Many people these days are prepared to pay more for an unrenovated home, than one that is fully finished. Adding your own personal touch is very satisfying, but do not be fooled with the amount of effort that is required to get it to that stage.

Most of the time you promise yourself that you are only going to say - paint the inside, but in doing that you have now realised that the kitchen is looking outdated so that's next on your list.

Some suggest when renovating your home, that it can be valuable to have a manager on site running all the trades. In paying that little extra to someone that could organise all the tradesmen can take a lot of stress off you and enabled you to approach one party with all my concerns, rather than approach tradesmen individually.

If you are anticipating employing tradesmen to do the work for you make an effort to do your research and get recommendations from a family/friend member or even your local real estate agent. Recommendations can save you time and assist in employing the right person/company in doing the job for you.

It's important to keep your distance throughout the renovation, but remember it's your house and if you are not happy with something, it is better to catch the problem in its infancy and deal with it right there and then than be stuck with a huge mistake later.

Hot tip: Always provide your tradesmen with lots of hot tea and coffee, and some of those home baked choc chip cookies, because happy tradesmen work faster