Save money in the kitchen
While the kitchen is one of the most important rooms to get right in a renovation, no investor wants to accidentally blow their budget in the quest for a perfect kitchen.
Marion Hansell is the director of Renovation Runners and has worked with clients on renovations for 14 years. Here, she shares with us her top five creative money-saving tips for the kitchen.
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1. Search for a package deal
Some places will do a package deal, so you can get your oven, range top, microwave, and sometimes sink and tap as well, all in one purchase. This can be significantly cheaper - If you go and look at prices individually, you’ll see that you can save a lot of money by getting a package.
2. Consider a laminate kitchen
Ms Hansell recommends putting in a laminate kitchen, saying that most people don’t know the difference between a laminate kitchen and a polyurethane kitchen. However, the former can be done for at least a thousand dollars cheaper.
3. Don’t buy early
If there’s a sale on appliances or other big-ticket items, you can get a great discount. However, buying too far in advance means you’ve lost time off your warranty, which is never a good idea. Rather, it’s a better idea to keep the money in your bank account gaining interest until you’re ready to renovate, then you can buy what you need.
4. Match the products to your market
Sometimes it’s horses for courses, Ms Hansell says. If you’re going to be somewhere that’s quite upper class, you don’t put in the cheapest rubbish because people won’t rent it. Similarly, you don’t buy in a lower socio-economic area then try to put in a really luxurious stone kitchen, because it won’t be appreciated. It’s safe to go for medium range, because if you put in top range products, you won’t get that money back overall.
5. Ask questions
“What does this do, how does that work, what is the difference?” Do your research on products so you don’t get taken for a ride, which can happen to a lot of investors - they think they’ve got a great bargain, but they’ve actually been shockingly ripped off, Ms Hansell warns.
