After years of building the perfect home for your Sims, posting inspiration pictures on Instagram, and watching tons of home renovation shows, it’s finally your turn to own and renovate the home of your dreams.
Whether it’s bohemian chic, industrial, Scandinavian, farmhouse or just a facelift – home renovation is a huge ticket element and a project that can be difficult to manage.
With so many horror stories about home renovations playing it safe and by that we mean being informed.
To break it down, here’s a simple guide to help you master this part of growing up without leaving lifelong scars.
1st degree of home renovation
Do you go all the way or do you keep it simple?
This decision would have an impact not only on the total cost, but also on the time it would take to plan and complete the renovation.
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If you are unsure of where or how to start, we recommend a renovation that is at least your lifestyle for the next five years.
This is because most homes would need a bit of a freshening up due to wear and tear and homeowners with children would likely upgrade to a larger unit.
In addition, owners of resale homes should thoroughly inspect the unit’s major electrical wiring and piping systems and replace them if necessary.
Postponing it for later is extremely disruptive (moving furniture, tidying up, etc.) and potentially more expensive (replacing damaged electrical appliances or furniture).
2. Design considerations
Not sure which design theme to adopt for your nest? Before making a firm decision, there are a few design considerations to make:
Skip fancy floors and choose carpets
- Parquet and marble tiles are chic but can lose their appeal over the years and are expensive to maintain and replace.
- Take simple tiles and add rug instead for color and dimension. Carpets have become easy to clean, maintain and extremely affordable. You could find a big one for the living room at Ikea for just under $ 200.
Avoid over-the-top topics
- Do you love Santorini’s whitewashed houses, arched doors, and floor-to-ceiling toilets with mosaic tiles so much that you want to incorporate them into your home? You might want to reconsider because extreme subjects will lose their novelty after a few years.
- If you go for an extreme topic like this, you may end up spending more money later trying to make things better.
Choose color over wallpaper
- Like all beautiful things, wallpaper doesn’t last long. Due to the irregular and humid weather in Singapore, wallpapers tend to pucker and discolor.
- Painting, on the other hand, does not cause such inconvenience and only peel off if the sealant is not applied well or if a pipe bursts.
- Color is also the cheaper of the two options. Painting an entire four-bedroom apartment will set you back around $ 1,200 to $ 1,500, while wallpapering will get you back more than $ 900 just for the living room.
Landlords should break even in six months
- Only proceed with the renovation if it helps to increase rental income and you can reimburse the renovation costs within six months. After all, you don’t want to spend too much on renovations that don’t bring you good returns.
- With that in mind, you may want to consider your tenant’s population as well. A bohemian-chic style house with all the bells and whistles makes a good price if it’s in the ninth or tenth district, especially if you’re renting out to expatriates. However, if it’s inland, budget-conscious renters won’t be getting more out of it just for aesthetic reasons.
More design considerations that can also save you money can be found here.
3. Tips on saving
Home renovation in Singapore will cost you a pretty penny, but keeping the costs down isn’t impossible.
Here are some tips to help you save on your home renovation while making sure you still have overpayed:
Cut out the middleman
- It’s an open secret that the prices quoted by interior designers and contractors are inflated. While they are trying to do everything themselves, there are some renovations that will require a specialist. E.g. doors, windows, locks, window grilles, etc.
- To save costs, contact these specialists directly. Yes it would be a bit of a chore because you will be coordinating everything, but given the potential savings, we think it is worth it.
Opt for ready-made instead of tailor-made furniture
- Do you really need a floor-to-ceiling, bespoke TV console, or would a similar pre-built one work just as well?
- There are tons of affordable pre-made furniture options, some of which can even be customized for specific parts.
- It will also take time to build bespoke furniture from scratch, as opposed to finished furniture that can be delivered to your home the next day. Here are some hacks to help you find the right furniture at the right price.
- Note: If your search for ready-made furniture in Singapore fails, visit the one-stop shopping website TaoBao.
Request for custom-made products
- Have you seen a Pierre Jeannaret conference chair that set your heart on fire but can’t stand parting with $ 3,980? Have your interior designer or contractor make one for you.
- Since they have access to a workshop and carpenters, replicating should be easy and wallet-friendly.
4. Hidden cost considerations
Unfortunately, the fact is that no matter how well prepared you are, you cannot foresee everything and there are hidden costs.
