Remodel or Buy New: What’s the Best Option?

If you’re feeling like your home no longer meets your needs, you might be considering moving. For some people, this is an easy decision. But if you love your Los Angeles neighborhood, you might not be ready to pack up and leave. Remodeling your home may be the better option because you can get exactly what you want in the area you love. 

Let’s cover the pros and cons to remodeling vs. moving and how to pick the best solution for your needs. 

Moving to a New Home in Los Angeles 

Moving is exciting but stressful. Home prices are up, so while you might get more for your home, that also means you’ll have to pay more for a new mortgage. Here are some things to consider: 

Advantages 

  • New location. If you want a shorter commute to work or to be closer to the grandkids, moving is a huge perk. You can also upgrade your neighborhood or move out of L.A. to get more for your money.
  • No construction zone. If your home remodeling project involves your kitchen or bath, you’ll have to account for living in a construction zone. Obviously, you can skip over this by buying new. 
  • Get a turnkey home. Rather than working with contractors, you can move into a turnkey home that has the features you want. 

Disadvantages 

  • Limited inventory. Unless you build a custom home, you have to rely on the current inventory, which is low in many areas. You may still not get what you want by moving. 
  • Leave your neighbors. Good neighbors are hard to find! Moving takes you away from the people, places and things you’ve grown accustomed to. 
  • Costly and stressful. You need to time everything right, pay realtor commissions and closing fees and make other improvements to sell your home. 

Remodeling Your Los Angeles Home 

While home renovations are messy, they can give you exactly what you’re looking for without all the stress of moving. Let’s look at some pros and cons.

Advantages

  • Get what you want. Home remodeling gives you full control over everything. Share your vision with your Los Angeles contractors and watch it come to life! 
  • Use your home equity. If you have equity in your home, you can use this to pay for the renovation. This is cheaper and less hassle than taking out a new mortgage. 
  • Stay in your neighborhood. Remodeling lets you stay in the town you love, and you can avoid realtor commissions, moving costs and more. Put this money into your home instead!

Disadvantages 

  • Unexpected surprises. Home renovations often come with plenty of surprises, especially when you’re taking down walls, moving plumbing and adding gas lines. 
  • Stressful and time consuming. Remodeling requires you to be flexible and patient. You’ll have to live in a construction zone with noise, dust, people coming in and out, etc. 

If you’re on the fence about moving vs remodeling your home, schedule a consultation with Kavin Construction. This way, you can get an estimate and timeframe for your project and compare this to what you would go through by moving. Everything we do is tailored to your exact specifications!