Should You Move or Remodel?
The decision between moving and remodeling isn’t always clear, especially if you have an emotional attachment to your home you’re otherwise happy with your neighborhood and school district. If you’re running out of space, however, you may need to renovate one or more rooms in the home or buy a new house. To help you decide between moving and remodeling, start by asking yourself the questions in the sections below.
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Is It a Good Time to Sell Your Home?
When deciding between moving and remodeling, the first thing you need to consider is whether it’s a good time to sell your existing home. Typically, this depends on your financial situation, the local housing market, and whether you’re willing and able to get your home ready to sell. Before listing your house, you may need to make a few improvements and repairs, boost curb appeal, and clean and declutter the home from top to bottom. If you can’t sell your house for as much as you’d like, or you’re not up for the task of getting your home ready to sell, remodeling could very well be a better choice for you.
Can Your Family Survive an Extensive Renovation?
Extensive home renovations can take several weeks or months to complete depending on the rooms you wish to update and the types of upgrades you plan to make. As such, you’ll need to make sure your household is prepared for the long-term commitment of renovating a home. Adding a room, for instance, could take anywhere from six to 16 weeks to complete, whereas kitchen renovations typically range between three and 12 weeks.
Paying for a renovation can be simplified by using your home’s equity for funding. Home equity is calculated by subtracting the amount you owe on your mortgage from the current market value of your home; this determines how much of a home equity loan you can get. Whether you take out a fixed-rate home equity loan or a home equity line of credit, understand that you won’t be able to sell your home until the loan is paid off.
If you’re up for remodeling your home, keep these tips from Better Homes and Gardens in mind as you prepare for the renovation:
- Interview several contractors and get multiple bids before making a decision.
- If you plan on remodeling the kitchen, renovate this room before anything else.
- Plan for delays and additional expenses along the way.
Would a Renovation Over-Improve Your Home?
According to experts at Bankrate, spending too much money on extensive home additions, upgrades and renovations could result in over-improving, particularly if your main reason for remodeling is to increase the selling price of your house. Unless you’re making higher return on investment (ROI) upgrades and plan on staying in your newly renovated home for more than five years, it’s probably best to hold off on remodeling. However, over-improving isn’t as much an issue if you’re remodeling your home for your family’s benefit and plan on staying in the house for the long term.
Certain changes can make your home more comfortable and even enhance the overall look. For example, switching from carpet to engineered hardwood flooring can be a sustainable way to beautify your home. Or maybe you opt for something a little less intense like having windows repaired or replaced to keep your home more energy efficient.
In most cases, the decision to move or remodel depends on whether you’re hoping to boost the selling price of your home, move within the next three to five years, or stay in your newly remodeled home for years to come. Other factors like your neighborhood, school district, and yard size will also come into play, as these things can only be changed by moving into a new house. If you’re struggling to pay your mortgage each month or you’re simply not happy living where you are, this could be another reason to move instead of remodeling your current home.