At YourRemodelingCoach.com, we believe every successful home remodel starts with FACT: Faith, Action, Change, Triumph. This little acronym packs a big punch and can help you navigate the decision of whether to stay and remodel or pack it all up and move.
Torn Between Staying or Moving?
Have you ever looked around your home and wondered, “Should we stay and make it better, or start fresh somewhere else?” This can be a tough call. There’s a lot to consider:
- Reasons to Stay and Remodel: Do you love your neighborhood, the proximity to work or school, and the memories you’ve built in your home?
- Reasons to Move: Are there limitations your current home can’t overcome, like space or location challenges?
Deciding what’s best for you and your family starts with careful thought and planning. That’s where the FACT formula comes in.
The FACT Formula
(Faith, Action, Change, Triumph)
Faith: Trust in Your Vision
Deciding to remodel requires faith—faith in your vision for your dream home and in your ability to bring it to life. Start by imagining how your ideal home would look and function. What changes will make it a better fit for your lifestyle?
My husband convinced me to take on our latest, a fixer-upper that needed a lot of love. At first, I was hesitant, but after 40+ years of being married, I went out on a leap of FAITH. Together, we transformed what seemed impossible into something we’re proud of..
Action: Start the Process
Okay, you’ve decided to stay! Now comes the action part—This includes setting a budget, creating a plan, and assembling the right team to bring your vision to life. Action is what turns dreams into reality.
Steps to Get Started:
- Create a vision board or outline your priorities.
- Set a realistic budget (leave room for surprises!).
- Begin researching and hiring reliable contractors.
When we moved into our fixer-upper, I had to learn how to stay calm during the process. Moving to a new environment and taking on a major project tested my patience, but each step forward felt like a small victory. It was our most challenging project in our 40+ years of marriage. If a normal person saw what we were moving into, it follows the definition of a “Money Pit.”
I was a city girl all my life, now moving a little ways out and what was at that time considered the country. It was a culture shock. I had to remind myself that loose cows running through my yard were “charming,” not terrifying. Going into town and get stuck behind a combine harvester. Moving to the country and tackling a “fixer-upper” wasn’t just an action; it was a workout—mentally, emotionally, and physically.
I learned to:
- Pause when overwhelmed.
- Take a deep breath (or three).
- Remind myself that loose cows running through my yard were “charming,” not terrifying. It is okay to get behind a combine harvester, take life slower.
Change: Embrace the Transformation
Change can be challenging, but it’s also exciting. It’s messy, noisy, and somehow always involves sawdust in places it shouldn’t be. But each step brings you closer to your goal.
We have been in our fixer upper for 10 years. Change has been huge. When we first moved in, we were recovering from a financial and personal setback. We were on a very tight budget with a lot of know-how. There were times that the change was very difficult. Our dreams exceeded our budget in the first few years after we moved here.
Change in this fixer upper has really increased our focus. We learned to trust our inner wisdom, validate ourselves
Triumph: Celebrate the Results
Triumph is the reward for all your hard work. It’s the joy of walking into your newly remodeled space and feeling it finally aligns with your vision and needs
For my husband and I, it was each small project completed to meet our needs, then as the budget permitted, expanding our scope of work to fit our current style and needs. We started out with a little red brick house. In much need of some TLC. Roof definitely needed replacing. The sidewalk was paver stones and was dangerous to walk on. The front porch posts holding up the front porch were in sad shape. There were two posts in one of the locations.
We replaced the roof, the insurance company pushed that date up when they would not renew our home owners insurance unless we replaced the roof. We replaced the rotted out posts holding the porch with a much more sturdy ones. A new railing on the front porch. At that time we had it in the budget to add a wood sidewalk.
Five years ago we added 800 square feet, a primary suite, that included bedroom, sitting room, big bathroom and my “glam closet.” It has been a welcome expansion to our little 1180 square foot original home.
It took a lot of Faith from the original fixer upper to the Action making our fixer up to be safe and livable, Change as we added the addition to our home, to Triumph as we enjoy it.
Remember every nail hammered, and every decision you make gets you closer to your Triumph
Keep your FACTs in mind and let’s make your remodeling dreams a reality.
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