When to Move and When to Consider an Addition
Home is where the heart is, but over time a family’s changing needs may require something more than just an interior remodel.
Perhaps a family has grown and desperately needs more space. We work with many families who are growing with more children, young adults coming back to the home after college, and more and more people are choosing to care for their aging parents in the home. We love working with growing families, helping to plan a new space for them, and working to understand their particular needs and how to meet those needs within their desired budget. An extra bedroom or en suite may be required to care for another loved one full-time, or a multipurpose space that can be used as a temporary guest room. Some homes offer the opportunity to build into unused attic space to create a new bedroom, bathroom, or both. Also taking advantage of outdoor spaces by enclosing patios, and/or creating a new patio or deck that can serve as a gathering space for family and friends. Tastes and trends change as well, and in an ever-fickle real estate market where a home transaction consumes 10% or more of the property value, a home addition may be the best option for creating the features you need in your existing home, and an asset to selling a home in the future.
Whenever thinking of adding onto the home, be sure to invest in design services that will enable you to envision both interior and exterior views, with files that can be transferred to a licensed engineer to provide the structural plans.
So, when do homeowners consider when to move or when to consider an
addition? Here are a few things we typically discuss with our clients who are wrestling with that decision.
Home Addition Basics
Home additions range from the functional to the luxurious — and can encompass both. It can be as simple as an extra room, or perhaps a sunroom attached to an extra living room that doubles as a space for guests with a new bathroom as well.
They often not only increase square footage and everyday functionality, but they also
property value as well. Just like with a home interior remodel, we always recommend to our clients that if you are thinking of selling a few years down the road, make your upgrades now so that you can enjoy them and also get the added value in your future sales price.
Of course, costs vary wildly for home additions. For instance, adding a deck or basic patio may be done for under $20,000, but an entire suite with a bathroom and bedroom can be upwards of $100,000 depending on size, features, and ease of integrating with existing systems in the home.
We work with many homeowners who are looking to take advantage of an existing carport, garage, or attic space. These can be great options, bearing in mind what may be given up.
When to go with an Addition
Home additions are often worth the financial investment, but there are several particular reasons why they can be so advantageous.

The main reasons we find homeowners choosing to invest in an addition are because they love the neighborhood, they don’t want to uproot their kids from their school, and/or they have significant equity in the home. Also, a property transaction carries a cost of not less than 10% of the value of the home, for a $500,000 home that means the transaction cost along of selling one home and purchasing another is typically not less than $50,000. Not to mention the time, effort and expense involved in the moving process.
Depending on the current state of the real estate market in a homeowner’s area, it may make better financial sense to go with an addition over putting a home on the market and entering a potentially challenging search for a new place.
An addition also ensures that a homeowner will get exactly what they want, something that rarely happens during the search for a new home. The design, style, and functionality of the space are custom built and entirely tailored to what the owners desire.
It ensures that a specific need will be addressed, which may not occur when deciding to find a “better place somewhere else”. For example, there’s no guarantee that the best option for a new home will have a sunroom, an en suite bathroom, or a deck. However, all of those can be added to an existing home rather easily and relatively quickly.
Overall, it is usually less expensive to invest in an addition to a current home rather than to find or build a new home.
When to Move
Deciding to move is generally a more significant life decision than adding on to an existing home.
While homeowners must consider their budget, they should also ask themselves important questions, such as whether they believe a new home can lead to a better way of life, if they are up for overseeing a renovation or putting the work into a new home, and whether their personal tastes will be reflected in moving to a new home.
An addition may not be worth the investment if the primary goal is relocating to a different location or if personal style isn’t a factor. Certain communities have strict zoning and planning regulations that can make an addition more of a challenge.
Going with an addition could also greatly reduce the property’s usable outdoor space or acreage. By moving, one does not have to worry about living in a construction site for a potentially long amount of time or dealing with contractors.
When it comes down to it, a home addition usually offers more flexibility and potentially faster results, the benefits of staying in one’s existing area, ensuring that one’s personal needs will be met and aesthetic reflected in the home, and avoiding the time, hassle and expense of moving.
Moving means spending more money and accepting that one won’t necessarily get what they want in a space. Even then, there is always a certain appeal to embracing a brand-new environment.
The bottom line: The choice is highly personal, and with the various pros and cons for each option, it pays off to take the time to thoroughly determine which makes the most sense at the time.
See more of portfolio of custom home and home addition projects
here, and
contact us if you are interested in learning more about opportunities to improve your home value and functionality with a home addition or accessory building!
