5 Tools to Help You Oversee a Home Renovation While Living Overseas

Managing a home renovation is stressful enough when you’re nearby to keep an eye on things—but doing it from halfway around the world? It can feel as though you are trying to juggle with one hand tied behind your back. Whether you’re trying to renovate before you start your life as an expat or just can’t be there in person, the challenges of remote renovations are real: time conflicts, misunderstandings, delays, and other unforeseen surprises (like that new kitchen wall going up two feet to the left) and cost overruns.

Good thing we are living in an age where distance no longer equals disaster. With use of the right technological tools, you can stay in the loop, track progress, and keep your sanity without having to get on the next flight every time something goes wrong. Which it will. So you might as well expect it, and do your best to prepare and try to avoid the biggest potholes.

In this article, we’ll take you through five tools to help you manage your renovation from thousands of miles away without pulling your hair out. These tools have served us well, and we continue to use them in our own projects. So whether you decide to renovate on your own, or hire us to manage the entire process, you’ll have a better idea of what’s involved.

 

1. Virtual Walkthrough Software

If you’ve ever wanted to beam yourself to your renovation site to see how everything is progressing, virtual walkthrough software is as close as it gets without any sci-fi twists. Services such as Matterport and HoloBuilder enable you to make a virtual 3D walk through of your house from the comfort of your home.

These platforms use image capturing through the use of high-def imaging and cameras and the creation of 3D models to give you a real-time view of the progress of your renovation. It lets you stroll through the rooms, zoom in to focus on specific aspects, and even estimate distances. It is not only used to view the progress of construction; with this software, you can spot certain problems early on (like that strangely slanted wall no one seemed to notice).

Benefits:

• Immersive Experience: You can get an immersive, complete feel of how your renovation is going, the next best thing to being there.
• Catch Issues Early: Detect problems like uneven finishes, misplaced fixtures, or a paint color that is not turning out as expected.
• Save Time and Money: Through the use of virtual tours, avoid spending your budget on flying to the renovation site every time there is a small problem.

 

Use Case: 

Think of yourself deep in the process of renovating your future home, and realizing that the gorgeous marble countertop you ordered for the kitchen is getting ready to be placed in the guest washroom. After one virtual walkthrough, you would avoid this disaster without having to leave your living room.

 

2. Time-Tracking & Task Accountability Tools

Let’s be honest: When no one is around, work quality tends to slip. Being far away makes it increasingly hard to pin your team down to deadlines that ‘magically’ seem to extend. What was originally expected to be done in a week turns into a month-long process. This is where time tracking and task accountability software come into play so that your contractors are not using your renovation as an excuse to master the art of the afternoon nap.

Apps such as Clockify and Harvest help to track time spent on different renovation tasks, which give the real picture of what is going on at the site. You’ll know who is doing what, how long it’s taking and most importantly, whether you are getting value for your money. These tools also let you measure productivity and make sure deadlines don’t become distant dreams.

Benefits:

• Stay on Schedule: Helps you make sure that tasks are being done on time and are not falling into the “mañana” syndrome.
• Track Work Hours: This gives you records of work hours for your team, so you don’t have to wonder why that simple floor installation is taking 17 days.
• Accountability: Holds your team accountable to the schedule you set out at the start of the project and keeps track of how long everything takes to get done.

Use Case:

Picture this: you’re working remotely in Seattle, and when you open your time tracking application, you see that the contractor working on your vacation home in Costa Rica has worked 40 hours this week on a job that should have taken 10. A gentle nudge later (or not so gentle) and bam, the productivity is back, and you’re on schedule again.

 

3. Budget Management and Expense Tracking Software

When you’re handling a renovation project from abroad, your budget can turn into a rubber band – stretching, snapping, and occasionally flying out of control. To keep your budget from turning into a roller coaster ride, budgeting and expense tracking are your allies. Consider them your financial navigators, who will help you navigate the twists and turns of renovation expenses without getting lost (or going broke).

The three applications that we recommend for tracking every penny spent on your renovation project include FreshBooks, QuickBooks, and Expensify. From handling currency conversions to dealing with invoices and expenses, these tools ensure that you won’t be caught off guard by any unexpected costs or hidden fees. This will allow you to track your expenses in real-time, and let you know whether you’re sticking to your budget or veering off course.

