[Episode 18] 44 years old, single, and the renovation estimate is 4 times higher than expected!?

Hello. This is asumegry.
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Here are the priority areas for renovation

1. Replacement of the cracked outer window in the Western-style room planned as a bedroom

2. Changing the wallpaper on one side of the toilet wall and floor, and adding an accent wall in the Western-style room

3. Installation of a cat escape-proof door in the entryway

4. Replacing and adjusting the screen doors

Regarding the cat escape-proof door, because there is a ceiling beam in the entryway, it is difficult to install it in the place I want most, so instead, we decided to get an estimate for a plan to install it at the entrance of the hallway.

For the design, I chose an aluminum frame with transparent acrylic panels, which I saw and liked on Instagram and other sites.

By the way, in my current entryway, I just have this thing I made easily by myself, but it works well enough😹 Maybe this is fine as it is... lol

No, the quality and design of the current room and the new room are just too different. Well, let's get an estimate for now. And finally, an estimate arrived from one company.

A total renovation cost of 800,000 yen!?

I was naively thinking it would be around 200,000 to 300,000 yen, but when I opened the PDF I received from Mr. T (the real estate agent), I saw a surprising number...

Looking at the breakdown, for things like wallpaper replacement, about 50,000 yen was added for surface preparation, so it was about 50,000 yen more than expected.

The cat door was about 400,000 yen... And there was an item called 'other expenses'.
The other expenses were listed as protection costs, miscellaneous expenses, light cleaning, and site management fees.

I see, so labor costs and protection costs are also necessary. When I showed it to a friend who fully renovated their shop, they said, 'Labor costs have gone up a lot now! That's normal!'

It's true that the frame for the cat escape-proof door is from a famous manufacturer, and even though I only showed them a simple photo, it's a wonderful design that I'm impressed they were able to find.

I actually felt like I wanted to install it, but since the door would be attached to the hallway entrance rather than the entryway I originally hoped for, I thought the flow would be inconvenient, and because the sliding door I wanted wasn't possible, the hallway width would become a bit narrower, making it difficult to move furniture in.

For now, I decided that this door wasn't strictly necessary after moving in, so I cut it.

About 40,000 for the screen door related work. When I told a friend at work, she said, "I'll put the screen door on for you!", so I decided to do it myself😹

Come to think of it, I forgot the most important estimate for the window replacement...

And here are the details for the re-estimate request

1. Replacement of the cracked exterior window in the room planned as the bedroom

2. Changing the wallpaper on one side of the toilet and the floor, and adding an accent wall in the western-style room

With this, I really think it will be around 200,000 to 300,000.

It took 10 days to get the first estimate

Since the formal loan application with the bank happens after the renovation costs are determined, I was waiting for the renovation estimate, but I waited 10 days from the day we did the viewing together.

I thought about contacting Mr. T to ask, "Is it still not ready?", but since the real estate agent only introduced me, I didn't want to cause too much trouble, so I refrained from contacting them. Or rather, I don't even have the contact information for the renovation company.

I don't know when the second estimate will arrive, but Mr. T said he would contact the bank first and start the formal loan application process with the next rough estimate that comes in.

As someone who wants to move as soon as possible, this is very much appreciated. The bank I'm proceeding with is a regional bank whose name I know, and honestly, starting from that blacklist issue, they are such a great bank... my impression of them has skyrocketed.

While waiting for the estimate, next I'm going to write about tidying up my current room and things I'm letting go of😌

Afterword

Thank you as always for the likes and follows.
Until now, I have been borrowing the header images from noouchi.
Thank you for the lovely illustrations (*'▽')

Due to my line of work, I often use Photoshop and Canva, but since I started with the goal of continuing to write articles, I thought I would make the images later.

Today, I happened to look at Canva, and when I searched for "note header image," tons of stylish templates came up.

I'm planning to keep a record of my current home from now on, so I thought I'd try posting photos and decided to create a header image!

That said, all I did was put a photo into a template I liked, apply a filter, change the text, adjust the size, and change the background color to one I like.

It's super easy. So, if I have time, I think I'll try adding header images as well.

Once you've made one, you just have to change the text, photo, and color♪

I'm sure many of you are already using Canva, but since you can create things for free, I'll leave the link here↓