Should I Stay or Should I Go? 6 Tips for Deciding Whether to Remodel Your Home or Move

Buying the house of your dreams is a great feeling, but over time, things change: families grow, kids go to college, avocado green kitchen appliances go out of fashion. At some point, the house of your dreams might become the house of your nightmares. When that happens, do you know how to make a decision between selling your home and finding a better fit, or remodeling to make your home a dream home again?

1. List your needs. What do you want to achieve by remodeling your home or moving? Maybe you want an updated kitchen, but love everything else about your house. Or perhaps your house is otherwise ideal, but you’d really like an extra bedroom. Try to think about the simplest solution to your issue – it’s easy for a small problem to seem larger because it affects you every day. One easy way to think about this is “do I need more space, or more spaces?” For example, an overcrowded bathroom might make the whole house feel cramped, when an additional bathroom might solve everything.

2. Ask yourself if moving or renovating will solve your problems. It’s easy to convince yourself there are issues with the house because you’ve caught the remodeling or moving bug. If your budget won’t allow you to move into a house with the extra bedroom you want, or if renovating your kitchen won’t let more light in, you may need to find an alternative solution.

3. Ask yourself if you have the time or patience to renovate. Even relatively minor renovations can take a substantial amount of time – think several months — and if the issue was unbearable to begin with, it’s worth asking if you have the patience to live through months of construction to fix it.

4. Compare your plan to the neighborhood. If you make the changes you want, will your house still match the surrounding houses? If you’re doing too much to change it, you might have a tough time selling because buyers don’t want to buy a house that stands out as the most expensive in the area.

5. Consider the market for both home sales and renovations. Right now, homes are selling relatively easily – it’s a seller’s market. That means that you won’t be waiting around for your house to sell, and you’ll probably get a fair price for it. On the other hand, remodels are relatively expensive and contractors are relatively busy. Remodels typically cost less than buying a home with exactly what you want, but when you weigh the time and stress involved, you may find the answer for you is moving.

6. Finally, consider your emotional attachment to your home and your connection to the neighborhood. If you choose to sell, you won’t be directly compensated for the memories you’ve made in a home, or for the change in school districts and how that affects your kids. You also can’t put a price tag on having minimal traffic on your street, a shorter commute to work, or easier access to shopping and entertainment. If your connection is outweighed by your needs, or by the amount a remodel would cost (either in time or dollars), a move might be your solution.

If you have any questions about whether it makes financial sense to remodel or sell your home, contact the Origin team. We’re always here to help.