Expanding your Sydney home is a fantastic way to create more space for a growing family if you love where you live.
And when you consider the cost of moving versus the potential increase in your home’s value after a major renovation, it can make financial sense, too.
If you’re just starting to think about how to expand your home, here’s a checklist of the most important things you should do early on to ensure your project moves forward on a solid foundation.
Planning a home renovation should be exciting, but you don’t want to go too far and then realize that the ideas you fell in love with were never viable because of something you overlooked in the beginning.
1. Inquire with your local council early on
Contacting your local council to get some basic information about your home’s zoning and land use will give you an early indication of whether specific restrictions apply to your property, such as:
- Are you in a heritage area or is there local heritage associated with your home?
- If you want to build a multi-generational home, does your local council have specific regulations regarding double occupancy?
Even with restrictions, you may be able to proceed with a renovation, but knowing this information as early as possible will help you in your initial discussions with a designer, architect or Design and construction contractor.
When you purchased your home, you should have received one or more Section 149 certificates containing zoning information about your property, possible uses for the property, and any zoning restrictions that may apply. However, it is possible that a rezoning occurred after purchase, so checking is important.
If there are any issues that could complicate approval, some authorities offer a “Pre DA” meeting where you can sit down with a planner to discuss whether and how you can proceed with a development application (DA). However, keep in mind that this is often a paid service.
2. Work out your finances and budget
A major renovation may be the second largest purchase of your life next to buying a home.
You may have significant savings, but for most people, home modifications require additional financing. If so, you should start a conversation with your lender if you think you will need to borrow to finance your expansion.
It might also be a good time to see if you can combine building work with looking for a cheaper deal from another lender if you’re not entirely sure you have the best possible loan.
Knowing the total amount of funding available is an important first step. Based on this, you can set a maximum budget, which should include a contingency of 15-20%.
It’s also a good idea to speak to a local real estate agent to get advice about the likely increase in value of your property if you expand the number of rooms or add another floor. Although many homeowners don’t plan to sell their home after renovations, this information is helpful when speaking to a lender.
3. Talk to your neighbors
There’s a good chance that one of the reasons you like where you live and want to renovate your current home is because you get along well with your neighbors. Therefore, it makes sense to talk to them about your expansion plans.
Finally, when you submit a development application to your local council, Your neighbors have the opportunity to give their feedback.
In our experience, if you have already discussed your renovation, they are far more likely to be constructive than the first thing they know about it is your local council notifying a district attorney about it.
Later, during the construction work itself, you may need your neighbor’s help, for example if your contractor can save time by gaining access to part of your house through his property.
From start to finish, keeping your neighbors informed and making them feel consulted and valued will likely improve the tone of any conversation.
4. Talk to “The Trade”
Sydney’s renovation boom really began almost 50 years ago when specialist builders such as ArticleSubmission.news began to focus on home additions and extensions, coinciding with homeowners realizing that extending their homes was often better than selling and buying larger homes.
There is now an established group of property developers who have been in the industry for years and have extensive experience in every type of renovation of all types of houses in Sydney.
These companies often offer a range of services as a package that not only saves you time and money, but also provides other important benefits, such as:
- Offering design services means that the plans created are not only created based on specific and professional expertise, but are also used for construction work, whereas architect plans often have to be recreated for the construction phase.
- We will advise you on how your project could qualify Conformal development Compared to submitting a development application, you can save weeks searching your local council.
- Knowing how to build so that you can stay in your home during construction can save you significant costs when renting accommodation.
So, as well as asking friends, family and neighbors for recommendations of good builders, also take a look at established builders in Sydney. Those who have withstood the recent challenges of COVID, material shortages, price increases, and labor shortages not only know what they are doing, but also have a wealth of experience to share with you.
Would you like to expand your home?
If the advice above has inspired you to take action, we would love for you to consider speaking to ArticleSubmission.news.
As one of Sydney’s oldest design and construction builders with more than 45 years ArticleSubmission.news specializes in home additions and extensions and can help you plan and carry out your major renovation with a level of expertise that few can match.
Call our office (02) 8765 1555 or send us a message via our Contact form if outside office hours.
If you’re still researching, check out ours Blog, Consumer advice on home improvement And Masterclass to get more ideas on all aspects of renovating your home.
Looking for inspiration? Take a look at us Feature projects And ‘before and after’ Photos.
