The easiest way to save money on a remodel is to learn to DIY the job or portions of the job. Almost anyone can paint. Tiling something basic isn't that difficult either. If you have friends or family that have done their own remodels (and they look OK!), ask them about swapping labor for something you do well as a hobby or for a profession. Bartering services or goods works with contractors as well. Maybe he doesn't have such a great website, and you're a web guru. Maybe his parents have a 50th wedding anniversary coming up, and you're a great caterer or cake baker or florist It never hurts to ask to see if something like that could be worked out. Or, GC it yourself by hiring the subcontractors directly. You will need electrical work, plumbing work, tile work, and drywall work, and some general demolition/labor in this remodel. Break down the job into those components and approach electricians, plumbers, tilers, etc. about doing those jobs directly. Above all, do not settle for someone doing a substandard job with materials that you do not like. This will probably not get done again, unless it's done wrong now. You've got to be sure that doesn't happen, and not trust any contractor to actually know what he's doing. Make sure that you educate yourself enough about the non pretty guts of the job that YOU know how things are going to be waterproofed, for instance. And don't pick materials just because they are cheap and you can afford them. Materials are the lowest expenditure on most jobs, and even a month or two more of saving before the job is tackled can allow you to use materials that you really LOVE. You CAN do a pretty bath on a budget with inexpensive materials, but you have to be more creative in how you use those materials and you have to be willing to do the footwork of searching for them.

Good luck, I'm in Sussex county and finding a good contractor is like finding a needle in a haystack. I can recommend one company that did our framing, Berlin Construction, they were booked for 2 years when we talked with them, but they had a 3 week opening, just long enough to do the framing we were looking to have done. They are a turnkey company, and have a kitchen designer on staff. I'll link to their website. The owner Mitch is great guy, and we liked his crew, they worked hard and showed up every day, and when we had a couple of issues, they got addressed quickly. Here is a link that might be useful: Mitch Berlin Construction

We are right now doing what you are considering. (Well, our contractor is doing...) We've owned this house for a very long time, and never set foot in the 4th tiny bedroom (really just an office, no closet). But thought we would hurt our property value if we used that office as our closet (our home is our largest asset, so it matters to us if we renovate in a way that lowers value). We live in such a high COL area, we can't move. So we finally decided to (1) add the master closet to the master bath; and (2) put a door from the master bedroom into the office, to make it the new master closet. Turns out in my area it helps value to have a larger master bath and closet - even at the expense of losing the small 4th bedroom/office (tons of homes in my area have this layout). I checked with real estate agents and watched sales for a couple of years to make myself comfortable with this decision. As to layout: similar to your drawing, ours will be 6'x12' with the closet added on). We have a 3.5'x6' shower at one end like your drawing. Left the toilet (saves about $4k in my area, party b/c old house plumbing issues). Then, do a short wall about 30" wide x 42" tall at the shower: (1) have the shower door pivot (both in and out) there, so you can reach the shower valve on the inside of that half wall - no getting wet!); and (2) put the 2nd vanity (30" for us) against your window wall and that 1/2 wall. Your door is at the other 6' end; ours is on the 12' long wall, so a bit different but hopefully this makes sense?! I.e., I think you can fit in two 30" vanities (we have a 30" and 36"), big shower, keep toilet there, and have a huge master closet from your (unused??) bedroom. I personally like the 2 separate vanities vs. a long 60" - and it saved so much for us b/c it kept the toilet in its place - but YMMV. Sorry to ramble! Hope that helps. I'm so thrilled this is happening now to my home, and only wish we had done it a decade ago!PS I, and the real estate market I'm in, prefer a large master bath to large closets if there is a 4th bedroom (as it will get converted to a closet anyway). Of course that varies by market, person, etc... but thought I'd say that as I struggled with this decision for many years.

This is the kind of question that is difficult to answer. Can you dump this joint and get a comparable one in better condition on a similar piece of land for less than you are paying to update it? My guess is, probably not. Think back to the house hunting that you did. Were there homes situated on similar plots, with layouts that you liked, with homes in good condition? What did they cost? Sometimes, we chose a home in a lesser condition than we would like because of where it is located, the land it is on, or something about that land that meets our needs. We drove up to this house where we now live and parked on the side street next to it. Being a corner house meant that it had a neighbor only on one side, so fewer possible issues with our three dogs bothering neighbors. The home behind us had its garage side wall facing our back yard, and not a single house window overlooking it. That made our back yard seem more private than the small space we actually have suggests we should have. Even the issue of having dogs who might jump up at passersby along the fence by the sidewalk was solved for us. The fence was lined with a privet hedge, then with a second, interior fence that insured that the dogs could get nowhere near people on the other side of the fence. So before we even saw the front of this house, we loved it. So, one might guess that we would overlook interior issues in order to get it. Sooner or later, all systems have to be replaced. Norms for how a crawlspace is kept, change. You might find yourself buying a house advertised as having a waterproofed crawlspace, only to find that the visqueen sheet that someone laid down there ten years ago is no longer holding back the moisture. So you might even buy something that is supposedly already waterproofed only to find a minimal attempt to do that was done, and it now has failed. In your case, you probably had no claims made about that crawlspace and you have a Cadillac waterproofing job now. You will not have to think about it again. With that oil tank, you may have a case that the previous owner did not disclose the issue to you. (I do not know anything about RE law, so check with the lawyer you used to close on the house or another lawyer who knows your state's RE disclosure laws.) As for the front porch and the issues yet to come, did you have a good home inspection done before you bought the house? They are very difficult to find. I read here in the Buying and Selling a Home forum about how a home inspector is supposed to give such a complete view of the home you are contracting to buy. You are supposed to learn from that inspector when there is an obviously poorly constructed porch or other visible construction. I have yet had one tell me anything that I could not figure out for myself, and they have always missed anything important. Just on the chance that you did have a good inspection, do you have an idea of what else is coming down the road? If you did not have an inspection, do you know of any contractor who you can employ to give you a heads up, doing a walk-thru and watching for issues that your house is showing signs of needing further work, who can look for construction problems, and who can look at the major systems and tell you how much lifetime they have left? Maybe two different inspectors, one a HVAC guy for the systems, one a construction guy for the house itself? These are the only means I am aware of to look ahead to determine how much more money your house is going to cost you. Remember that you always must compare what you learn against the cost of a well-kept home on a similar lot. And that the well-kept house might use low quality materials that you don't like, or that it could be done in a style that you don't like. There is a value in having brand new improvements, too. Some might choose the low-priced fixer-upper on good land and make the home of their dreams all nice and new in their stye with the materials that they like. Others want everything already done, and will wait until the house that meets their criteria comes on the market.