Renovation vs Relocation: Is It Better To Move Or Improve?
When you’ve spent some time in a house, even one you dearly love, it’s easy for any of us to develop a sense of wanderlust, looking for something new. For some people this can translate to looking for a new house somewhere else, but this is not a decision to be taken lightly. As statistics often show, and as anyone who has done it recently knows for themselves, moving house can be among the most stressful periods in a person’s life.
The alternative to moving on is, of course, making changes to your existing home. This has the natural advantage of not requiring you to pack up your whole life and drag it to another place. The question is, will it be enough? In the end, only you can answer that for yourself. However, below we’ll look at some of the points that can be made in favour of moving, and counterpoints that make the case for staying put and improving.
You should move: because you can pick the perfect house
When it comes to renovating and remodelling a house, it’s fine to have a vision for what you want it to become – but you are going to find that the existing shape of the house and the surrounding land place limits on the project. While nearly nobody ever moves into a new house and leaves it exactly as it is, by testing the market you can find a home that fits your ideas seamlessly – with the right number of rooms, more land in which to develop, and other advantages.
You should improve: because the market is stagnant
If you live in the UK, it’s hard to make long-range predictions at present, but one thing we do know is that as of the end of 2019, the housing market isn’t seeing a lot of movement. That makes a house move tricky for two reasons: firstly, if you need to sell your home before closing on a new one, you may have a wait on your hands; and secondly, you may find that your search for a new property doesn’t deliver the results you’d have hoped.
You should move: because you’re losing time commuting
The location of a house is, for many people, every bit as important as what is inside it. One only has to listen to the statistics on commuting, with the average Briton now spending 18 hours more per year travelling to work than the same worker just over a decade ago. If you add a school run into this, then we’re losing more time than ever just getting where we need to be. Finding a new home closer to jobs and schools can really boost your quality of life.
You should improve: because there’s so much you can do in your present home
With the right renovation, an old house can feel like new. Just from the addition of house extensions such as a conservatory or another floor, the changes you can make in your existing home are considerable. Considering how long you can spend looking for a new place to live, it’s worth thinking how much you could do if you put all of that time into figuring what you could do with the place you live right now.
Everyone will have a different answer to the “Move or Improve” question. What side of the fence do you come down on?
