How to form a realistic budget when planning your project
When you’re planning out your latest project, you want to make sure that you’re making the most out of the investment you’re putting into the property.
Money can often be tight and we don’t all have the luxury of being to splash out on everything we’ve dreamt of for our project, so it’s important that you set some sort of budget in place as soon as you can. No two developments are ever the same, but with the right planning and budgeting, you can ensure that every single project is a roaring success.
In this article, we’ll be taking you through the Mardesign approach to budgeting and how we help all our clients form a realistic budget that sees them through their entire project.
Lounge & Dining @ Marlayton
The benefits of forming a realistic budget
When you form a realistic budget, you’re setting your project up for success. Without one, you may start to run out of money, or may even realize that you have completely missed out certain tasks that were critical to the project.
Master Bedroom @ Marlayton
Here are some of the main benefits of forming a realistic budget for your next property development:
You will have a good idea of how much money your project requires
You can start to prioritize different tasks depending on how much they will cost
Easier to plan for future costs you may need i.e. loans, other sources of funding
You can establish the main objectives of your project and how costs will play into this
Less chance of your project going over budget
Saves you time and money by planning everything before work gets underway
Prevents your project from getting off track
Important information that your contractors, landlords etc. will require
When to draw up your budget?
At Mardesign, we recommend that all our clients draw up their budget as one of the very first steps of a new project.
For the reasons that we’ve listed above, it’s clear that your budget is an extremely important consideration that should never be ignored.
You should view your budget as the initial plan that’s going to drive the rest of your project forward. Without it, you’ll quickly find yourself going off track, over-spending in certain areas, and prioritizing the wrong tasks that are not a wise way to spend your investment.
If you’re working with a designer, they will be able to help you with the whole process of drawing up your budget, which should make the whole process a lot simpler and quicker for you.
You should also get your budget double-checked with other contractors on your team so you know that it is correct and that there’s nothing you have missed.
What do you need to consider within your budget?
There are a lot of different things that you must include in your budget, many of which you may not even think of until you get to a point in your project where they become essential.
Your budget can include things such as:
Construction cost
Planning costs
Financing costs
Site investigations
Fixtures, fittings and equipment
Transport costs
Contracts outside of the main works
Insurance
Consultancy fees
VAT
It’s normally easy to figure out how much each of these costs will set you back, you can find a lot of the information online or from your contractors.
If you’re looking to fully furnish your property, you can also get a good idea of the items you want to buy by searching online catalogues and furniture shops that you can include in your budget and interior design concept.
Mardesign top tips for a realistic budget
We know that budgets can often feel scary, or even like they’re a complete waste of time but, we encourage all our clients to take them seriously.
Your budget will give you much-needed clarity on your whole project, give you expectations and ensure that the end product is something you, and future tenants, can feel extremely happy with.
As an investor, you also want to make sure you’re getting a good return on investment on every project you work on and, to do this, you need to keep on top of your budget and finances at every stage of construction.
Here are some of the most important tips and tricks that we use for all our clients:
Always budget higher costs than you anticipate
We all know that during a construction project we can often run into completely unexpected costs that we never accounted for in our budget.
These costs can quickly through the whole project off, which is why it’s important to have some money put aside for these situations when they do arise.
Giving yourself a bit of extra money to play with in case of emergencies will mean that you won’t have to go over-budget or reorganise your budget in a panic further on down the line.
Make sure to allocate your budget correctly
There are some parts of your budget that wil command a lot of money, like paying for contractors and general construction work.
But, knowing how to allocate the rest of your money is important. There’s no point spending money on the smallest details that noone would ever notice, you want to allocate your money on the touches that make a big difference to the overall look and feel of your property.
Bedroom 02 @ Marlayton
Research as much as you can
When it comes to setting your budget, you can never do enough research.
There are so many different options when it comes to furniture, finishings, accessories etc. so it will be important to search through all your options to find the items that fit your aesthetic most, for the best price.
Stick to your budget
Finally, and potentially the hardest thing is to actually stick to your budget throughout the whole project.
It’s easy to get swept up in the excitement of styling and furnishing your property, but it’s important to try and stay as close to your initial budget as possible.
Always budget higher costs than you anticipate
We all know that during a construction project we can often run into completely unexpected costs that we never accounted for in our budget.
These costs can quickly through the whole project off, which is why it’s important to have some money put aside for these situations when they do arise.
Giving yourself a bit of extra money to play with in case of emergencies will mean that you won’t have to go over-budget or reorganise your budget in a panic further on down the line.
Need help with your budget?
If you need help coming up with your budget, or executing your next project, we’d love to help.
Check out what investors say.
“Raquel added so much value in an area that I was not very confident in and it was amazing to see her ideas come to fruition and look so good in real life. I would highly recommend working with Mardesign”
— David Clifton-Burraway. ProCo Living
Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram.
