Home remodeling can be a challenge for many families attempting to fix up their houses, but taking the time and effort to do so has the potential to greatly improve your home’s overall value. While most people think of a home remodel as a major project that involves changing their home drastically, this isn’t always the case. According to the Census Bureau, 30% of remodeling activity is major additions and alterations, 40% is minor additions and alterations, and 30% maintenance and repair. If you’re thinking about starting to remodel your home sometime soon, use these tips to handle your project as best as possible.

Remember The Market

Be careful when remodeling your home about what you choose to add, especially if you plan to sell your home sometime in the future. What might be valuable to you might actually hurt your home’s resell value. When remodeling, many people want to add elements to the home that they personally like, such as a pool in the backyard. However, personal preferences vary, and some additions to your home might actually make it harder to sell. Some types of remodeling are safer than others; a bathroom remodel is generally a fairly safe way to improve your home’s resell value. Bathroom remodeling is the job most requested in the United States, accounting for 78% of renovations.

Don’t Skip On Maintenance

Just because you’re adding on a new room to your home doesn’t mean you should neglect the other areas of your home that need updating as well. Keeping everything in your home up to date can help improve your home’s overall value, making any more expensive updates worth the investment overall. Be sure to check any appliances that would stay in the home if you were to resell the house, like water heaters or air conditioners. Air conditioners today use about 50% less energy than they did in 1990; that difference in efficiency is something a potential buyer is sure to notice, and even if you don’t sell the home, the upgrade will help you save on utility bills.

Keep Efficiency In Mind

As you’re adding new areas to your home or updating existing ones, do what you can to increase your home’s overall energy efficiency. Adding high-tech energy-saving materials might seem excessive now, but over time, these updates will pay for themselves in the energy bill reduction. When constructing new walls, use insulation with an appropriate R-value for the weather and temperature throughout the year. R-value is the measure of resistance to heat flow which is thermal resistance; generally speaking, a higher value is better for homes in colder areas. This will ensure your heating system doesn’t have to work quite as hard during the winter.

Stick To Your Budget

Most importantly, when planning your remodeling and renovations, be sure to set and stick to a budget. It can be easy to get carried away when planning ideas for your home, but sticking to a budget is essential to avoiding financial issues later on. Always budget for a bit more than you’ll actually need; this keeps you from getting stuck if something goes wrong and you need to account for additional repairs. If you need to reduce costs to leave yourself a bit of extra room in your budget, try looking at second-hand and salvage stores. These items are usually comparable to new components but can help you save money.

Don’t forget about your future plans! If it’s just you in your spouse in your home, remodeling projects can be fairly simple. But if a baby is on the way, you’re going to need to do a whole lot more planning!

Remodeling a home can be an overwhelming process, but with enough advance planning and keeping track of budgets, it doesn’t have to be. Before you start your remodel, use these tips to help the process go as smoothly as possible.