The Best Larger Home Might Be the One You Already Own
Scott P. Rogers
You love your home, your neighborhood and your neighbors. You love that you can get to work, school and the grocery store without much thought.
But... you need a bit more space.
So you start thinking about an addition. Maybe a larger family room, a primary suite, or an extra bedroom or two. You get some estimates, and it looks like it will cost about $100K.
Then, when we're talking about how much it will impact your home's value... we conclude that it will likely only add about $50K if you were to then sell your expanded home.
This difference in the cost and the returned value might make you second guess the whole idea of expanding your home. Why would you spend $100K to only get $50K of value?
A Less Than 100% Return Can Still Make Sense
It's easy to think every home improvement should pay for itself. But while many don't, that doesn't automatically make it a bad decision to move forward with the improvement.
If you love your home and your location, it might make sense to expand it even with a less than (even significantly less than) 100% return.
What's the Alternative?
Presumably, the alternative would be to sell your home and buy a larger one. But that comes with its own costs... the cost of selling your current home, the cost of buying the next one, the cost of moving, and the cost of any updates or changes you want to make to your new home.
Add all of that up, and you might find that you would spend that same $50K (or more) that you "lost" by adding on to your current home. Plus, you'd be giving up a home and a location you already love.
The Best Larger Home Might Be the One You Already Own
This won't be the right answer for everyone -- as sometimes a lot doesn't have enough room for an addition, or the existing layout makes it tricky, or a move makes more sense for other reasons.
But with some frequency... the best larger home to buy is the home you already own, expanded to be larger.
If you're weighing whether to add on or move up, I'm happy to talk through what an addition might do to your home's value and what a move might cost you.
But... you need a bit more space.
So you start thinking about an addition. Maybe a larger family room, a primary suite, or an extra bedroom or two. You get some estimates, and it looks like it will cost about $100K.
Then, when we're talking about how much it will impact your home's value... we conclude that it will likely only add about $50K if you were to then sell your expanded home.
This difference in the cost and the returned value might make you second guess the whole idea of expanding your home. Why would you spend $100K to only get $50K of value?
A Less Than 100% Return Can Still Make Sense
It's easy to think every home improvement should pay for itself. But while many don't, that doesn't automatically make it a bad decision to move forward with the improvement.
If you love your home and your location, it might make sense to expand it even with a less than (even significantly less than) 100% return.
What's the Alternative?
Presumably, the alternative would be to sell your home and buy a larger one. But that comes with its own costs... the cost of selling your current home, the cost of buying the next one, the cost of moving, and the cost of any updates or changes you want to make to your new home.
Add all of that up, and you might find that you would spend that same $50K (or more) that you "lost" by adding on to your current home. Plus, you'd be giving up a home and a location you already love.
The Best Larger Home Might Be the One You Already Own
This won't be the right answer for everyone -- as sometimes a lot doesn't have enough room for an addition, or the existing layout makes it tricky, or a move makes more sense for other reasons.
But with some frequency... the best larger home to buy is the home you already own, expanded to be larger.
If you're weighing whether to add on or move up, I'm happy to talk through what an addition might do to your home's value and what a move might cost you.
