The start of the new year is a common time for people to re-evaluate their homes and consider whether to sell it for a newer, better model or to renovate their existing build.
When faced with such a decision, there are a number of factors you need to consider in order to be sure you are making the right choice with your money. Below, we’ve listed a few points you should definitely be weighing up when deciding whether to move house or to renovate.
1. Consider Your Budget
Both moving home and renovating can be a costly expense, but each option will be even more costly if you haven’t carefully considered your finances.
Think about what you would ideally like to change about your current home – is it possible? Will those renovations add considerable value to your home? If you fear you may end up spending more on renovating your current home only to make it as good as a new home you could move to, then it may not be the wisest investment.
2. Location
For many homeowners, location is a key priority when buying a new home. Even if your home isn’t perfect right now, it may be in a perfect location – and finding a house in ideal locations is rare.
A home in a great location will often have some of the following benefits:
- Good transport links
- Close to family/friends
- Conveniently located regarding shops, doctors, dentists etc
- In a good school catchment area (very important for families!)
If you can’t find a new home that’s in as good as a location you are currently living in, you may want to consider renovating what you have. Likewise, if your location is not ideal, that fact won’t change no matter how many renovations you do, so you may want to consider selling and moving to a location that better fits your requirements.
3. Dream Features
One of the most important things to consider when deciding between moving house or renovating is what your ‘dream home’ would look like, and whether accommodating those changes would be possible.
For example, would you need to apply for planning permission to extend your home or make structural changes in order for it to be right for you? Or would little more than a lick of paint and an update of key features be all that’s really needed?
The number of renovations your current home would require to become your dream home can differ largely in costs, so determining what you would want to be done – and if it’s possible – is a key step in making your decision.
4. Sentimentality
Finally, something you may want to consider is how attached you are to your home, your neighbours, and the area around your house. How much sentimentality you attach to the house you currently live in can be a big influencing factor on whether you sell or renovate.
Benefits to Renovating
There are a number of benefits to renovating your home over moving, the most obvious being:
- Renovations often end up costing less than the cost of moving home.
- You can customise your home almost entirely as much as you like – if you are granted planning permission, this gives you a lot of freedom with the land you own.
- Renovating means you get to stay in your local area with the same neighbours, location etc, which can avoid a lot of stress for many people.
Benefits to Moving
Likewise, there are also benefits to moving home that cannot be achieved with renovating. These include:
- You can invest in a newer build
- There is less to organise if you use the services of an estate agent
- You can buy your ‘dream home’ almost ready built rather than waiting much longer to change your current home.
Moving home can be an extremely stressful time for any homeowner, so carefully deciding whether this is really the right choice for you before starting the process is essential. In any case, improving your current home is a good idea if you want to sell it for a higher value – take a look at our tips on staging your home for some inspiration on easy improvements you could make now.