6 benefits of renovating or extending your home



Gallery

Sooner or later, most families grapple with one of the big property questions – to renovate or not to renovate. You love your house, but it’s getting a bit small, or another baby is on the way and you’re just not sure about whether or not there’s enough space. Maybe your kitchen or bathroom is in urgent need of an upgrade. Whatever your renovation needs, here’s 6 reasons that could make renovating the right move for you.

1. It can add value

Adding extra rooms can certainly add value to your home. Adding an extra bedroom is an obvious way to increase the value of your home, as is adding the flexibility and functionality of an extra, or larger, living space. If you have an older home, renovating kitchen and bathrooms can make a big difference to the price of your home when it comes time to sell, and can make an immediate difference to your family’s quality of life. Even refurbishing bedrooms, hallways and living areas in period homes, and adding a few modern touches inside, can attract extra buyers when the time is right.

2. It’s cheaper than buying a new home

When you first start thinking about adding extra rooms, or even completely refurbishing major living spaces, the next thought is usually around whether or not to buy a new home instead. It can be tempting to not want to live with the inconvenience that can result from renovating, or stress about plans and council approvals. Adding an extra room to your home can cost a lot less than buying a new larger home, especially when you take into consideration stamp duty, moving costs, and the inconvenience and financial limbo of maybe not selling you current home as quickly as you want to.

3. It creates extra space in the home you love

It might be obvious, but it’s important. As families grow – both up and in number – space can become a big issue. If you’re constantly getting under each other’s feet, or finding privacy hard to manage, then adding extra rooms or making existing ones bigger can make a big difference. It doesn’t need to be a big renovation to have a big impact, but just make sure you are aware of your local council regulations. And you can design your new space exactly the way you want it. You bought your current home for a reason, and you love it, for a reason. There is no guarantee a new home, even if it has the extra space you needed, will still suit your family’s other needs and desires.

4. Renovation loans are great options

Most banks and lenders will offer renovation loans as a suitable option when you are looking to extend or spruce up the inside of your home. Not only can you use the equity you have built up in your current home to help make your renovation happen, but you can take out a special construction loan. Construction loans can allow you to have access to certain amounts of money at certain times, once agreed construction deadlines have been met. You only pay interest on the amounts that have been paid out, potentially saving interest. The lender can also take into account the final cost of your home in how much you are allowed to borrow.

5. It’s cheaper than building a new structure

Extending your existing home can be a lot cheaper than building a separate structure on your existing block. While self-contained granny flats were popular once, current building regulations have rendered them almost financially unviable compared to extensions. On top of that, the cost of extending plumbing, electricity and maybe even gas to an external standalones structure can be prohibitive.

6. It creates more potential investment opportunities

Down the track, if you move out of your family home, or downsize, and still keep it, having extra rooms or a stunning modern extension can help you increase the rental yields. It can also open the house up to a larger slice of the rental market pie. For more info on loans, see Mortgage House.

For more information

Mortgage House

MORE FROM Mortgage House:
22 Shares
You May Also Like