Can’t decide whether to renovate your old home, or knockdown and rebuild a new home?
Trying to make the decision whether to renovate, or to knockdown-rebuild can prevent people from starting their project for months, or even years, as they juggle all the options and are unable to choose one way or the other.
If this is you, and you’re trying to make the decision whether to renovate your existing home, or to start again and build a new home, this podcast will help you choose.
I share 3 deciding factors you can use, if you’re juggling whether to renovate or demolish your existing home and build new. Here’s a sneak peak:
Deciding Factor #1: Is knocking the house down to build a new one even an option in your area?
That can be a super fast way to determine if building a new home is possible at all for you.
Deciding Factor #2: Is the orientation of the existing home is generally workable?
If your home doesn’t work for the movement of the sun, and getting it to do this will require huge structural change, it may be simpler to start again with a new build with a layout designed to suit your site and the sun’s movement.
Deciding Factor #3: Does the real estate value check tell you anything?
Is your area a new home area? Or a renovated old home area? And how do values compare? What does this tell you about whether you’ll overcapitalize or not?
And I also share 3 strategies you can get started with to determine whether to renovate or knockdown-rebuild – here’s they are in summary.
Strategy #1: Do some due diligence on your existing home.
Try to uncover all the potential challenges you’ll have in renovating it and bringing it up to current building requirements.
Strategy #2: Be realistic about the cost of building new.
Include all the various costs in creating a finished home. Often those prices you see advertised don’t include driveways or floor coverings, and have base level fixtures and light-bulbs for lighting.
Strategy #3: Consider getting a soil test and survey done.
These are processes you’ll need done anyway, and they can highlight any challenges a renovation or new build may pose, so your estimates can reflect your real situation.
I hope you find this episode helpful if you’re grappling with whether to renovate or build new.
It can be a challenging choice to make and it’s one that many homeowners get in touch with me about, and deliberate over for a very long time. So now you can use these deciding factors and strategies to help you with making your choice.
Listen to the podcast now.
Your Secret Ally,
Amelia Lee, UA x
With over 30 years industry experience, Amelia Lee founded Undercover Architect in 2014 as an award-winning online resource to help and teach you how to get it right when designing, building or renovating your home. You are the key to unlocking what’s possible for your home. Undercover Architect is your secret ally
Thanks for your podcast and blog, it’s really informative.
My husband and I are debating this exact thing at the moment. We have eliminated renovation because I’m very particular about design so we know that a new build is the way to go, however we are completely divided on him wanting a new build in a new estate and me wanting to buy a home in an established suburb to demolish and build on the land. He thinks that knocking down a house is a waste of the cost of that house, whereas I don’t like the small blocks and same-ness of the houses in an estate and am looking at better suburbs for schooling and property growth.
I figure we might end up agreeing by the time we retire!
So glad you’re finding Undercover Architect helpful, Ashlee. Best wishes for reaching a resolution on your project!
– Amelia, UA
Very helpful. Thank you for understanding the terrible dilemma and creating such an appropriate podcast like a mindreader.
Hi Jyoti, I appreciate the kind feedback. I hope you enjoy listening to more of the podcast!