It can come from out of the blue. As you sit and have your morning coffee, you look around and realize – this house isn’t working any more. Maybe your family has grown since you first built or moved in, or perhaps you no longer care for the floorplan, flooring and cabinets. Those quirks you once found so charming? Now, not so much. Whatever it is – your Northern VA home no longer fits your family’s need and there’s no point denying it.
Whether to build or remodel is never an easy decision. So what do you do? Would your family be better off building a custom home, buying a newly built one with semi-customizations, or staying put and remodeling the home you now live in?
At Foley, we know how hard it can be for our clients to make that choice. Not only are there emotional factors involved, but the financial consequences can be enormous. You may think your only solution is to build, but here are some considerations to help you see all your options.
Northern VA Home Remodeling
If you’ve decided your Northern VA home no longer meets your family’s needs – be it for style, space, energy efficiency, or convenience – it’s time to make some well-considered choices. To start, ask yourself these questions:
- How much do you love your neighborhood? If you love your community, have good relationships with your neighbors, and have easy access to everything your family needs, you might want to consider renovating or buying a home in the same neighborhood.
- How are your finances? Do you have the budget to make a move to a larger or more ideal home? In many cases, it’s often less expensive to remodel.
- Do you like your home’s current floor plan? If you don’t want to change the structural elements of your home, it can be up to 50% less expensive to remodel.
3 Good Reasons to Choose Remodeling
Once you’ve weighed the pros and cons you’ll probably find you’re leaning more towards one choice over another. But if you’re still on the fence, here are three good reasons to seriously consider Northern VA home remodeling.
- There Are Some Things Money Can’t Buy. The vast majority of our clients love their Northern VA neighborhoods and they enjoy the sense of community that comes from living there. They’ve invested a lot of time developing good relationships with their neighbors, and there’s no putting a price tag on friendship. Yes, you’ll most likely make new friends wherever you go, but there are no guarantees, particularly for the kids.
- Land is Expensive. When they decide to build new, homeowners often forget to factor in the cost of both the land itself and land development. That’s understandable, because it’s not something you often hear about. It’s one of your largest expenses, though, and one look at this animated map will show you just how much the price has risen in Northern VA. So keep in mind that a big part of your budget will be spent way before you even start designing the plans and choosing materials, furnishings and fixtures.
- Room for Improvement. Remodeling the space you have can give you the best of both worlds – an updated, better functioning home that allows your family to stay in the area they love. Even if you buy or build a custom home that includes all your current desires, the chances are somewhere down the road you’ll be craving some new features. Why spend a lot of money on a new home that will eventually need updates? Remodel the one you have a little bit at a time, and you’ll soon have the home of your dreams.
Learn More
If your family needs more space, we invite you to download a one of our free case studies that exhibit how we overcame remodeling challenges for a family . At Foley, we believe that no matter which path you choose – a new home or a remodel – working with a custom design build firm such as ours will make the end result well worth the journey.
