Renovate and expand, buy and update or buy land and build?

Phil Raices

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You’ve been in your current home for longer than you anticipated.  Your family is growing and you need more space and potentially more tax deductions to reduce your taxable income.

You need to decide whether to expand the footprint of your home and increase the living space, find another home to renovate or buy a piece of land to build a new home.

Staying put and doing the necessary expansion and upgrade to increase the size of your home is possible, but at what cost?

Finding a piece of land in your local area just might be feasible if you reside in Suffolk County, but it is somewhat doubtful within Nassau County.

Lastly, finding a reasonably priced house in an area where prices are at their highest in history is not as desirable or simple as you might have thought.

So what do you do when the options are not as possible or probable as you had anticipated?  Also, considering the increased interest rates, do I have enough equity to take a second mortgage out to do the required renovation?

So you are in a stressful quandary as to what path to pursue.  Should you focus on expanding your current home?

You have to take into account that this could become a real major project and an inconvenience.  You will need to decide to either stay in one part of your home and seal the space to avoid the dust created while the other section is being renovated; or move out and rent another home at what cost until the work is completed.

You now have to ascertain how to engage and hire an interior designer, contractor and architect to redesign your home to suit your specific needs and wants, as your age in place.

Do I consider a recommendation from family and friends or search online for reviews of contractors to see how satisfied they are/were with their services?  Should you apply for all the permits and try to save money or instruct your contractor or architect to take on the job?  How involved do I want or need to be in the renovation and upgrade?

My daughter went through this project a while back and was almost 100% ensconced in her renovation and was hands-on from picking out the materials to the major redesign of her kitchen, bathrooms and owner’s suite and en suite bathroom w/washer and dryer.

Will you consider purchasing and installing solar panels to save money for the short and long term, reducing your carbon footprint and add a very valuable asset and benefit to your home?

Timewise, it took her over eight months to complete the job, and she waited almost 1.5 years for her commercial sub-zero refrigerator; this was when supply chain shortages were still occurring, and it was all about being patient in the waiting game of completing all the construction.

The end result was anything but a remarkable and spectacular renovation and a superb job that was well done.

As I have previously conveyed in past columns, our current housing inventory is at a historic 50-year low.

Competing to purchase another home is more challenging than just expanding and renovating your current home.  However, many would prefer not to take this path but would rather find another home to renovate or knock down to build new from scratch.

This consideration has to be carefully planned and fine-tuned throughout. The T’s have to be crossed and I’s dotted to ensure that your desirable plan comes to fruition and that you will be completely satisfied with the end result.

You may make changes along the way, so this must be a consideration and incorporated in the initial planning to make sure you have some flexibility within your project.

When using an architect in conjunction with your desired contractor, this must be a consideration and discussed before hand to incorporate the possibility of changes within your budget for your upgrade and renovation.

It’s rare for anyone to stay exactly within their initial budget.  However, the more you plan and price everything in advance, so you know the price of your materials and the most costly commodity, your labor, the better the opportunity to stay as close to your initial budget as possible.

As your project begins and progresses, changes can and will occur, but make sure you have the funds for some options. This will simplify those changes before actually implementing them.

You need to think outside the normal box and be cognizant of the changes that might be on your wish list and that you may want as your renovation proceeds.  Your decisions to renovate your current residence or buy another home will be predicated on your current income and not based on future income.

Stay grounded in what is affordable and realistic in your expectations. Don’t go overboard unless you have the money or cushion of available funds to do so.

Planning is crucial to achieving a successful and happy outcome that you will be ecstatic about and enjoy for years to come.

Building increased appreciation in your home by spending your money wisely and pragmatically will add to your family’s enjoyment, happiness and hopefully, future wealth for years to come.