The 30% rule is a general guideline that says you shouldn't spend more than 30% of your home's current market value on a single renovation project if you want to protect resale return. In Georgetown, where home values have climbed steadily, that number carries real weight. A home valued at $450,000 means you'd want to keep a kitchen or primary suite renovation under roughly $135,000 to avoid over-improving for the neighborhood. It's not a hard law, but it's a useful gut-check before you commit to a scope. We'll tell you honestly if a project is likely to pencil out for your specific street and home size.

It depends entirely on what you mean by renovate. A full gut-and-rebuild of a 2,500 square foot home in Georgetown will run well beyond $100,000. But $100,000 is a real, workable budget for a high-quality kitchen remodel, a primary bathroom plus a secondary bathroom, or a significant addition to a single room like a master suite. If you spread that same budget across every room in the house, you'll get surface-level updates and not much more. Our recommendation: pick the two or three spaces that affect your daily life most, do them properly, and your money goes much further.

Kitchens and primary bathrooms consistently carry the highest price tags per square foot of any room in the house. In the Georgetown area, a full kitchen renovation with new cabinets, countertops, appliances, and layout changes typically runs $40,000 to $100,000 or more depending on size and finishes. Primary bathrooms with tile work, a freestanding tub, custom shower, and new fixtures commonly land in the $25,000 to $60,000 range. Structural work, like moving load-bearing walls or adding square footage, adds cost on top of those numbers because it requires engineering and permits through Williamson County.

Most reputable remodeling contractors in Central Texas don't quote residential renovation projects by the hour. They price by project scope. Hourly billing is more common for small handyman repairs. For a design-build remodel, you'll receive a fixed contract price that covers labor, materials, subcontractors, and project management. General contractors in the Georgetown market typically mark up subcontractor and material costs, and that overhead is built into your contract total. If a contractor is quoting you purely time and materials on a large renovation, get a not-to-exceed cap in writing or your final number will be unpredictable.

Yes, for most structural, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical work. Georgetown operates under the City of Georgetown's Building and Development Services department, and Williamson County handles permits for properties in unincorporated areas. Cosmetic updates like painting, flooring, or cabinet replacement typically don't require permits. But adding square footage, moving walls, updating your electrical panel, relocating plumbing, or building a deck all require a permit and inspection. We pull permits on every job that requires one. Skipping permits to save time can create serious problems when you sell the home.

A bathroom remodel typically runs four to eight weeks once work begins. A kitchen remodel runs six to twelve weeks, with cabinet lead times being the most common source of delay in the current market. A larger whole-home renovation or addition can run four to nine months depending on scope and complexity. Georgetown's permit review timelines and any HOA approval requirements, which are common in communities like Georgetown Village or Wolf Ranch, can add two to six weeks to the pre-construction phase. We build those timelines into your project schedule from the start so you're not caught off guard.

Check that the contractor holds an active Texas residential contractor registration, carries general liability insurance, and can provide certificates on request. Ask for references from completed projects in Georgetown or Williamson County specifically, not just general testimonials. Get at least two itemized bids and compare scope line by line, not just the bottom number. A low bid that leaves out permit fees, site cleanup, or specific finish allowances will cost you more in the end. Finally, make sure you have a written contract that defines the scope, payment schedule, change order process, and what happens if there are unforeseen conditions behind the walls.