Property Renovators

Renovation is a topic of great interest to most builders for three reasons. Firstly, a lot more people are renovating properties (either their own homes or as commercial ventures). Secondly, renovating properties is often a more profitable and satisfying activity than building extensions and garden walls. Thirdly, green-field sites are becoming beyond the reach of all but the large developers and brown-fields offer the next best alternative. 

There are two roles that a builder can take in renovation. The first is as the property owner and renovator, the second is as a renovator on client work. This article focuses on the latter. 

Every year, more and more people, fuelled by media glitz, take out a loan, recruit a designer and set about getting planning permission for turning the rear garden into a palatial dining room with bedroom over. They often put in a new kitchen and bathroom at the same time and turn those dated semis into contemporary design masterpieces!

In my role as an author, I do a lot of talking (and listening) at exhibitions and seminars around the country to renovators. We talk about their plans, their aspirations and their concerns. Most of the renovators I meet are inexperienced householders who want to invest in property in order to get returns that are perceived to be better than the stock markets offer. The biggest concern most of these would be renovators express is trouble with their builder. 

The builder after all is intrusive. He comes to their house, makes a mess, uses the toilet, the sink and the kettle and makes the garden inaccessible to the kids. He also (often) looks a little scary and intimidates the wife. He is sometimes reputed to be unreliable. Not turning up without even a word of explanation is apparently common!

So, where’s this all going. Well, it goes to the heart of my argument. You can be a great builder in terms of laying foundations and bricks, pointing, cutting mitres and running twin and earth. This does not make you a professional renovator. You certainly need the hard skills (plus a few more) to be a renovation professional. If you intend to corner this market however there are a few other things you must also do well.

• You must focus your teams’ skill set on the specific repeat work that arises with renovation.
• You must manage your client properly.
• You must provide a design service.

“True” renovators (meaning those professional business people who design, build and manage people) make more money than builders do because they offer a broader high value added service. 

In the US, for example, there are specialist firms in abundance who do this. They are called “remodellers”. They are usually builders fronted by a sales and design outfit who dazzle the customer with artist’s views and promises of aggressive completion dates. They then manage the client to make sure they walk away satisfied in every regard. So what does it take to be a full service renovator? 

Well, here are a few pointers:

Start with the people interactions. Talk to the clients about their needs. Take them through a design process. Talk to them about time, cost and quality. Talk to them about how your relationship will work. Help them make the right decisions for a good return on investment. 

Above all else, if they are live-in renovators, be ultra sensitive to the intrusion that you represent to them. Find ways to put them at ease. Providing your own sanitary and other facilities is a good example.

Develop a core set of construction skills that are focused on renovations markets.

They are:

• Site management – Particularly important if you have live-in clients. Develop and show solutions that will manage safety, dust, noise, access, facilities and so on.
• Cleanout – If you do a full refurb, you need a team that will efficiently strip out the old before you move in and do the new. It’s easy to fill three to four skips per project and being good at this is a skill in itself!
• window replacement.
• Knocking two rooms into one.
• Paint stripping.
• Kitchens and bathrooms – These are almost always replaced so you must do it well and fast. 
• Heating and wiring – Again, big favourites with renovators. Very different in refurbs due to the mass of floor lifting and wall chasing. 
• Floor finishing. Whether its sanding old boards or fitting new stone and carpet.
• Landscaping.

Focus on adding value through design. Employ designers to your team and take them in to meet the client. 

Finally, don’t think extension, think about a total space makeover so that the whole concept of the property is updated. This way the little extension will go a lot further in terms of the client’s satisfaction. 

Renovation is not anything like new build. It requires a new mind-set. Most of the work involved in renovation is to do with re-moulding what is there as opposed to building new. Under these circumstances, the client, should they live on site, are at the builders mercy. As this industry expands, the winners will be those who can soften the burden for these poor souls!