Beware the risks when renovating your Inner West Sydney home

Sydney’s inner west suburbs run the full gamut of lifestyle choices. Those who enjoy harbourside living, lovingly restored old-time pubs, picturesque streets, and the world’s best shopping will enjoy all that Balmain has to offer.

Those who like to be close to the hustle and bustle of city life but enjoy an easy escape then Annandale, at just 5 minutes from the CBD, is the perfect location. Leichardt is charming, and a favourite place for lovers of Italian food, excellent coffee, and wine and Newtown is well known for its nightlife, live music, comedy, and theatre.

Sydney’s inner west has it all, and now that the property boom is over many homeowners in the area are taking advantage of the lull in real estate price hikes to add even more value through renovations and home improvements.

Home renovation in Inner West Sydney can add tremendous value to your home, while also making it a more comfortable place to live but there are plenty of traps the unwary home renovator can fall into if they aren’t careful.

So our team here at Tradebuster®, have put together this useful list.

1. Home and contents insurance is a must

Renovators often assume that their home and contents insurance will cover their property during a renovation, but this isn’t always the case. You should check your policy, so you know for what you are and aren’t covered before you start inviting builders, painters, and all the other trades required for a renovation into your home.

Two policies will usually be required to cover all contingencies that may come up during a renovation: your home and contents insurance, plus another policy which is taken out by the builder.

2. Going over budget with your inner west renovation is always a risk

Jumping into home renovation without a detailed plan is almost a guarantee that your renewal will end up costing a lot more than what you first envisaged.

A detailed plan will dramatically decrease your chances for nasty surprises which can derail your renovation in unexpected ways and almost always end up costing many thousands of dollars more.

3. Overcapitalising on your renovation needs to be managed

In a lot of inner west suburbs, it’s very easy to design a renovation which can cost hundreds of thousands but ends up adding only a few thousand to the value of the property. It’s always a good idea to check the market before committing to a renovation.

If you are applying for finance, your lender will be very interested to know how much value the renovation will add to the property. If the added value isn’t enough to cover the costs of improvement, then it’s highly likely your finance won’t come through.

Check with your mortgage broker or preferred lender before spending thousands on getting your renovation plans drawn up.

Need help finding the right tradespeople for your Sydney Inner West Renovation?

Did know here at Tradebusters®, our FREE and local tradesmen concierge service can help you connect with highly recommended Inner West trade businesses.

Check out more right here: www.tradebusters.com.au.

Or complete our easy job request form and a member from our team will call you back shortly to help you get started.

More Useful Links:

Sydney Renovations

Inner West Builders

Melbourne Renovations

Perth Renovations

Brisbane Renovations