Whatever the reason for needing more space, the question of extending or moving is probably the one on your lips. There are some things to consider before making a snap decision.
Let’s look into the considerations for choosing whether to extend or move so that you can decide which is right for your situation.
How Much Do You Love Your Place?
The first and most important consideration is how much you love where you live now. Don’t simply think about the house or the yard, as those are the things that you can change.
Think about the more critical aspects of…
Location: Do you like where your current house is located? Is it in the right school zone for your kids, is it in a suburb that you love, is it close to the things you need?
Convenience: Will moving be an inconvenience? Might it make your commute to work longer, mean you can no longer jog to the gym, or have to drive miles to get to the supermarket?
Community: What kind of a community have you built at your current home? Will you leave behind great neighbours or community groups, will your kids have to make new friends, will you have to integrate into a whole new social group?
These are the parts of the decision that really matter as they are the things that impact on your lifestyle.
What Is Your Budget?
Ali Toumadj, the Director of Prosper Group works closely with Jack and their clients when it comes to the financial side of property. He comments:
“We have had first-hand experience over the past few years that many clients have opted for the renovation/extension of their existing home vs selling and buying a new property due to the higher market prices. It’s often cheaper and less hassle to spend $150k on your existing house vs extending your mortgage by $500k and probably having to renovate somewhere down the line.”
As Ali has mentioned, it can often be a more cost-effective option to renovate your existing property than trying and buy a new home that has everything you need in the current property market.
Extension Considerations
If you love the important things about your current property and like the sound of a smaller budget, then you need to seriously consider if you will be able to achieve the home you want by extending.
Before you dive into anything, decide what you really need. Is it an extra bedroom, another bathroom, a second living space, or all of the above? This will allow you to plan and budget for your project.
Be aware that there might be some council restrictions in your area. They could include things like height to boundary limits and drainage that may need to be rerouted due to the new foundations.
We would really recommend taking professional advice from a renovations specialist like Jack from the very beginning so that you can make an informed decision. We have completed hundreds of extensions and renovations, so can give you honest, practical advice on your plans.
How Should You Go About It?
Once you know what you want to achieve with your property, it is time to get the experts working on your funding and organising the project management. Using Jack for your project gives you access to all the necessary industry experts. Not only do we offer total project management for the extension process – builders, trades, architect, and designer – but we also have extensive industry knowledge and key contacts in areas like finance.
Jack knows that the cost of adding a main bedroom and ensuite to your existing home would be between $80,000 and $100,000. But transforming your home from a three bedroom, one bathroom property to a four bedroom, one bathroom and one ensuite property would increase the value by at least $150,000 depending on your area. These numbers will work for the banks that are lending you the money for the project.
By using Jack for the entire process we can get a true understanding of what you are trying to achieve around yields and valuations. We also won’t encourage you to spend money unnecessarily. You can be assured that we only use registered tradespeople and offer full project management – there can be up to 10 different trades involved in a project so if you don’t want to deal with them all independently, then let Jack do it for you.
If you are interested in knowing if you could create more room at your place, then don’t hesitate to get in touch with us here at Jack. Give us a call for an obligation free chat today.