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We bought our house 3 years ago for $485K; and if we list it our realtor suggests $620K and we can probably expect to sell it between $600-$610K.
What I love about the house: The beautiful lot it sits on and our neighborhood.
What I want in a new house: separate laundryroom (not walk thru to garage); better guest bathroom; larger kitchen; reclaim dining room that was made into a bedroom.
What we have found shopping for homes (we only want something in the same community): we can’t find anything we like in our specific area for under $800K. Yes, we can afford $800K-$1.0 M it but we don’t need more space and all those houses are 30 - 50% larger than ours.
Remodel costs: Can’t fix laundryroom and guest bath. But can reclaim diningroom and enlarge and update kitchen (will involve moving walls and exterior door). We’ve had two contractors come out and the project, which will entail new flooring in the whole house (single story) will cost $100K - $110K. And with that, it won’t be my “perfect” kitchen, but very nice.
the project would require us to move out for about 3 months.
Would you remodel or buy another house? We have someplace we can go nearby.... but it will be a hassle.
Why can't you fix the laundry room and guest bath?
Are you still in DFW?
Yes. We are very tied to a specific community due to family and friends nearby.
We don’t have the space to create for another place to position the laundry room or enlarge the guest bath; we cannot change the footprint of the house without infringing on our exterior outdoor kitchen and pool decking (code requires pool must be certain distance from house so we couldn’t expand section in rear of house where guest bathroom is located)
Yes. We are very tied to a specific community due to family and friends nearby.
We don’t have the space to create for another place to position the laundry room or enlarge the guest bath; we cannot change the footprint of the house without infringing on our exterior outdoor kitchen and pool decking (code requires pool must be certain distance from house so we couldn’t expand section in rear of house where guest bathroom is located)
Gotcha. And I get the desire to stay in your neighborhood.
Given what you've said are your priorities, I would remodel.
I mean, how bad is the guest bathroom? Are you talking about a half bath for dinner guests or a full bath for overnight guests? And do you have kids in the house? I can understand why a walk-through laundry from the garage is less than ideal, but you WILL do less laundry if there aren't kids in the house. (Trying to think long term here ...)
I would think that getting a better kitchen without disturbing the current outdoor setup would be the most important factor. If you don't NEED extra space and absolutely can't find a new house that works, why spend all that extra money?
Maybe get more quotes from architects who can be creative about the laundry? I know plumbing is the hardest thing to work around, but I also hate the word "can't."
Well it sounds like you can get 50% of what you want with a remodel or you can get more house, that you don't want or need, to get what you want.
I would personally remodel as I would not want to pay for the heating/cooling, and cleaning of space I wouldn't use for a better laundry room and guest bathroom.
You mention having had contractors come out. Have you met with an architect as well? If not, I'd give that a try, to find out if they can come up with a plan to get you more of what you really want in the current house. Maybe there really are no other options, but before you start making a potential million dollar decision, it couldn't hurt to be sure.
You could throw $100k - $150k in a house like this, and hardly recoup it later when you sell. Very iffy.
I'd buy the larger house that is better for resale.
Risk of over-improving a house, especially if it's not to future buyer's liking is way too high. Sell and move on.
I've walked into homes where the owners have vastly over-improved in areas that were important to them, but useless to me. They would never get that money back. Just bad idea overall.
I was faced with a similar issue a few years ago. Inefficient floorplan, wasted space, laundry in the kitchen, small master bedroom, small bathrooms, minimal closet space. Why did I buy it in the first place? Acre property allowed me to build a 5 car garage/workshop in the back yard for my old car hobby.
I mulled over adding 1000 sf to the back of the house to add a large master bedroom, bath, closets, etc but in the end would have just ended up with higher taxes, higher utility bills, and wouldn't have changed the original part of the house much.
In the end I decided to downsize. I have a slightly smaller house with a lot more room because of a better floor plan and still have a good size workshop in the back yard. Instead of spending $100,000 more on the old house and not being completely happen I ended up spending about $100,000 less and got what I wanted.
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