Benefits:

• Track Expenses: Monitor every dollar spent, so you don’t end up with a budget that’s more fiction than fact.
  Currency Conversion: Make transactions involving other countries and their respective currencies with a lot of ease.
• Streamline Invoicing: Tame your paperwork and make sure your payments are on schedule.

Use Case:

Even if you’re watching the sunset from the beaches of Mexico, your phone will beep, alerting you that you’ve incurred a surprise shipping fee for a delivery. With your expense tracking software, you can easily look at the charge, recalibrate your budget and get back to your vacation. You’ll be right back to relaxing without that queasy feeling in your stomach that budgetary chaos brings.

 

4. Remote Monitoring Cameras

Remote monitoring cameras are the pair of eyes at the back of our heads we’ve all wished for sometimes. They secure your renovation site when you cannot be there yourself. These handy gadgets –like Nest Cam, Arlo, or Wyze– give you a live view of your renovation process in action.

With remote cameras, you’ll be able to monitor construction progress, safety measures, and material deliveries, all in real time. This also means you’ll be privy to any problems that arise in their initial stage; it may be a contractor who stops showing up for a week or a misplaced load of materials. You’ll be updated on the quality of work bring done without having to make constant calls or schedule excessive remote check-ins.

Benefits: 

• Live Feed: Monitor the progress of the renovation and keep an eye on what is happening on a daily basis.
• Spot Issues Early: Detect potential problems or safety hazards before they turn into bigger issues.
• Peace of Mind: Have confidence that your project is on schedule even if you are in different continent.

Use Case: 

Picture this: you’re on a business trip in Tokyo, and your camera alerts you of suspicious activity at your renovation site. A cursory look shows that neighbourhood kids have been entering your renovation site at night without permission. Having the footage in your possession allows you to fix the problem without delay. Less time wasted and less money spent, not to mention the ability to turn problems around before they become unfixable.

 

5. Collaboration Platforms with Blueprint and Design Visualization

It’s important to make sure that you are on the same page with your contractor or renovation team, especially when dealing with design plans and blueprints. They have to be clear as daylight to both parties before any of the physical work is started. Collaboration tools such as SketchUp and AutoCAD are like having a blueprint studio in a handbag. They let both parties work on design and modification tasks in real-time, guaranteeing that your vision for the renovation is well executed.

These tools help you to review, edit, and approve design alterations without having to travel back and forth to make such changes. You’ll be able to make detailed designs and annotations, and even see how a particular design element will look in your space. It’s like having a design meeting where both people are present, but without having to travel across continents, pass through airport security, and suffer jet lag.

Benefits:

• Real-Time Collaboration: Make design changes and review blueprints from anywhere in the world.
• Enhanced Visualization: Find out how various design components come together before the renovation process starts.
• Efficient Communication: Minimise confusion by working on the design files and give feedback as soon as possible.

Use Case:

Suppose you are in sunny Miami, and you get the idea that the kitchen island requires a change. With your collaboration platform, you can tweak the design right away, forward the design to your contractor and he can start making changes right away, as opposed to having to spend a lot of time in emails or on the phone explaining exactly what you want done.

 

In Conclusion

Coordinating home remodeling from a distance might be compared to trying to solve a puzzle with a blindfold on. But if you’re equipped with the right tools, you can take the blindfold off and bring light to every aspect of your remote renovation project. Some tools give you the possibility of virtual walkthroughs to visualize your project. Other tools are time-tracking applications for organization, or budgeting apps to keep your spending in check. Others offer remote surveillance and design collaboration.

Using these tools, you can monitor your progress, control expenses, and communicate with your team without even getting up from the couch. Whether you’re sipping on coffee in a quaint café in Paris or relaxing on the sandy coast of Bali, you can be sure that your renovation is in good hands.

The important thing to understand is that being successful in your remote renovation is only possible if you stay updated and engaged. With these tools, you’ll be able to track every single detail, and also keep your sanity. Now, go ahead and embrace the digital age of renovation management—you’ve got this!

If at the end of the day, you decide that you’d rather leave the details to us, reach out. We’d love to tell you more about the tools we use, and why our remote renovation projects are so well-organized.