More homeowners are choosing to remodel – here's how to make a construction budget template.

Construction projects can quickly get out of hand — and over budget. Keep your spending on track with a home construction budget template to manage expenses throughout every project stage.
Home renovations are one of the most common projects in which you may need a construction budget. Whether adding an extra room, remodeling the kitchen, or upgrading the bathroom, home renovations can significantly enhance the comfort and value of a property. However, homeowners must prioritize careful planning and budgeting during this process.

Using a construction budget template is a great way to estimate project costs before you even put on your toolbelt. It’s typically a spreadsheet that breaks down all aspects of the construction project, so you can allocate money and plan appropriately. Here’s how to start your own printable home construction budget spreadsheet.

Construction budgets are proving necessary as 95% of homeowners have or considered to remodel their home.

To gain a deeper understanding of the intricacies of home remodels, we conducted a survey of over 1,000 homeowners across the nation. Turns out, 63% of homeowners would rather remodel their home than go through the home buying process again.

Over one-third of homeowners would rather buy a new home than go through the hassle of a remodel. This could be due to the time needed for a renovation, the lack of knowledge, and fears of not having enough money budgeted for the project. 56% of homeowners who have renovated their homes admit to exceeding their planned budget; however, less than 1% of those who went over budget used a PDF template to budget - 41% admit they only budgeted with traditional pen and paper.

Using a construction budget template in home renovations is crucial for effectively managing project expenses. Moving away from pen and paper and using a template can help you maintain control over your finances and achieve your renovation goals without going over budget.

A construction budget can help alleviate timeline delays for new homeowners.

Many new homeowners are buying properties with the sole intent to remodel - however, we found that 3 in 5 new homeowners (owned for less than a year) have already gone over budget.
Remodeling as a new or first-time homeowner poses unique challenges. Limited budgets and inexperience can lead to mistakes and unexpected costs - heightening the need for a home renovation budget template.

Our study also reveals the top administrative challenges encountered by new homeowners, including timeline delays at 37.50%, difficulties in contractor coordination at 29.17%, and issues arising from insufficient organization at 25%.

Using a construction budget template can significantly help mitigate timeline delays in a home renovation project. A structured budget plan allows homeowners and contractors to allocate resources more effectively, ensuring that materials, labor, and other key elements are on schedule.

What to include in your home construction budget template.

Ideally, your construction budget template should include spaces for all the major parts of a home construction project. That way, you can track the overall project cost by phase.

To start your construction budget template, open a new spreadsheet or document and label each cell on the y-axis with the various phases of a construction project. Here are a few of the most common:

• Land preparation
• Foundation
• Masonry
• Framing
• Exterior
• Windows and exterior doors
• Plumbing
• Electrical
• HVAC
• Insulation and air-sealing
• Drywall and plaster
• Interior finish
• Kitchen and bath
• Decks and porches
• Appliances

Adding a few “other” tabs at the bottom of your spreadsheet is also a good idea. You never know what unexpected costs will appear during a construction project.

Along the top x-axis, label columns for their budgeted and actual costs. You can also include other information like the vendor used, an over/under calculation, or anything else that might help you stay on track.

Many construction professionals include dates on their templates to create a weekly budget, so they don’t exceed their available cash flow throughout the project. Dates can be especially helpful if you have recurring bills you need to pay throughout the project, like budgeting for rent payments.

Once you have your spreadsheet labeled, save it to your device, and you have a home construction budget template you can use for future projects.

If you’re unfamiliar with building spreadsheets from scratch, there are many free budget templates available online. Simply download the one that best fits your project needs, and you’re ready to start construction.

How to use your home construction budget template.

When you have a project coming up, open your construction budget template in Excel (or whichever program you prefer) and start inserting your estimated costs into your spreadsheet's "budgeted cost" column.

As you compile the information, make sure the sum cost of all the phases doesn’t exceed your overall budget. If it does, you can always go back and adjust some of the numbers. This is a great way to make sure you stay within your budget.

With your expected costs in place, it’s finally time to start the project. Keep track of the actual cost for each phase in the “actual cost” column of your budget template. You can then compare the expected versus actual costs of the project to see where the project went over or under budget.

Since everyone will need to budget at some point in their lives, you can share your construction budget template with your family to teach your kids how to handle finances — a helpful skill they’ll use in the future.

Save your template in the correct format.

Excel sheets are great for editing your template. But when you need to share your budget with your team, for example, to keep everyone on the same page, saving it as a PDF is best. PDF documents maintain their formatting no matter the viewing device, making them ideal for sharing.

You can save your template spreadsheet as a PDF, or you can convert Excel to PDF online using a tool like Adobe Acrobat online.

Thinking about remodeling? Here are the top upgrades to make.

Undertaking renovations can significantly increase the value of your current home by enhancing its overall appeal and functionality. Certain upgrades can attract potential buyers by offering desirable features and modern amenities that align with current market trends.

Here are the top upgrades current homeowners said they would look for if they were buying a new home:

1. Gourmet kitchen with high-end appliances
2. Updated master bathroom
3. Upgraded flooring (e.g., hardwood, tile)
4. Energy-efficient windows and lighting
5. Luxurious living room features (e.g., fireplace, built-ins)

Additional resources.

Want more budgeting tips to keep your projects on track? Here are a few additional resources to help you with your project finances:

• Cash flow budgets are a great way to track how money moves throughout your project.
• If you’re running a home construction company, use an annual operating budget to make sure your business stays in the black.
• Keep track of every dollar with zero-based budgeting.

Methodology

We surveyed 1,020 American homeowners about their experiences and thoughts on home remodeling.

Content as a Service v2 - acrobat-hub - Tuesday, October 24, 2023 at 10:18