Should You Move or Renovate?

Is your home bursting at the seams? Need more space for the kids, an aging relative, or a home office? Before making a decision, we recommend determining your overall budget and making a pros and cons list for both options. Make sure to consider these details while making your decision:

Reasons to Renovate

• Established life – You love your neighborhood, the local schools, your neighbors and your commute to work, but you want to update or expand your home.
• Good Bones – Your house has good bones but you want to modernize and customize your interior to best suit your family’s needs and wants.
• Customization – Customize your home to reflect your family’s style by renovating. You may want to add extra work areas and storage space, open up the kitchen to an adjacent living space, or create a better kitchen layout for cooking and entertaining. Our designers will work with you to create a space that meets your needs, while helping you to select finishes and materials that represent your individual tastes.
• Room to expand – If you believe your home has room to expand upwards or outwards, consult with a design-build expert to check your city’s latest zoning restrictions (height, distance to property line, yard dimensions, etc…) to ensure you have adequate space for an addition.
• Empty Nesters – Your children have grown and left the home and you are ready to update your home to fit your new lifestyle.  Consider hiring a Certified Aging-In-Place Specialist (CAPS) design-build firm to make your home accessible for the long term.
• Greener home –  Renovating your home to improve its energy and water efficiency can help you save on energy bills, increase personal comfort, and minimize your home’s impact on the environment.  Also, tax incentives and rebates are often available for these upgrades.
• Avoid stress and expense of moving – the inconveniences of having a house on the market and the expenses you might incur such as repairs, staging to sell, realtor fees, home inspections, movers and utility startup fees.
• Boost home value – if you plan to stay in your home for a few years, you may recoup a good percentage of your renovation costs.  Remodeling Magazine’s 2015 Cost Vs. Value report for Atlanta puts recoup rates at 67% for a major kitchen renovation (mid-range) or 59% for an upscale version, 64% for a mid-range bathroom remodel or 60% for an more upscale bath renovation, 69% for two-story additions (mid-range project), and 70% for basement remodels (mid-range project).

Reasons to Move

• Existing house does not have room to expand and you will gain more space by moving.
• You’d like a bigger yard or outdoor area.
• You want to move closer to family or friends.
• Relocating to a neighborhood with better schools, home values, commute and/or property taxes.
• Prefer not to live through a home renovation (noise, dust, etc…).
• Downsizing to a smaller home.
• When adding square footage, the existing HVAC, electrical, insulation, roofing, and foundation may be affected and can add up quickly.
• By remodeling you may price yourself out of your neighborhood and not get your investment back.

Before making the decision to move or remodel you should consult a lender, realtor, and remodeler as they might have creative solutions that can save you time and effort. Renovations can range in cost, depending on the affected parts of your home. However, multiple financing options are available for home improvements.

If you decide to renovate, do your homework and select a reputable remodeler carefully.  Renewal Design-Build is a full-service design-build firm.  Our team of designers and builders are with you from conceptual design to completed construction.  For more information about remodeling your home in Atlanta, contact us at Renewal Design-Build.