It seems like only yesterday that your home was perfect. Now, you’ve got a few kids, and perhaps a few pets and your perfect home is feeling small, cramped and cluttered. All of a sudden you and your family are facing one the biggest decisions of your lives, should you stay and expand and renovate your Toronto home or should you move to a new home?
We’ve taken the time to list a few pointers in this blog. Hopefully, they will help you make a decision that is wise for you and your family.
Should I Stay?
The housing boom in Toronto continues, home values are rising at a rate of $550 a day. Realtors are consistently posting signs stating “sold over asking”. However, once you’ve sold your home, you are now looking for a home to purchase. As you can imagine, that homeowner is also hoping to sell to you for ‘over asking’, this is especially challenging when you’re looking for a larger home that is within your price range.
A whole-home renovation will be expensive however, the costs will be a significant contribution to your investment by substantially increasing the value of your home. According to Home Advisor the estimated cost to renovate several rooms, will range in cost from $17,571 to $58,681 per room. Naturally, kitchens and bathrooms are at the higher range with bedrooms and living spaces being closer to the lower end. It’s always best to get a cost estimate from a trusted home renovation expert, before you start ‘guestimating’ renovation costs.
As renovators, we endeavour to minimize damage but, it’s highly recommended that you move your precious and valuable items to separate storage location.
Renovations are messy and dirty – the dust is inevitable and the army of trade workers in your home can feel invasive. It’s inconvenient to live without an exterior wall, or a staircase or a kitchen, or even with one less bathroom.
Many of our families have chosen to stay during the renovation and even though there are hassles, they have survived it and found many advantages to staying. It’s a good idea to be onsite to oversee the quality of the work, answer questions regarding any design changes and of course, if you’re living in the home, you help keep the site secure from vandalism and critter damage.
Many have taken on their renovation as an adventure. If you plan your renovation during the summer, you could make your barbeque an outdoor kitchen, kind of like taking ‘glamping’ to a whole new level. Kids are highly adaptable, and will probably cherish the memories of the times when you all slept in the same room. You may have more family time, that includes ghost stories, campfires and games nights.
Or Should I Go?:
There is a certain excitement in moving, it’s an opportunity for a fresh start, everything will be new, new home, new neighbours, new neighbourhood. You may even be closer to your work, closer to school, closer to your extended family or better access to transportation. However, research has shown that moving house is more stressful than a relationship breakdown, divorce or even a new job – this could be made more so if you have a young family.
When you’re weighing the pros and cons of a move, decide if your new home is going to greatly improve life for you and your family. All those positives must be weighed against, the stress of uprooting your family and creating new connections with those in your new community.
In addition to all those changes, you may have to renovate the new home anyway. You may discover that you can only afford a ‘fixer upper’, that must be renovated before you can even move in! Hopefully, the renovations will be minor and can be done before you move in.
Home Renovations Toronto
Whether you decide to Love it or List it, the experienced home renovation experts at Bryant Renovations know how to get the most out of your home. Contact us today to see how your home can be transformed.