01. Money money money (cue Abba…)
The simplest way to anticipate your project budget is to apply a cost/m2 to your renovation. For a renovation in Brisbane you need to allow a minimum of 2,700/m2 for a basic renovation. The common error we see people make is that because they are working on an existing house that has walls, floors, ceilings & roofs, that they don’t apply a high enough rate to those spaces. This is a classic way to undercook the goose, and end up spending well over your budget. As a rule of thumb, renovating will cost you more than a new build.
If your renovation is small chunks of work – replace the kitchen, replace the bathroom & paint – then your budget approach needs to be slightly different. Put together a spreadsheet and put money against each item (kitchen 35K, bathroom 25K, paint 40K) and then apply a 20% margin across all of them. This will get you somewhere within the ballpark of your total budget.
A good little guide on building costs can be found here:
https://www.archicentreaustralia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Cost-Guide-2019.pdf