Choosing a contractor or an interior designer for renovation

This is my answer to the question above. I would choose an interior designer for a very simple reason. I want to see the 3D drawings to ensure what I am paying to do is catered for. Lets start by answering some common questions.

1. Contractor are cheaper than interior designer? Not really true. Contractor are using sub-contractors to do the renovation, interior designer are also using sub-contractor to do the job. Contractor are cheaper as they provide less work. Interior designer will normally need to prepare and provide the illustration (3D drawings) so for you to visualize the final home. This is one "cost" that owner did not factor in. So better to take a look how the final product will turn out first than to regret later. Choosing a contractor means risking to renovate what you think it will turn out as normally they do not provide the illustration of the final product.
2. Choosing the lowest quote is a great deal? It will never be an apple to apple comparison due to the simple fact that they are using different group of sub-contractor to do the job. Workmanship, rates of the worker are all different so how to compare?
3. I know what I want to do so I choose a contractor? Without any drawings, how can we be so sure about the final outcome. It is a risk I would not take.
4. Going directly to sub-contractor is the cheapest? Not really true again. You are not buying a product but a service. As sub-contractors are now working directly with owners, communication of design and ideas become part of their job. So of course they are going to charge you for the time as compared to a contractor or interior designer asking the sub-contractor to just proceed with the work.
5. Why most quotation from ID firms are higher? This is due to the contractor is being a one man company. Meaning whatever profit margin they have is 100% to their pocket. They may not have a proper record of your renovation works which may face some problem if you need to trace back certain information. Designers shared their profit margin with the company as the company need to cover the cost for marketing, advertising, accounts, rental of showroom etc. They should have a proper documentation of renovation works done thus am providing warranty for the works.
6. I have chosen an interior designer so they should propose ideas for my home? ID and contractor to me are someone that execute owner's ideas and designs. My friend chose an ID firm with this mindset only to rejects their 3D drawings so many times that they finally understand they have to give their personal opinion and liking so the ID can work based on their preference. Kudos to the ID for the patience.
7. Ever see people sticking tapes all over their new BTO flats during the defects liability period. Remember one thing, our house is done by human not machines. Understand this point to make handing over a breeze. House not clean enough is not a defect.

A simple guideline for renovation. Choose someone you can trust to do the job and an experienced company in the trade to support the person you trust.

Sadly, that was not the case for my renovation as I chose a referral from my friend to do my renovation. Preferred another ID but he is unable to take up the job due to our tight schedule. This referral designer is not able to produce a carpentry based on a real design (not 3D drawings) given to him and did not even change the 3D drawings despite tell him what to amend. Just keeping rushing to commence and always saying should save cost here and there by not doing first and do later. I prefer an ID that help us to understand cost rather than an ID that tell you to "save" cost by not doing first.

These are some experiences I would like to share after I did my own renovation and been in the property management line for years. Hope this helps owners with their renovation.

September 2018 Report

After many months missing in action, it is time that I wrote an update. So, I quit my job again. LOL. I left around August 2018. Despite the higher pay, I cannot fit in the office environment. A warning to people that are planning to find out what they really want to do in life after working for years in the salaried environment. If you have been out in the gig environment for a while, it is hard to go back to a "proper" job of 9-6 and it can be detrimental to your family finances.

How about the property path that I had planned? Well, I finished the course and went for the exam and was fairly confident about Paper 2 but the results turned out badly. I failed both paper 1 and paper 2. The thing with the property agent exam is that we do not know what questions we do wrong. It will be relearning the whole syllables again and hope your understanding is of the exam standard.

During the exam, there was this one question that derailed me from this path. It was something like how to invest in property if you do not have enough capital. Answer? REITs because they are required to distribute at least 90 percent of their taxable income to their shareholders annually. That made me reconsider my decision due to the time and money needed if I am going to choose property agent as my career. As a new property agent, I have learnt that we will need to spend money in property portals to advertise property for owners and advertisement to market our service. You will also need to go for courses to clock your requirement so you can renew you licence. All these requires money. Time and money is a luxury that I do not have to do the job. If I have the money, I might as well invest in REITs to do the job for me.

Investing in myself is always a good investment. So after removing the property path, I started to think of what I have been doing so far in my property management career that is of benefit to the next path. Might as well do something I have knowledge of rather than venturing into the unknown.

Maintenance Coordinator - assisting customer with issues of the property they are leasing.

Property Officer - getting quotation to renovate and ensure units can be handed over based on customer's requirement in the agreement

Defects Coordinator - Spotting of defects and assist customer in rectifying the mentioned defects during the defects liability period.

Skills learned

Paperwork - checked
Coordination - checked
On standby for issues - checked

So what did I come out with? Being an Interior Designer.