From House-of-Horrors to

Your Dream Home Makeover Success

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So you're in the middle of your dream home makeover project. Then without warning, the general contractor walks off-site. You're running out of funds, and the project stalls. Sounds like a classic Home Makeover project nightmare. But how did this happen? Could it have been avoided? What would you do next?

 

Our home makeover project started, like all good stories should, with a journey, an adventure to a foreign land, in a springtime of hope and expectation. Seriously, it did!! But before long, the thunder clouds were gathering overhead, and the first streaking, flashes of lightning heralded the storm that was soon to come crashing over us.

 

If you're a Homeowner and you're contemplating a home makeover project, or renovation or remodelling perhaps, then you already know how often home build projects go bad. Friends and colleagues, neighbours and even family members have told you their horrific stories about costs that spiralled out of control, projects that took way longer than planned, about fallouts with contractors and lots of unhappy tears, frustration, disappointment, embarrassment even.

 

And you're probably asking yourself, what must I do,  so I don't end up with a horror story. You're wondering, how can I avoid my dream home project turning into a catastrophe? Worrying about how to be certain of running your project successfully,  anxious about losing money getting ripped off? If you're not, perhaps you should be?

 

Disastrous projects happen over and over, and they can happen to anyone. I should know. I nearly lost my shirt on my own dream home turned House-of-Horrors project.

 

Hello and welcome to Home Makeover Project Secrets. The show that equips homeowners with the skills and understanding to execute successful home projects that goes behind the scenes of home build projects to unlock the secrets and share insider tips and strategies to save money and time on any and every home project. What you learn will give you the confidence to embark boldly on your next project and you'll know what to do so your story is the happy Dream Home ending you deserve. I'm your host, Andrew Philips.

 

When I talk about home makeovers, I include renovation, remodelling, alterations, additions going up into attics or down into basements, redevelopments and even ground-up new builds. Any and every project where you're going to be appointing professionals, designing something, buying materials, carrying out construction work, employing contractors and subcontractors, suppliers, manufacturers, and even if you're doing some or all of the work yourself. All things hOme build. I'm delighted you've joined me for this Season One Launch Episode, The House-of-Horrors.

 

In today's episode after setting the scene, I'll be sharing a few of the topics you can look forward to in future episodes. And if you stay with me to the end, then I have a very special House-of-Horrors FREE gift for you and I'll show you how to get your hands on it before we wrap up.

 

So back to my own dark and terrifying project story. My wife and I had decided to buy a vacation cottage and do a full renovation. Our goal was to create a wonderful place for family holidays. And also to make some money as a vacation rental. The remodelling plans were definitely ambitious. What was extra scary was that we had purchased a property in a foreign country, a whole nother story for another day. We had to catch a plane and rent a car to get there. So it wasn't just around the corner. Just to make things more complicated. We didn't speak the local language. And by the way, the CIA rate the language to be as complex as Mandarin Chinese.

 

Now running any project is challenging, but that's kind of like riding a mountain bike downhill through a forest, but wearing an eyepatch and with one hand tied behind your back. And who wants to do that, right?

 

This was far and away the most challenging home build project we had ever initiated, which may be explains why we nearly lost our shirts along the way. On top of trying to carry out a complete redevelopment in a foreign country in a foreign language. We were also struggling with being financially crushed by the global economic meltdown, which hit us not long after our purchase. You can imagine just how stressful that was getting more and more frustrated and anxious as funds were running out. And the project was stalling. And then the bottom fell out from under us when our general contractor pulled out of the project and refused to continue. It was like a train smash for us. We were completely derailed. Basically, we couldn't continue the project at all. There was no way for the property to become our magical family holiday cottage, let alone a  vacation rental. It was a wreck, a building site a massive mess, miles away from being finished. It had become a millstone around our necks.

 

We were in bad shape. And we were desperate. We were on the ropes in every way. Our dream home project had become a House-of-Horrors. Although we weren't ready to give up on our dreams, just then.

 

What makes our story even more shocking ... and this is where it gets rather personal and somewhat embarrassing, is it should never have happened this way. You see, I'm a construction professional. When we launched the project, I'd been working for more than 17 years as a construction project manager, guiding clients through much more complex projects. How on earth could I have got myself into that ridiculous situation? And if it can happen to me, it could happen to anyone. More importantly, from the bottom of the hole, how were we going to get out and fast? I needed to pivot from the haphazard process I'd been following, no more winging it, no more seat of the pants, no more muddling along and no more taking things for granted. Which pretty much describes the approach so many homeowners attempt for their home makeover projects. I needed a focused but simple, step by step, no brainer strategy.

 

So I figured out how to model the effective strategies I've been using for clients over many years, identifying the right steps in the most effective sequence to get my project back on track, and ultimately to complete it successfully. And I worked out how to save money and time along the way, while still keeping the high-quality standard we were aiming for. From that point, everything changed. By following this effective strategy, I was able to kick start the project and then execute it effectively with fresh confidence, which I don't mind admitting had taken a beating. I closed out the remodelling works, I completed the fit-out, and we launched our vacation rental in the shortest time possible.

