Unfortunately, this is not usually the case. The finishes generally take twice as long as the shell.
The finishes involve choosing every internal feature of your home. From the tiles, the sanitary fixtures, the lighting, the color of the paint, to name a few.
The finishes can be very taxing, physically, emotionally and financially.
So how can you finish-up your building project, calmly, smoothly, and with less grey hairs by the end?
First we must acknowledge one unavoidable fact.
Building or renovating always comes with a degree of stress.
Be it the frustration, when the contractor does not understand what you want (or does not want to understand) or chasing the contractor to fulfill your requests, or even when the budget is tight and you can’t afford the features you would like.
Knowing and accepting that the road to your new home is not always smooth, actually makes it smoother.
However there are also practical ways to alleviate the stresses of the building process.
Here are 5 tips to help you finish your building project before it finishes you off
Find an interior designer who you trust
Your designer should share your taste and style, and actually listen to you. Make sure you hire someone who is available and able to invest time into your project. You want to avoid someone who is juggling too many jobs at once. Your contract should state the number of times he/she will accompany you to the various stores to make your choices. Often interior designers will have pre-agreements with various stores to ensure you get a better deal. Make the most of it.
Hire a personal supervisor
There will always be issues and errors along the way but you can save yourself the aggravation and heartache by having someone else handle the problems instead of you.
A supervisor with experience, can differentiate between a real problem and a minor problem that can be easily resolved.
I was recently in an apartment where they had just finished the interior walls. I noticed that the builder sliced a wall down the middle, knocking half a wall down. I called over the builder to ask for an explanation and it turned out that he had cut a wall in the wrong apartment. Aggravation: YES, Problem: not really I simply explained to him how to rebuild the wall.
Watch your expense
Building /renovating can get pricey. However, it need not finish you off financially. Unfortunately I often come across people have overspent on the finishes, and find themselves in enormous debts
A while ago I met someone who sadly, was selling his freshly renovated house. It was a beautiful home but he had overspent and now could not repay the banks.
How can this be avoided?
We have a very simple rule.
Ensure you have the basic infrastructure, before splurging on the luxuries. You can put in basic features for now, and at a later date, when you do have the means, you can upgrade.
It is worth investing in the infrastructure now, since you can’t do it later (or if you do, it will cost you several times more) – but luxuries, can wait.
A client of mine was building an apartment and wanted to install underfloor heating. The cost of the system that he wanted was 70,000 NIS, which was beyond his budget at this stage. We advised him to install the infrastructure (i.e. the piping under the tiles) now and in a year or two when he can afford it he can put the rest of the system in place. He heeded the advice, and it cost them only 14,000 NIS to prepare the pipes, and he will be able to install the rest later.
Educate yourself
The finishing stage of the construction involves a lot of decision making. To make informed and wise decisions you need to understand what your options are, and how the process works.
Search online, use tools like pinterest, look at pictures, read up about products, get educated and familiar with the entire building project. Speak to people, hear what they have to say, the more informed you are the better your project will turn out.
Have fun
As frustrating as construction projects might be, try to enjoy the journey towards building your home in Israel. Ride the ups and downs of the process, but don’t let the stress and aggravation follow you into your new house.
With the right support and guidance when needed, you can even enjoy the experience!
We specialize in helping clients find and buy apartments in new projects in Israel, holding their hand along the entire process from purchase to receiving the keys. Get in touch now and see how we can help you with your new apartment in Israel!
Written in conjunction with www.israelatlast.com
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