Should You Remodel or Buy New?
1. Moving Cost
Moving involves both monetary cost and time cost as someone will have to relocate all of your belongings, not to mention paying for packing services. If you choose to pack everything yourself it can take weeks or months to pack and purge so that you are ready to go through with your move.
2. Closing Costs & Transfer Taxes
Closing costs and Transfer taxes
When considering the idea of doing a major renovation – let’s say $200,000-300,000, people may sometimes consider the alternatives. What are the options of moving to a house that is already up-to-date? This is not a one to one ratio as some people forget if you move to a house that is $300,000 more expensive than your existing house, even if it is down the street and the property value is on par with where you are now, you will still need to pay land transfer tax and closing costs, which are not a factor if you renovate your own home.
3. You like the Area
You’ve lived in this house for five years already but it just isn’t cutting it anymore. If you like the area, can you afford to buy another house in your area with the existing property value? The housing market can fluctuate and in some cases when you’re ready to sell the market may not be in your favour.
4. You work Nearby
Maybe you work nearby, would you accept a longer commute than you currently have? The extra transportation time adds to your yearly spending.
5. You may have to renovate a New Place anyway
Something we always forget is the new house we might buy may also need renovations. Maybe you just like the feeling of being somewhere new or buying something new, it’s like that new car smell (and that’s a different story) but you still have to consider the cost of renovating the new place when you get there. Any additional out-of-pocket expenses you will have for potentially carrying two homes during that time.
6. Customizations
Maybe you were looking to buy a new house or someone else’s renovation. Does it come with all the customizations, conveniences and storage that you want or will you have to renovate any when you get there? It may have just been worth it to renovate your own home in the customizations you’re looking for.
7. New Mortgage
Can you get a new mortgage or do you want one right now? Maybe you have money in the bank but are not currently bringing in an “income” which might make it harder to acquire a new mortgage. Also maybe at this time you are not looking forward to starting again for another 25 years of a mortgage.
8. School nearby
Do you have kids or are looking to have kids? This means you may want to be in a good school zone. Maybe you are already in a good school zone or you already have kids that are in school. Do you really want to pull them out of school at this time to move?
9. Life Disruption
With all these things like packing, moving, relocating, unpacking and potentially renovating the new place, these amount to a lot of potential life distractions. Recently I’ve been looking to get into a house myself and based on what I’m looking for, it is not something that has been a quick process. I’m spending a lot of time researching the areas I’d like to live in, property values in different areas, property taxes and expenses, and the list go on. It is time-consuming.
10. Unknown Problems or Quirks with the new Property
No one intentionally hides problems or issues when selling their house, these all must be disclosed. The buyer thinks he is getting a good price for what he is buying and the seller thinks they are getting a good price for what they are selling. What happens when you start noticing things or just a quirk of this property? Bad drainage, leaky basement, cracking plaster are very common. Maybe you’ll have to renovate even though you thought it wasn’t needed. Maybe there will be a ghost that haunts the bathroom. During the day it won’t be a big deal but in the middle of the night that can be some scary stuff. lol, I’m just joking but what if you just can’t live with the existing situation there and decide to renovate then what? You have already invested your “renovation money“ on upgrading with your moving expenses, closing costs, transfer taxes and of course, when you move to a new house you need new furniture. This is a real scenario I see happen periodically when a client buys a new house. It feels amazing, like buying that new car. That new car smells and everything seems to work as well as the cupholder isn’t sticky, what could be better? Sometimes if you just give that car or property in this case a good detailing and some love, it can seem new again and it doesn’t hurt to throw in an awesome kitchen either!
This list does not contain all the reasons renovations can be better than moving, but in some cases, after reading this list you may even decide moving is a better option.
Either way, you work hard and you should come home to a place that feels like home. You Deserve a Home Renovation with an Intelligent Design!