Happy New Year to the WCI crowd! I am extremely thankful for the thoughtful guidance and opinions of the WCI forum. With your help, my wife and I have been able to make significant progress on numerous financial fronts (student loan refi, backdoor Roth, increasing net worth).
We are currently contemplating a home upgrade in our current area in the midwest. Our current location is ideal given the proximity to work as well as close proximity to family (less than 15 mins for both); however, our current 1800 sqft home is starting to feel crammed with a 3 year old daughter and another child on the way. We built our current home prior to my intern year (2011) knowing that I would be staying in the immediate area as faculty. Fortunately for us, the home value has increased approximately $100K since our purchase. We have started comparing existing homes needing renovation with building a new home from a well-known home builder 1-2 miles away. Many of the existing homes will need $50-90k of aesthetic upgrades (built in late 1990s or early 2000s). The new build homes are selling for approximately $50k more that similar homes in the surrounding neighborhoods. Since we are familiar with the new build process, we are likely leaning toward the new build; however, I am curious to see the forum's thoughts on new build versus renovate. Given the kiddo on the way, we would likely do most renovations prior to moving in if we choose an existing home. To keep things succinct, here is my quick pro/con list for each given the same approximate location.
New Build:
Pro: Select all floors, finishes. No need to remodel. New roof, furnace, water heater. Comparable values in same subdivision. Move in ready
Con: Cost at least $50k more depending on floor plan mods, Cost of new landscaping, Living around new construction/traffic, headaches of home building over 9-12 months
Existing Build with Renovations:
Pro: Established subdivision, No surrounding construction headaches, lower asking prices (save $$)
Con: $$ needed for renovations, possible new appliances, furnance etc. Concern for updates pricing home out of the surrounding subdivision
I appreciate anyones thoughts if you have been through either process (or both!). Also, I am interested to see if I am missing any other points about the two types of home.
We are currently contemplating a home upgrade in our current area in the midwest. Our current location is ideal given the proximity to work as well as close proximity to family (less than 15 mins for both); however, our current 1800 sqft home is starting to feel crammed with a 3 year old daughter and another child on the way. We built our current home prior to my intern year (2011) knowing that I would be staying in the immediate area as faculty. Fortunately for us, the home value has increased approximately $100K since our purchase. We have started comparing existing homes needing renovation with building a new home from a well-known home builder 1-2 miles away. Many of the existing homes will need $50-90k of aesthetic upgrades (built in late 1990s or early 2000s). The new build homes are selling for approximately $50k more that similar homes in the surrounding neighborhoods. Since we are familiar with the new build process, we are likely leaning toward the new build; however, I am curious to see the forum's thoughts on new build versus renovate. Given the kiddo on the way, we would likely do most renovations prior to moving in if we choose an existing home. To keep things succinct, here is my quick pro/con list for each given the same approximate location.
New Build:
Pro: Select all floors, finishes. No need to remodel. New roof, furnace, water heater. Comparable values in same subdivision. Move in ready
Con: Cost at least $50k more depending on floor plan mods, Cost of new landscaping, Living around new construction/traffic, headaches of home building over 9-12 months
Existing Build with Renovations:
Pro: Established subdivision, No surrounding construction headaches, lower asking prices (save $$)
Con: $$ needed for renovations, possible new appliances, furnance etc. Concern for updates pricing home out of the surrounding subdivision
I appreciate anyones thoughts if you have been through either process (or both!). Also, I am interested to see if I am missing any other points about the two types of home.
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