Moving vs. Renovating: Which Choice Is Best For You?
Should you move or should you remodel now?
Highlights
Renovating is a large remodel of a current home that adds or expands rooms and makes key upgrades to provide additional space.
Moving provides more opportunities for additional life changes, such as moving for a new job or a better school system.
Renovating tends to be less expensive because you don't have to make a down payment and can rely more on lines of credit.
Return on investment (ROI) is very difficult to predict for renovating and moving, as both offer value-raising options depending on location, the housing market, and many other variables.
It’s time to make a huge change in your home life. But how do you decide between moving or renovating your home? Both major projects require significant time, planning, and investment. It’s important to weigh the pros and cons of moving vs. renovating to make the right decision for you. Let’s look at the major differences, opportunities costs, and other comparisons you need to make.
Moving vs. Renovating: Key Differences
Moving and renovating your current home are two distinct projects. Moving to a new home requires buying or renting a new house, hiring professional movers and renting a moving truck, packing everything you own, and transporting everything to a new location. Whether you move a few minutes away or several thousands of miles, moving can be a stressful endeavor due to the time and budget commitment.
On the other hand, renovating your current home allows you to reconfigure or expand your space to fit your changing needs. The scope of the renovation severely impacts the price and time commitment of this task. Major renovations may require hiring a contractor, creating a blueprint for the job, demolition, reconstruction, and, in some cases, temporarily moving out of your home during construction.
What Is Moving to a New Home?
Moving refers to switching to a different home entirely. There are many reasons for that life change, but moving to a new home allows you to find the specific amenities and space you want in a new space. It also provides the opportunity to find a neighborhood that fits your lifestyle, better proximity to schools or parks, and several other advantages.
Best for:
Making significant life changes
Avoiding the drawn-out planning and work of a renovation
Finding new amenities and a new neighborhood unavailable at your old home
Significantly expanding or downsizing the space of your home
Expanding your real estate investment options
Pros of Moving
Check out the advantages of moving to a new home.
New amenities: Finding a new home lets you prioritize and choose the amenities that are most important to you. For example, if your current home lacks a laundry room, you can seek out homes that do.
More space for your life: Moving allows you to find an entirely new floor plan and room design that fits your current needs, especially if a renovation won’t give you the space you need.
Avoid renovations: Major renovations, such as adding a bedroom or gutting the kitchen, can upend your home life (and budget) for several months. Moving provides the opportunity to leave ill-fitting homes behind in favor of a better fit.
Investment options: Moving to another home allows you to rent out your old property or sell it for the benefit of your financial situation.
Cons of Moving
Check out the disadvantages of moving to a new home.
Sentimental losses: Moving may require leaving beloved homes and neighborhoods, as well as moving away from friends or family.
Expensive process: Moving is often very expensive if you are buying a new property. You’ll need plenty of cash upfront for a down payment and closing costs. The cost of a long-distance move ranges from $2,420 to $6,870.
Dependant on market forces: New homes can be very expensive to rent or buy, depending on the location, housing market, and cost of living. Individual homeowners can’t control local demand or interest rates, either.
Moving can be stressful: Moving to a new home can be a time-consuming and often difficult process, especially when it comes to packing and unpacking up your belongings, scheduling a moving date, and hiring moving labor.
What Is Renovating a Home?
Renovating refers to a process that improves, refreshes, or updates your home. Renovating doesn’t structurally change your home (that’s a remodel) or alter the purpose of each room. This process allows homeowners to prepare their home for a larger family, a profitable sale, and many other situations.
Best for:
Homeowners who like their current yard, home, and neighborhood
People who want to add new appliances, change their heating/cooling system, and add new amenities
Homeowners who want to raise the value and attractiveness of a home ahead of putting it on the market
Homeowners who want to address serious shortcomings, damage, or risks in their current home
Pros of Renovating
Check out the advantages of renovating part of your home.
Sticking to the familiar: Homeowners can stay in homes with their treasured memories as well as keeping the benefits of their neighborhood and location.
