Is it better to buy another home and not renew the current one? This is a common question among people who have lived in the same house for some years, usually one they bought form someone else.

In the search for your ideal home you can find some property that, while not in bad condition, requires adjustments to become what you always wanted to be your home, however, before making the decision to buy a house or apartment for remodel it is necessary that you have in mind the following advice from the experts.

If a renovation process will involve an expense of more than 30% of the value of the property, you will commit a serious financial error. Investing more than a third of what the property will cost will raise the value and take it out of the market, this is a big risk because if you want to sell it the process will be long or you will have to lower the price, which implies losses.

Reasons to buy a new house
The current one does not meet your requirements. That is the most common reason you can find and the first thing you think about when you turn to the idea of moving. The house is too small or on the contrary, it has badly used spaces that do not work, or it is very large and requires a lot of maintenance; all these are causes of thinking that it is time to look for another one, but also the location, as when you have a new job and it is very far from your home. If it is for this reason, expect to stabilise yourself in the new job and do not make a decision immediately until you feel safe.

Your home is very expensive. If you bought before the crisis and you have not made any adjustments to your mortgage as a modification, for example, you must be paying a high monthly quote for it. If then you have to make some arrangement it will be more expensive than finding another house that meets your requirements and at a lower price. Prices are already rising, but they are not at the level they were before the crisis, they are definitely cheaper now than before 2006. In any case you have to evaluate if your current home has an outlet in the market at the current price because if you buy by loan mortgage, you must have that resolved before qualifying for another unless you have excellent income and credit and you can keep two mortgages.

You cannot renovate your house the way you want to. One of the advantages of renovating is that you can turn your house into the house of your dreams. But that is not always achieved. For example, if you do not like the facade, you cannot always change it, because there are restrictions in most communities. If you need to make an expansion but you do not have a patio and you think that a second floor will give you the space you need, building a second floor is very regulated and in most places, it is not allowed. In any of these cases it might be necessary to find another house.

Your economic condition improved and you can search for your ideal home. It is usual for many buyers to seek their first house, live there for a few years and then make the leap to a better one, as they develop professionally and economically. If this is your case, and you can give yourself other luxuries, fantastic, you are a good candidate to have a better house.

Your current home is very old and not in good condition. Renovating has great advantages but there are times when it does not make sense to invest thousands of dollars, because you will only put that money in the house, without the possibility of your investment returning. Whenever you’re going to renovate, you need to ask an appraiser about the value of the home and how much “you can afford” the investment you’ll have to make.

You are not willing to take on the stress of improvements. Yes, even if you have the money and hire the most qualified staff to do the job, renovating is a synonym of stress and a period that can be chaotic in many cases. It alters your routine, there will be chaos in your home and many times things do not go as planned, there are unforeseen events. Because of the work, the cost and the time involved, you must decide if renewing is the best for you or it is preferable to sell your house and buy one that already has everything you need.

Tips to keep in mind before deciding to renovate
If you have already decided to make renovations, then there are some recommendations that may be helpful in the future:

Make sure you can make the changes you want. As we mentioned before there are some condominiums and old buildings there is a provision known as Facade Restriction, that is, you must respect the exterior appearance of the property and some details such as hardware and original wooden doors. This can become a problem if a door or window has been damaged, because the process to change it will be very complicated.

Do not let your emotions make the decision for you. Even if you like the house a lot, it is necessary to make an appraisal to determine the cost of the renovating, this budget should be delimited before you make the purchase. You must include a line item of between 5 and 10% of the total cost of the renovation cost for possible contingencies such as: additional material or an accident when drilling walls. Once you have an idea of how much it will cost to leave the house as you want it, it will be easier to make a wise purchase decision.

Ask for help. If you are only going to paint and change tiles in the bathroom or kitchen, you will probably not have problems when hiring a person who can; however, if your renewal involves building another room or breaking down a wall, not having professional advice can even cause structural damage to the property.