Should You Remodel Your Current Home or Move?

In my time as a real estate broker, I’ve come across many clients who have had a hard time deciding between remodeling their current home to fit their needs, or to move to a different home. I encourage my clients to first step back and evaluate their future needs for the home.

This is also important to consider when purchasing real estate- you are adding to your long-term real estate portfolio. How long do you want to be in this home? What are your plans for the future? Depending on your answers to these questions and your needs, you may not be able to achieve your goals by remodeling your current space and you may need to find a new home.

Short Term

Are you planning on moving in a few years? It’s better to choose to live in a neighborhood that will appreciate quickly. Your remodel will look different as well! If you know that you’re moving and don’t want to invest too much time or money in your home, making smaller, more cosmetic upgrades like replacing your garage door or improving your landscaping can help increase the sale.

Long Term

You should remodel differently if you plan to stay in your home for a long time.

While many homeowners first think about cosmetic upgrades to bathrooms or kitchens, these projects do little to increase the value of your home. These major remodels require a lot of time, money, and patience, and they don’t have the best return on investment.

Bigger homes command higher prices. Adding square footage usually results in the best value, especially in hot housing market areas where there’s a high price per square foot. Buyers crave more space- larger bathrooms, attic bedrooms, sunrooms, finished basements, and rooms dedicated to their hobbies. In luxury markets, buyers look for yoga rooms, wine cellars, and home theaters.

The longer that you stay in your home, the more likely you are to recoup the costs, plus you’ll get to enjoy your renovations for years!

I was in the same circumstance having to decide if I needed to upgrade my house for more square footage or improve the home with updates to get a few more years of use out of it. It was a difficult decision. I loved the home and the location. The house was cute and charming with great curb appeal. I had a contractor come into the home to bid out the work that needed to be done; update with electrical, plumping. I investigated with a space designer to see if a bathroom could be added. It was a long process and cost me about $1,500 to get the answers that I needed. It turned out that it would be have been a cost roughly $90,000 to get the home to the place that I needed to grow my family in. For me, the costs outweighed all the positives that I loved about my home. It was time to upgrade. I sold the house, with no improvements, at an increase. I then purchased a larger, newer home, that I enjoyed for 5 years. When it was time to move from my larger home, I did the same exercise and analysis, but it was easier since my motivation for moving was different and the conditions of the market were different. 

It’s important to remember that when it comes to your home, remodeling could be a great option for you. Please don’t hesitate to contact me and I can put you in touch with a great contractor who can help determine the cost of making your home work for you!