How much Money Down does a remodeler typically ask for to start a job?

Excellent question!

When it comes to saving money on a home renovation or custom remodel, we get two typical questions. 

We know what the most annoying contractor behaviors are and we admit we've committed a few of our own over the years. We work hard to discover what they are, when they occur, and we take measures to chang them. Actually, we know first-hand just how annoying these behaviors can be. We've hired hundreds of professionals over 25 years and have experienced all of them.

Goal:

This young family of three was about to have another baby. Creating a home they could remain in for many years was the goal. How perfect is it that they choose to share this traditional American value with a traditional San Francisco home.

This home has great bones! But it needed serious updating. Twelve rooms in all including three full bathrooms, 2 powder rooms, a kitchen, a living room, family room with wet bar, pantry/ laundry area and basement. To keep the budget in check the project focused on replacing -adding floors, cabinets, fixtures, tile, stone, fireplaces, mantels, windows, shelving, wardrobe closets, wallpaper, glass, paint and refinishing the entire basement into an office (not shown in the video)... phew!!!

We get this a lot for both exterior siding and remodeling projects. What folks are really asking is, "How can I figure out what I need to spend without disclosing my budget?" It's an I don't want to show you mine till you show me yours hide-and-seek situation.

And the Award goes to...

This Belmont home went through a major remodel. We past its final inspection in February -2012. When we entered the Chrysalis Builder competition we had several cool projects to pick from, but this kitchen (click here to see our actual Chrysalis entry with before photos ) tends to stand out for several reasons.    

Not all kits are created equal! But some are just too cool not to mention.

It's not everyday that we have the opportunity to tackle a kit home. While in principle, the idea of a kit makes so much sense, for most people there are very few that work as well as a traditionally built home. There are usually items one needs to work around, and most still tend to retain that cookie-cutter quality. This latter characteristic is often an automatic deal-breaker for most people.

What matters more?

Being under the influence of loss aversion bias can make us feel rooted to the spot, unable to cut our losses or find a way to salvage what we can in order to move forward. But the instinct to make the best of our investments is natural survival. However, if we know our stress tolerances well and have the fortitude to admit them then this instinct serves us well.

Would You Climb Everest With Only a GPS?

As an inexperienced climber in your right mind, you'd never think of taking on a high stakes mountain with only a GPS to guide you, right?