 

This gave my family the wonderful holiday home we've been dreaming about. But best of all, I've leveraged these lessons from this tough school of hard knocks, and experience to help others to avoid the pitfalls and problems that nearly crushed us. And I know the secrets that can save anyone money and time on any home makeover project. We've been living our dream of owning and enjoying our perfect holiday home ever since. We've made priceless lifelong memories. Our makeover has been a huge success. I never have to worry about executing makeover projects successfully ever again. I've cracked the code. It even works in a foreign country in a foreign language.

 

And that's why I'm so passionate about sharing and teaching home makeover project skills to homeowners. I want you to avoid all the anxiety and embarrassment, frustration and disappointment that so many homeowners unnecessarily suffer. And I want you to experience the joy and satisfaction of successfully executing your own makeover projects.

 

The beauty of these skills and strategies is they are transferable. Learn them once and use them over and over. And this is why I've launched Home Makeover Project Secrets, so I can share all this insider information, expert knowledge, insight and understanding about the processes and what's really going on behind the scenes and what to do so things don't go wrong. I've seen so many horrible homemaker projects imploding. I've heard so many disaster stories. My goal is to help homeowners successfully deliver their own home makeover projects. Without the pain, the frustration, no more horror stories.

 

Anyone can do this, no prior experience necessary. It's not rocket science. Everything worth doing in life takes effort and energy. But it can be much less complicated than you probably realise. You wouldn't go on a hike through unknown territory, traversing valleys and mountains, through forests and crossing rivers without a good quality map of the route, a compass or better still Google Maps. You'd want to know beforehand how to spot alligators along the way, how to avoid man-eating lions and which are the safe places to make camp. So why embark on a home build journey without a reliable plan, without a strategy to get you safely to the end?

 

If you're anything like me, and most other people, when you don't know how to do something, you procrastinate, you delay, you put off starting, you bury your head in the sand like an ostrich. But once you do know how you realise that it's really very straightforward, you gain confidence and that makes the process even more doable. Running a home makeover project, following a clear simple strategy and framework will save you money and time along the way and bring you to a successful end result.

 

Along with the topics we'll be covering in each episode, I'll also be sharing swipe files and playbooks and other useful resources that you can download. But you'll only be able to get your hands on them here on the podcast episodes. Everything I'll be sharing will apply to all kinds of home build projects. Best of all, the skills and knowledge you'll learn here are evergreen, and you can use and apply them over and over on multiple projects, saving money and time, every time. And just about anywhere in the world.

 

So while there are variations in construction materials, techniques, laws, and so on in different locations and regions, you'll be able to use what you learn here and apply them in your own country, city or town, wherever you may be.

 

Let me give you a quick heads up about some of the topics as we draw back the curtain on the many ways home build projects can go wrong.

 

Understand what makes home makeovers so complicated. It probably isn't what you think it is, and how it can derail projects with disastrous consequences.

 

Discover the four key elements of all projects and how they drive the outcome of every project.

 

Explore the laws you must be aware of and how they can crash our projects.

 

Unpack the mysteries of project costs with our Insider's Guide and what makes project costs spiral out of control.

 

Unlock the top strategy for planning your home makeover project and how failing to do this leads to increased costs and much longer on site.

 

Learn the best ways to design your perfect dream home makeover.

 

Find out the details you do have to sweat and why they are so important.

 

If you've ever wondered why contractors do what they do, what drives their behaviour, why they react the way they do, as well as discovering how you can respond, then you're in for some lightbulb moments as we cover these and many more topics.

 

Each week we'll focus on typical project problems, and then learn how you can overcome them. And in every case, I'll be showing you how your new understanding can save you time and money.

 

From time to time we'll dedicate whole episodes to homeowners FAQs, and I'll answer listener questions about how to overcome the challenges you are wrestling with.

 

Okay, so I promised a very special free gift for those still with me at the end of this episode. If you wondered how our House-of-Horrors turned Dream Home project ended up and would like a sneak peek inside. Then I invite you to take a look by visiting sneakpeek.thediypm.com. You'll find the link in the show notes or on our website at https://thediypm.com. Grab the House-of-Horrors eFlip-Book and you'll be able to read more about our home makeover project adventure and see the before and after photos.

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Next week in Episode Two, I'll tell you about Charlie and Jennifer and what derailed their dream home project as we explore what makes home makeovers so complicated. As I've said it probably isn't what you think it is. With Episode Two, I have another free bonus which includes access to a super powerful tool, also completely free that will help you kickstart your home makeover project. I'll be sharing the link during Episode Two.

 

To make sure you never miss an episode, why not subscribe to the Home Makeover Project Secrets on this Podcast Player or on our website at https://thediypm.com where you'll also find our blog posts and details about our upcoming project Master Classes in our workshop Academy. If you have a question about a project you're planning or already running, please reach out and email me on faq@thediypm.com. If you have a challenge to overcome, that I can just about guarantee others are also facing the same or similar challenges. I'll be answering listener questions in FAQ episodes every few weeks. It's always reassuring to know you're not the only one battling away.

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It's been great to have you with me today. And I look forward to having you back for the next episode of Home Makeover Project Secrets.

 

All the best!

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Andrew Philips, Project Management Coach