Focusing on necessary changes: A renovation allows you to change or exactly what you want, with few surprises. You can upgrade or add the features you want, choose the materials and colors, and make the important upgrades.
Less expensive than moving: A renovation doesn’t require nearly as much cash on hand as buying a new home. However, the price depends on the size and scope of the renovation. Home renovation costs $15 to $60 per square foot on average.
Potential value increases: A renovation isn’t guaranteed to raise the value of your home and the ROI can vary greatly based on the project, but it’s a good way to potentially increase your asking price and add important curb appeal for future buyers.
Cons of Renovating
Check out the disadvantages of renovating part of your home.
Limited renovation opportunities: Moving comes with challenges, but it also creates more opportunities that a renovation won’t offer. Moving is a way to choose a better neighborhood with better schools, upgrade to a new job, switch to a better city, and much more.
Mess, noise, and nerves: A large renovation can take several months to complete, and it’ll disrupt your home life. Keep in mind that you’ll likely continue living in your room during the renovation, meaning you’ll have to deal with noise and labor disruptions.
Unexpected delays: Since large kitchen and bathroom renovations have many stages, there are chances for material delays and sudden changes of plan, leading to extra costs and more stress.
Increasing home value is far from guaranteed: A renovation cannot force a home to go up in value. The real estate market and current demand will have a great impact on what your house sells for, no matter what the average ROI of the project.
Moving vs. Renovating
Pros and cons aside, we can’t recommend one choice between moving vs. renovating—it’s up to you to decide. But we can take a closer look at the most important deciding factors and how they can affect your choices.
Planning and Scheduling: Moving
Moving requires more planning and logistic management than most renovations. Since renovations are not structural changes, they don’t require months of scheduling outside of hiring pros and purchasing materials.
Moving can require up to a couple of years of planning, working with a realtor, arranging a mortgage bidding on homes, and finalizing a move-in date. Once you secure a new home, it’s common to schedule professional movers months in advance, especially during busy seasons. The advantage of moving is that the moving process itself is relatively quick. Either way, always schedule enough time for the project, and acknowledge that both options can take a lot of time and work.
Price: Renovating (Although It’s Close)
Average home prices have risen sharply in many areas in the past ten years, so the cost is automatically higher if you’re purchasing a new home. Costs to buy a home vary greatly depending on location, current interest rates, and other factors. These costs can be mitigated if you choose to rent or can qualify for a government-backed loan. Hiring movers cost between $880 and $2,500 or more, while DIY moving can cost $120 to $2,300 or more.
Meanwhile, a whole-home renovation costs $20,000 to $87,000, depending on the size and scope of your project. If you are renovating several rooms, the costs still stay in a similar range of $18,000 to $77,000. However, smaller renovation projects, like laying new flooring, are much less expensive. You also don’t have to worry about changing property taxes, income taxes, and general cost of living if you aren’t moving to a new area.
DIYability: Tie
The processes of moving and renovating part of your home both run smoother if you hire professionals to help achieve your goals. Hiring local movers can ensure your local or long-distance moves go off without a hitch, transporting your items and furniture safely to your new home. Likewise, contractors and specialists will complete your renovation project with professional, high-quality results.
However, in some cases, it’s possible to move and make small home renovations on your own. DIY moving works best for small, local moves, where you can rent a moving truck and pack and unpack on your own. On the renovation side, some projects, like changing wallpaper or flooring, are possible to DIY with the right tools, skills, and experience.
ROI (Return on Investment): Tie
It’s difficult to predict the exact ROI of renovating vs. moving. Home value is dictated by many factors and highly subjective to the local area and cost of living.
With so many variables at work, we can’t easily say which choice has the better ROI. Moving can allow you to find a great home in a promising area where your investment will increase in value over decades. Renovating can help target specific areas of an older home that need upgrades and are more likely to add direct value, such as the kitchen, flooring, bathrooms, finished basements. If you’re interested in maximizing your ROI, choose the right projects for home value and research homes carefully when making decisions.