor would allow you to use their pro account so you can purchase the supplies and capture any discounts, while they earn the rewards for having more dollars spent under their account.

If you are doing quite a bit of renovating and purchase the majority of the supplies, you may want to consider applying for and using a Pro account.

Home Depot’s pro account offers benefits like:

• 20% off of paint
• Commercial credit
• Bulk pricing
• Expanded assortment of products to choose from

For more info, click here:

https://www.lowesforpros.com/l/lowes-proservices.html

4) Get your windows and cabinetry ordered as soon as possible

If you’re purchasing a distressed deal, you may have very limited access to the property before closing, so it may be difficult to get measurements right away. This also gets further delayed if you’re changing the layout of the kitchen entirely, adding an addition, etc, but generally speaking, windows and cabinets can take up to a few weeks or longer to get delivered. Since time is money (and especially if you’re using hard money or private money at double digits), every day counts and costs.

Tip: Find local suppliers of clean and classic cabinetry (for instance, white shaker-style) that carry them locally or have a reduced lead time; this could shave down the turn time by at least 1-2 weeks.

5) Scour Apps and Online stores to get the look for less

Is it just me, or does anyone else get a thrill from scrolling through apps like OfferUp and LetGo for higher-end chandeliers, faucets, appliances and other reno necessities? Finding great deals like this allows me to offer a more luxury look for less in entry-level homes and create more value-add in the Buyers eyes, as well.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve found open-box, brand new items on these apps where homeowners ordered the wrong size, didn’t double check the specifications, or simply didn’t like the finish, and I purchase a nearly brand new item for 25 cents on the dollar.

Now I know some of you are going to say it takes more time to source, haggle and pick up these finds, in which I may agree. Certainly you’d want to balance your time and energy towards material sourcing (spending hours to find a faucet isn’t worth it!), but if you live in a large city and especially near a tony district where homeowners are constantly renovating, it may be a good option for you too.

The other option is to shop online and find luxury goods on discount, or a very similar style at similar quality on a budget. If that’s more efficient for you, I have a lot of beautiful finds in my Amazon store; check them out!