A common thought every home owner has in upgrading their home. As time goes on your need and wants change. You may have been blessed with children and want to provide a bigger backyard for them, your home might start feeling old and out-dated or you may simply want to retire into a beach house. There are many ways to improve your home without breaking the bank.
What is your goal
This is the question you should ask yourself. Do you want to live in the same area, do you want another bedroom and bathroom, do you want a bigger backyard, do you want to downsize. These are all questions that will help guide you into the home you are looking for.
Ways to upgrade your home
There typically are 2 ways to upgrade your home.
- Renovate your existing home
- Buying a home
Renovating your existing home
Some families may prefer to stay in the home they live in. It could be close to schools, work & family or there could be a sentimental attachment towards it. A good builder will be able to guide you to what is and isn’t possible and help you to stick towards your budget. But it is important to remember that with renovations there are always unexpected costs that are only uncovered once you start renovating.
A renovation is typically for families who still like the area and the home the live in but want to change their home to better suite their needs or to modernize it. Renovating a home is also a great way to add equity into your home if you are planning on selling it down the line.
Buying a home
For those wanting to change their location, upgrade or downgrade a home completely buying a home may be the way to go. This has it’s own set of challenges. Are you going to sell your home? Where are you going to live until you purchase your new home?
Additionally there are also the costs involved such as stamp duty, conveyancing, transfer fees, and agent fees if selling your home.
Where to start
With both options you need to understand all the costs involved. This brings us back to our first point of ‘What is your goal’. If you’re goal is to move into a completely new area then renovating won’t be an option but if your goal is to add an additional bedroom both options seem plausible. The first step would be to establish a budget – whether you are using savings or equity in your home. If you are using a loan, can you afford the repayments to live comfortably. Speak to a few real estate agents and builders to see if what you would like to achieve is realistic for your budget. If not, then put a plan together. Speak to a mortgage broker if you are getting a loan to see which lenders may be suitable for yourself and what the total costs and repayments look like.
