Should You Live With It Or Remodel?
As your family grows or shrinks, or your taste in housing and neighborhood changes, you may find yourself asking this question more than once. The answer has little to do with the going mortgage rates, housing prices or remodeling costs. If that were the case, most people would stay in their first home and never move. Rather, it has to do with your personal preferences and the changes in those preferences.

The best housing investment is a home you can live with happily for a long time. Whether that’s the house you’re in right now or the one you move to, it depends on three things: your priorities, the house and the neighborhood.

Before doing anything, look at your other priorities. What will the expense of a move or remodeling do to your lifestyle? Will it prevent you from saving for your children’s educations or your own retirement the way that you’d like? Will the quality of your housing go up at the expense of the quality of your vacations or time spent at home? Here’s help in weighing your alternatives.

Live With It?
If your home is feeling a bit tight, but one of your kids will soon be off to college, consider riding out the discomfort. If you like your house and the neighborhood, it’s worth your time to get the results you’re after for a fraction of the moving costs without disruption. Sometimes all that is needed is a little creativity. If you need more storage space, see if closet organizers or a garden shed will help.

 

 A dated kitchen may only need a clever paint treatment to spruce it up.

Remodel It?
If you love your neighborhood, then smart remodeling may be the way to go.  Remember, I may be able to help you tap into your house’s equity to finance just about any project, so call me for a free evaluation.  To help you decide whether you should remodel or move, here are a couple of tests.

Test One
If your neighborhood shows signs of good health, such as homes selling quickly and prices rising steadily, then you’re already living in a desirable neighborhood. 

Test Two
Check to make sure that any remodeling projects and upgrades to your house fall within the norm for the neighborhood.  This works especially well if you’re the smallest and least expensive house on the street.  You can bring your property up to par with the neighbors, and its value will rise to match theirs.  However, if you’re the biggest and the highest price on the street, then improvements may hurt the amount of money that you could recoup of the cost of the improvements.  The best way to find out is to talk to your realtor or to me.  We can tell you whether your planned improvements will truly increase the value of your home or not. 

Remember that you’re buying the neighborhood as well as the house, so be sure to evaluate the surrounding area as well.  And as always, don’t forget that I’m here to help you should you choose to move or spruce up with remodeling.