Planning to Renovate or Redesign Your Home? Use These Tips to Avoid Regrets

Making changes to your home requires an investment—and when all is said and done, you want to feel like you invested wisely.

But how, exactly, do you do that?

A recent article from realtor.com outlined tips homeowners can use to avoid buyer’s regret during the home renovation, decorating, or remodeling process, including:

• Prepare. One of the best ways to avoid buyer’s regret? Putting plenty of time and energy into preparing for your renovation or redesign project before you spend any money. For example, if you’re repainting a room, don’t just move forward with a paint color you see in store; instead, buy a sample, take it home, and paint a swatch on the wall to see how it looks in your space. Or, if you’re shopping for new furniture, consider using a 3D interior design app to see how different pieces will look in your space.
• Start small. When you’re doing a renovation or redecorating project, it can be tempting to do everything at once. But the more things you tackle at once, the more choices you’ll have to make in a short period of time—and the more likely it is you won’t be happy with one of those choices. Instead, take baby steps and tackle one or two elements at a time; that way, you won’t get overwhelmed with options, which leads to better decisions—and helps you avoid buyer’s remorse.
• Don’t expect things to be perfect. There is no such thing as perfect—and if you’re expecting perfection with your home renovation or redesign, you’re going to be disappointed. Having more realistic expectations can help you avoid that disappointment (and any buyer’s remorse!) at the end of your project.