Should I Sell or Renovate My Home

One of my favorite shows that I watch with my wife is HGTV’s Love It or List It.  It’s a show that captures a homeowner working on a renovation project with co-host Hilary Far while at the same time checking out homes for sale with a real estate agent and co-host David Visentin.  At the end of the show, the homeowner has to decide whether or not they want to “love” their house (meaning they love the renovation and will stay in the house) or will they list their house (putting it on the market to buy a house David showed them).

This is a common question for the vast majority of homeowners.  A recent study showed that, due to the increased mortgage rates in 2022, more homeowners are renovating their homes rather than looking for a new house.  The study also found that 39% of homeowners renovated so that they could enjoy their homes more, 26% renovated for the purposes of updating their homes, and only 17% renovated to increase the value of their homes.

 Here are a few questions to consider before you list your house:

• Do you love where you live?
• Is the house a good size for your family?
• Do you like your house and it’s just not updated?
• Would you be able to afford what you want with the current rates?

If you’re not quite ready to list your house and move, perhaps it’s time to upgrade your house.  If you are going to be in your home for a few more years, doing a renovation to upgrade your environment will help you fall in love with your home once again.  And if you decide to move after a few years down the road, you’ll be able to list it for more than if you didn’t do the renovation.

If you’re not quite sure where to start with your renovations, the two areas where you will get the highest return on your investment are the bathroom and the kitchen.  More and more homeowners are focusing on renovating the entire bathroom.  This will create a nicer environment for you and your family, but the homeowner could also see as much as a 60% return on investment with a bathroom renovation.  You could see the same results when renovating a kitchen.

 

Whether you’re looking to love your house or list it, having a good renovation plan will help create the environment either you or a buyer would want in a home and it could help increase the value of your house.