This is a question that many families find themselves having to answer at some point or another but there is no one-size-fits-all solution. The best answer for you and your family will depend on your personal circumstances as well as the type and location of the property in which you live. If you are having difficulties deciding between having one or more home additions built and simply packing up and moving to a bigger property, asking yourself the following questions may help you to make the right decision.
Home Additions or Moving Home: Which is the Best Solution for You?
Before you get in touch with local estate agents to find out what is available in your area, ask yourself the following questions. You should involve your family at this stage as well, to ensure that everybody is able to have their say.
- Is Extending Your Property a Practical Option? – If you do not have enough land on which to build out, you may still be able to add the space that you need by building up. However, if you are planning to build up rather than out, basement underpinning to reinforce your property’s foundations is probably something you will need to consider beforehand. If it turns out that both extending outwards and upwards are impractical solutions, a move to a new house may be the only option available to you and your family.
- How Much Value Will a New Addition Create? – If one or more of the home additions that you are considering will add almost as much value to your property as they will cost to build, then staying put and extending your existing home is definitely worth serious consideration. Moving home is a major undertaking, both in terms of personal finances and the disruption that it will inevitably cause to every family member’s life. If you can achieve the same objectives by staying where you are, at little or no real cost, then you will be able to avoid a lot of unnecessary upheaval.
- How Settled Are You? – Aside from practical building considerations such as whether basement underpinning could help to provide you with the extra living space that you need (either by enabling you to use the basement itself or by adding an extra storey to your home), you should consider what moving would mean to each member of the family. If you have children in school who are soon to take important exams or you are in a location that is particularly convenient for work, home additions may be more appealing than uprooting the entire family and moving to a new location. This will be especially true if the move will also necessitate moving your children to new schools.
If you would like to find out which home additions may be the most practical and cost effective for you and your family, please get in touch with Integrity at your convenience. We will be delighted to assist you in any way that we can.