Clark Construction Talks Prioritizing Your Remodeling Projects
Over the past few years, the remodeling climate has evolved away from "make a statement" projects to long-term payoff projects. We have been helping our clients focus on putting together projects that have a high return on investment in terms of real-world functionality, energy efficiency and personal satisfaction.
In a perfect world, we would be able to have everything we want, and do all the projects that appeal to us. But life is not perfect, so we need to make tradeoffs. We are sharing our tools to empower clients like you to maneuver through the process and determine which projects are really right for you and your family.
There are two dimensions on which project decisions are made: which features to include, and where to be on the cost-value continuum. If you are like most people, you want best quality, best price and best value. However, the reality is that you can never get all three, and it's important to think it through, so that you can make choices that make the most sense for you.
Figuring Out What Features to Include - Three Buckets Method
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Generate a list of everything that you can think of that you want. Then, you can use the three bucket framework to help prioritize the features you are looking for.
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Place all the features most important to you for your remodeling project into Virtual "Bucket #1". These are the things that if you can't do, you don't even want to do the project.
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Bucket #2 is for the features that would be really nice to have if you can fit them in your budget.You might even be willing to consider adding a bit to the budget for these items.
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Bucket #3 is for features that would be nice to have but if they put you over budget, you can easily live without.
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Now consider the things that cause you the most grief and put them in Bucket #1.We call these "pain points". Of course, what causes you the most grief might not be the thing you would most like to do, but it is that, which, from a practical standpoint, would provide you the most benefit.
Prioritizing for Best Quality, Best Price or Best Value
After you have compiled your bucket lists, it is time to give some thought to where you want to be on the cost-value continuum. There are tradeoffs to be made between best quality and best price, with best value being a happy medium between the two.
Best quality means that regardless of price, you want to get the highest quality possible. This might include best quality of design, service, materials and/or craftsmanship. No amount of money will buy anything better. Your priority is buying the highest quality available with a virtually unconstrained budget.
Best Price - Keep in mind that like most things in life, you get what you pay for. Going with the lowest cost estimate generally means accepting less quality, less service, longer schedules, lower value and a possibility that the job may not be completed on time, if at all. This can be especially true if you get one price that is much lower than other estimates, and that is something to watch out for. Bear in mind the old adage - that which seems too good to be true, often is.
Best Value - Going for the best value is another option. That sweet spot between best quality and best price is generally where our clients want to be. There is an art to finding that spot, and having years of job cost experience helps.
Concluding Thoughts
When considering what projects to do, the first step is to understanding your priorities, both for features, and your comfort level along the cost-value continuum. Then a personalized scope of work can be put together that balances value, costs and benefits to reach personalized optimized solutions.
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