Remodel or Move? | We Buy Austin Houses

Remodel or MoveShould you remodel your home or just move out of it? Finances and feelings both play a big part in that tough decision. Here are a few important questions you should ask yourself if you’re thinking about either remodeling your home or moving away from it.

How Much Will It Cost?

Cost is usually the biggest factor in deciding whether to renovate or move. You might want to sit down with a pen and paper for this one. For a renovation, you need to consider a lot:

  • How much will the actual renovation cost? This includes both the raw cost of materials and the labor. You should get a quote from a few renovation companies to get a good baseline and make sure that each quote includes everything you want to change in your home. 
  • What about your living situation? Often, when you renovate, you need to live somewhere else for a while. You need to factor this into the total cost of renovation, especially if you’ll be staying in a hotel.

Once you understand the cost of a remodeling, you can take a look at how much buying and selling your home might cost you.

How Much Can You Make from Selling?

An appraisal of your home can tell you how much you could sell it for. From there, you need to look at the homes that have everything you want. Consider this scenario:

  • You have a three-bedroom home and want a four-bedroom.
  • It would cost $80,000 to add a bedroom on top of your garage.
  • Your home is valued at $400,000, and you could purchase a four-bedroom at $450,000.

In this scenario, it costs far less to sell your home and buy a home that has what you need — realtors fees notwithstanding. (Selling to a cash buyer cuts down on fees substantially.)

How Much Time Will It Take?

Some renovations can take days. Others take months. Some homeowners have even found themselves waiting over a year for their renovations to be complete. Comparatively, selling a home can take as long as you want it to (with a cash buyer, it happens within days), and buying a property can take anywhere from 30 to 60 days. If the remodel would take months upon months, it may be less disruptive to just move.

Will You Be Happy?

At the end of the day, a home is about what makes you happiest. Will your renovations actually improve your home to the point that you don’t just like it, but love it? Or are there things that you already can’t change about the property, such as its location, that will still be disappointing to you? If you think that the renovations would be more cost effective and that they would make your home exactly what you want it to be, renovations make more sense. But if you feel as though it would be a lot of money and you still wouldn’t be fully happy, consider selling the property instead.

Many people are hesitant to sell because they feel their property won’t sell until they renovate. But with a cash home buyer, that’s not true. Cash buyers will buy properties that are outdated, ugly, or otherwise distressed, and you don’t need to put another dime into renovating or repairing it.

If you’ve decided against remodeling, and are ready to move on, you don’t need to be worried about the condition your current property is in. Contact We Buy Austin Houses online or call us today at (512) 598-9341. We’ll let you know exactly how much money we can offer for your current house, so you can be on your way to the home of your dreams.