This is especially true for resale apartments. Depending on the age, electrical cables or wires may need to be overhauled and the cost of this cannot be reported until the fittings have been removed and the checks carried out.
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Take the installation of an air conditioning system, for example. Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?
You won’t think about cable ducts (connecting each indoor unit to the condenser outside your home) until you are at the stage of planning the route in detail and you realize how unsightly it will look.
To hide this eye pain, it is necessary to create a false beam or ceiling that was not included in the initial cost and this is where you will find your hidden costs.
The solution? Go over the offer with a fine comb and put a 5 percent buffer over the final offer.
5. Set a healthy and flexible budget
With this in mind, we have set aside a healthy and flexible budget for home renovation.
The average cost of home renovations in Singapore
| Size of the HDB apartment | Average renovation cost for a new BTO apartment | Average renovation cost for the resale apartment |
| Three rooms (60 to 65 sqm) | $ 32,000 | $ 42,600 |
| Four rooms (90 sqm) | $ 42,600 | $ 58,500 |
| Five rooms (110 sqm) | $ 52,100 | $ 65,200 |
From the table above, it can be seen that in addition to your design preference, the budget actually depends on two things:
- Type of apartment: Renovating a 5-room apartment will cost more compared to a 3-room apartment due to its size difference.
- Age of the apartment: Resale apartment renovation usually costs more than a new BTO apartment of the same type.
To better understand why resale homes cost more to renovate, here is a breakdown of renovation costs.
| renovation | New BTO apartment | Resale apartment |
| Flooring | Laying new tiles | For reasons of hygiene, kitchen and bathroom floors should be replaced on appliances aged 20 and over. This means chopping to remove and clean the old tiles Older apartments are also usually larger, which leads to higher costs |
| Electrical wiring | New electrical wiring, minimal electrical work | It may be necessary to replace older electrical cables |
| Plumbing work | New plumbing system, minimal electrical work | Replacement may be necessary for older sanitary systems |
| Hoes or build walls | Just to match your design theme or to expand rooms | Just to match your design theme or to expand rooms |
| Expansion of built-in furniture | Since it is unfurnished, no fixtures need to be removed | Depending on the previous owner and the desired design, built-in fixtures may need to be removed |
But wait! Don’t forget the 5 percent buffer for hidden costs you may encounter along the way.
| Size of the HDB apartment | Average renovation costs for a new BTO apartment + 5 percent buffer for hidden costs | Average renovation costs for the resale apartment + 5 percent buffer for hidden costs |
| Three rooms (60 to 65 sqm) | $ 33,600 | $ 44,730 |
| Four rooms (90 sqm) | $ 44,730 | $ 61,425 |
| Five rooms (110 sqm) | $ 54,705 | $ 68,460 |
From here, you need to decide whether you want to fund it with your savings, a home renovation loan, or a mix of both.
If you intend to use the largest part of your savings the question is, “Can you maintain the same quality of life with a comfortable amount of emergency money that is set aside?” If the answer is no, you might want to consider a home improvement loan.
6. If you have cash flow problems
So you’ve set up a healthy budget for home renovations, hired a trusted interior designer, approved the design, paid the down payment, and you’re ready to begin the renovations.
But life throws you a curve ball and that home renovation budget desperately needs to be spent elsewhere. How are you?
Take a deep breath and try your best not to freak out because there is still a lot to do.
Prioritize the requirements with a focus on functionality and work through the list. Renovate your home in parts and put aside your plans for fancy built-in furniture such as floor-to-ceiling TV consoles, shoe cabinets, etc.
Given the functionality, we believe that if you have cash flow issues, this should be a renovation order:
- Master bedroom
- Other bedrooms (if parents or children live with you)
- Toilet
- kitchen
- Study room
- Dining area
- living room
If it is a rental unit, you should rent it unfurnished. Use the small budget you need to build or install the essentials, such as B. Lighting, electrical wiring, air conditioning, ceiling fan, stove, kitchen cabinets, etc.
Granted, it might not cost as much as a fully furnished home, but any extra income is better than none. Plus, you could save the rental money and continue the renovations (if your tenants don’t mind) or after they leave.
Home renovation doesn’t come cheap and could leave you with a big bill. Maintain your lifestyle and keep your cash flow under control with a low-interest home renovation loan. Apply to us today to receive exclusive rewards *!
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