Renovate or Relocate Part One
Market Conditions
Thinking about making a change? If your current Bellevue, Kirkland, or Sammamish area home isn’t meeting your needs, you may be looking into options and deciding what to do next. Should you renovate or relocate? We’re here to help. This is the first in a three-part blog series on making the decision to renovate or relocate, and we’re starting with a big consideration: the housing market. Here’s what you need to know about our area’s housing market to get you started in your research:
Soaring Prices
It’s no secret that prices on everything — from food to gas to lumber — are skyrocketing. This factor will be an issue whether you decide to buy a new home or remodel your current one. Additionally, if your plan is to wait out this tumultuous time for prices to fall, you may want to reconsider. Prices will only go up for the foreseeable future.
Leaning towards selling and purchasing a new home? Prepare for additional costs. In addition to sellers-market pricing on the new home, you’ll pay about 10% of your old home’s cost in selling expenses, including things like realtor fees, minor repairs, and moving costs. The current median value for a house in Bellevue is $1.6M — that means the average homeowner will spend around $160,000 to sell. That can go a long way in a whole home remodel!
While whole home remodels are also costly, the advantages make them worthwhile. If you decide to renovate instead of relocate, our advice is to do as much as you can at one time. Refreshing your home all at once bundles the expense and gives you a consistent, cohesive look throughout. After all, having a spectacular kitchen will quickly lose its sparkle if the dining room next to it is dated and dreary. Furthermore, you’ll want your design aesthetic to continue to all parts of your home to make it feel more personalized and connected.
Low Inventory
In today’s market, there are few houses for sale at one time since they get purchased very quickly. In Bellevue, for example, houses stay on the market for about five days. Owners receive multiple offers, and the average home sells for 13% above the listing price. There are similar statistics in Kirkland, where 78% of homes sell above the listing price. While this works in the seller’s favor at first, homeowners worry that in this competitive market, they’ll be forced to move out before finding a new home to move into. You may sell your home just to end up buying something less than ideal — which you’ll have to renovate instead of relocate after all.
Along with the homes themselves, things like raw materials and appliances are also hard to come by, presenting problems for both homeowners selling and those looking to remodel. Fortunately, you don’t have to tackle these challenges alone; design build firms like Nip Tuck Remodeling are experienced and prepared to handle them with minimal disruptions.
Still debating whether to sell or remodel? In our next blog, we’ll dive into the pros and cons of each to help with your decision. In the meantime, feel free to contact us with any remodeling questions you may have.
