Deciding whether to remodel or sell your home is a dilemma faced by many homeowners. Art Stinson, our fearless leader and home remodeling guru, offers the following quick tips and advice to help you get to the heart of the matter. We hope you find them enlightening.
Art’s advice for making the right decision – should you remodel or sell?
1. Do you like your location, your neighbors, your yard? The shopping? The schools? The commute? If these are problems, realize they will not go away no matter how much work you do to your home.
2. What is your house worth and what would it be worth after the project? Get a real estate agent involved early on to assess the impact of a project on your home’s value. Then if you do decide to sell, you will already know a good resource.
3. How long are you planning to live there? If five years or more, remodeling lets you benefit from living in a space tailored exactly to your lifestyle while simultaneously increasing your home’s value. If only a year or two, don’t bother. Let the new owners do the work.
4. How does your home measure up to those around you? The most worthwhile investment is a remodeling project that brings your home up to the level of your neighbors’ or to no more than 20% above the median sale price for your neighborhood.
5. Have you weighed the cost of moving against the cost of remodeling? You will spend 8% to 10% of your home’s sale price on fees and moving-related expenses. The cost of updating a kitchen or bath may actually be more affordable.
With today’s slow housing market, who wants to sell when it isn’t financially advantageous? At the same time, if you plan to move within five years after the remodel is complete, then selling may be your best option. If you’re still not sure, feel free to give us a call and we’ll be glad to talk over the possibilities together.
