Taking your first steps when renovating or building can be exciting and daunting.

What should you do first? Who should you speak to and hire?

This will help you take the right first steps, and learn how to use the kick-off, or getting started stage of your project, to ensure you’re moving in the right direction from the start.

All this season, I’m sharing a fantastic resource I’ve created to help you, and you can access it now for free.

If you’re struggling with understanding the overall steps for your project, what you should be focussing on and when, or how to best invest your efforts, energy and money to get a great outcome in your future home, this will be super helpful.

It’s my online workshop called “Your Project Plan”.

Head to https://undercoverarchitect.com/projectplan to access and watch it online now. I’ve also added some great bonus resources I’ve made available for you, including the transcripts of all the podcasts in this season packaged up in a fantastic E-Guide.

This is episode 189 of the Get it Right podcast.

I’m super excited to be diving into this episode, where we’re talking about your first steps in kicking off your project. 

This is the stage where you’re past the ideas stage, and know you want to get going, but you’re not sure about who to hire or next steps, and who you should speak to first.

We’ll be covering the mistakes to avoid, the key ways to get it right in this stage, and an action step for you to make great progress in the right direction.

I know, in all my experience of working with homeowners, that how you take these first steps, and the first steps you actually take, can dramatically impact the experience you have in your project, and the home you create. 

I see homeowners head off in the wrong direction in their projects, and it can be 3, 6, even 12 months down the track that it becomes obvious they started out on in the wrong direction, and now have work to undo, having wasted time, money and effort.

So what does this stage look like for a homeowner?

Homeowners at this point have often been collecting together their ideas and inspiration, and having lots of conversations about what they might like to do. 

How homeowners have developed or catalogued their ideals and inspiration and thoughts can vary. Some homeowners have simply jotted down a quick list of ideas to tell a designer you plan to work with.

Others have developed a full dossier of information: A really comprehensive list or, what can be known as a ‘brief’ for what they want in their future home.

This will be accompanied by photos and information about their site and if renovating, their existing home. If it’s a family or couple planning their project, they’ve talked over it themselves for a while to create a clear, collective picture of what they want their future home to be. 

I actually teach homeowners how to pull together a great brief inside The HOME Method because it’s such a great communication tool for those first conversations, it can make a big difference to you finding the right people to work with, and quickly. 

I love seeing how homeowners use that knowledge to create amazing briefs that not only give them clarity on their vision for their future home – but they’re also awesome at vetting the right type of professionals to work with. Those briefs alone have helped homeowners avoid designers who would be a terrible fit, and find the right person to trust and work with. 

And I’ve received emails from architects and designers who have had clients come to them with briefs they’ve learned to put together from The HOME Method, and thanked me for how well it enables them to get started on their project. They’ve loved that the homeowner has done this work, as it reduces so much of the risk involved in poor communication, not understanding the client’s wishes and wants well, and things not gelling from the get-go. 

The other thing that can also be going on if you’re doing this with your partner as a couple and family: One of you can be further ahead, feel clearer about what you want to do, and have a stronger vision than the other.

Or, you can both have very strong and clear visions, but it feels like they’re at total odds with each other. You know you need to get going, but overcoming those initial disagreements can feel challenging and like it’s not do-able that you’ll get on the same page and both be happy with what you end up doing.

At this stage of kick-off, you may be in the process of securing a new block of land for a new build, and getting yourself into a kick-off, first steps frame of mind (as opposed to still being in the dreaming stage), will mean you’ll do effective due diligence on the property and its suitability for the type of home you’re planning on creating … BEFORE you purchase it.

And kick-off can also mean that you already own the block of land for a new home, or the existing house if planning a renovation.

In this episode, we discuss what those in the kick-start stage of their renovation or building project are experiencing in relation to:

• Budget
• Fears
• Stress

I also share the most commonly made mistakes by those in this kick-off stage, so you know what to avoid.

And I’ll also teach you how to get it right in this kick-off stage, so you understand more clearly what steps you should take first.

Plus, I give you my main action tip to help you move forward more productively. 

You may think you’ve already done this, but taking the time to do it in detail and ensure it’s really well thought-through will set you up for a great project. 

And it’ll help you eliminate people you shouldn’t be working with far more quickly.

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE NOW

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST:

Access my free online workshop “Your Project Plan” >>> FREE WORKSHOP

Learn more about Undercover Architect’s mini courses

• Set + Stick to Your Budget >>> CLICK HERE
• Choose Your Builder >>> CLICK HERE

Planning to design your own new home or renovation? Home Design Masterclass shares my methods of home design, room by room >>> CLICK HERE

Work with me on your new home or renovation inside The HOME Method >>> CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

I’ve got some great resources to help you with preparing for that initial conversation, and for reviewing a designer’s fee proposal to ensure it covers everything it needs to. Here they are:

How much do architects charge, and why do they charge percentage fees >>> CLICK HERE

Know Your Team Podcast Season will help you understand more about the various professionals you may need to use >>> CLICK HERE

What should be in an architect’s quote? And Top 10 Tips and your design quote checklist >>> CLICK HERE

Not all designers are created equal, here’s how to choose the right designer for you >>> CLICK HERE

When you meet your designer for the first time >>> CLICK HERE

The first conversation to have with your potential designer or builder >>> CLICK HERE

Learn more about the renovation project I discussed, where we added a two storey extension and left the existing home as is >>> READ HERE