Remodel the current home or move into a bigger place?
Are you feeing a little cramped? Has the size of your family changed – whether it be a new addition to the family or relatives moving in. If you are in need of more space, you have two fundamental options. The following contains a short list of suggested decision-making situations to help determine whether or not you should remodel, perhaps adding an addition, or sell your current home and move into a larger place.
Contemplate the benefits of remodeling
Obviously, remodeling and/or adding an addition is most often far less expensive than buying a new home — unless you only like to settle for the very best in upgrades. If you are reasonable, then a remodel may be the best idea if you need to add a little room or reconfigure what you already have to maximize the usable space. This is especially true if the budget for making changes to your home is tight and you enjoy the neighborhood where you live. Depending on the extent of the improvements, you may or may not need to find a backup plan for day-to-day living. It is certainly possible to remodel one room at a time or plan so that an addition is not going to preclude ordinary daily living through excessive inconvenience.
Consider the disadvantages of remodeling
Are you willing to put up with temporary noise, dust, inconvenience and commotion? If not, obviously undertaking a remodeling project is not something you will want to consider. Homeowners have differing tolerances for being inconvenienced, and you will have to decide your level of patience. Even if you feel as though you can put up with a temporary situation, it may not be your forte to have the wherewithal to find a reliable contractor that can be trusted to finish the job on time within budget. An additional deliberation should revolve about the calculated cost effectiveness of a remodeling job’s return on investment. Do the homework before you begin to make sure that the end result of all of your inconvenience, time and money will in fact literally be worth the cumulative expense. If the improvements are not going to “pencil out,” then the trouble you must undertake will assuredly not be worth it. Remember that the general rule of homeownership always rings true, if your home is far and away more expensive than any other in the neighborhood, you will no doubt have a difficult time trying to convince buyers of the legitimacy of an extraordinary asking sales price when you do decide to list – having few local comps for validation.
Contemplate the advantages of moving into a larger home
Certainly, it is possible to skip the remodeling process altogether and move into a larger home instead. Since you have already owned a home, you will undoubtedly make more informed decisions concerning a multitude of required necessities vs. unnecessary luxuries when deciding which new home will suit you best. Perhaps it is time to not only move into larger square footage, it may be additionally desirable to relocate to a different neighborhood. Circumstances change and with them the needs and wants of a growing family. Maybe, the children are ready for a different, highly-touted school, which happens to be near the new home you have fallen in love with. In this case, the decision to purchase a larger home in a different neighborhood is obvious. It should go without saying, that a remodel, no matter how dazzling, will not be able to alter the physical location of the original structure. And then, there is the comparative reality of temporary living out of boxes far outweighing the feeling that once you start remodeling there will always exist the perception of finding something else in the home that needs updating – and an accompanying amount of money to make it happen.
Consider the financial requirements of moving into a larger home
According to Zillow.com, the median home price in Solano county is $348,900. That equates to a monthly payment of approximately $1650 plus taxes and insurance. If a monthly total of nearly $2200 is more than you can comfortably handle, then of course it is best to stay put and consider remodeling instead. However, there is an obvious caveat. If you have plenty of equity in your home – check Zillow.com for an initial estimate of your home’s value – then the opposite may be true. If you are able to leverage what you have to cover the majority of the cost of a larger home – and can afford the extra needed – then moving just might be the best decision. Especially, when again, you are able to be selective about your next home, including layout, amenities, and location.