Sell or Stay Put

A question many people often face is whether they sell their current home and purchase elsewhere or rather stay put and renovate. Here we examine the reasons why you may face this situation.

People sell and move house for a number of reasons.

Ø  They want a new home

Ø  They want a luxurious home

Ø  They want all the latest technology in their home

Ø  Their home is too small or too big

Ø  Their family and friends live far away

Ø  They have a new job in another city

There are other reasons too but let’s look at the pros and cons of selling, buying elsewhere versus not selling, staying put and renovating your current home.

1- Cost

Cost is an important factor. Selling and buying property is expensive. Ask anyone who has received a stamp duty or other government charges bill lately. We can be talking many thousands of dollars here. By staying put those expensive – sometimes very expensive – bills don’t exist.

2- Risk

Buying a new home can be risky if the property you want goes to auction and someone else wants to buy the property you want. If you’re really keen, you may have to spend more than you can afford or want to pay. Fierce competition in an auction brings real pressure. Will the other bidder drop out if you go that little higher? Staying put means no such pressure or charges exist.

3- Friends & neighbours

Buying another house may well mean you have to leave your neighbourhood. If you’ve lived in the area for many years, your friends, neighbours, sporting and social contacts, your shopping precincts may all be lost. Staying put means all your contacts are just where they’ve always been. You’ve got all things you like or love where they’ve been for years.

Why renovate?

Quite simply, you should seriously consider renovating your current home for several reasons.

Ø  It can be far cheaper

Ø  You can get the things you want

Ø  Building time and disruption can be limited

Ø  The value of your home will increase

Ø  You are in the driving seat

Buying another home or building one from scratch takes time and costs far more than renovating what you already have. Cost is important to most of us and if you want to spend less and still gain what you need, renovation is a much better looking proposition.

So what exactly do you want? More space for a growing family? More space for storage or developing a hobby at your place? Taking in older family members so you can keep an eye on them? Whatever your need or needs, there are ways to achieve your aim with far less expense. Renovation can provide exactly what you want.

Professional builders understand the needs of a busy family. In many cases, renovation can be carried out without the need for you to move. It will mean a little bit of inconvenience. You will need to juggle various living arrangements for a while but you are still living in your own home and still sleeping in your own bed.

Your home in its present condition will be valued at X dollars. Once the renovation of your property is complete, the same valuer will give your property a higher, possibly a much higher dollar value. Renovation almost always increases the value of your property. If for instance you add another bedroom, immediately your property if offered for sale attracts a new and larger buying pool. Why? Because there are some people will only look at a property if it has a minimum number of bedrooms. With your renovation, your property is now in their sights.

If you’re buying another home and it’s sold by auction, you are in a competition. You can’t control who will bid or how much. When you renovate your own home, you are in the driving seat. You can choose the builder and the design. You can choose the price you want to pay. You are in charge.

What do you want?

If more space, more comfort, more mod cons, and then renovation can provide all of these things and more. Sure you can sell your current and buy a new one but at what cost? Everything you want or need can be brought to you.

Here is a simple way to help understand the situation. Make a list of all the things you would like in your home which you don’t already have. Now show that list to a professional builder, show the list to several professional builders, people with experience in renovating homes. Chances are every item on your list can be created by renovating your current place.

Now that being the case, the obvious question needs to be asked. Why go through the cost, the hassle, the delay and the other problems of finding and buying a new home and selling your current one, when you can get all you want by staying in your present home and having it renovated to meet your needs and wishes.

Are you renting?

Here’s a problem for people who don’t own property but would like to do so. Do you buy the home of your dreams with everything you have ever wanted, or do you buy a cheaper property and renovate thus giving you what is required?

Every case is unique but if you do some investigating, you may well find it is cheaper, possibly far cheaper, to buy a property which is not perfect and have it renovated, than to buy the home of your dreams for a much higher price.

I mean if you find a house you really like in the area you want and for a good price but which needs another bedroom or a garage or a granny flat, you could save a bundle by buying that house and having the necessary renovations to make it perfect.

It’s a simple situation. Do the sums. List what you need and get some quotes for the renovation. In the end, staying put stacks up very nicely indeed.