Which makes more sense, renovating or knockdown

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Which makes more sense, renovating or knockdown
Teddy Tong Photo Credit

Whether you renovate or go for a knockdown and building new will all depend on your personal needs and wants, the budget you have established and the time constraints built into a plan as well as how long you’ll plan to be living in that home.

Renovating probably will be a much less costly path to pursue, but that will also depend on what you are trying to accomplish as costs can and will increase if you do not create a budget and a plan to guide and follow. The percentage of homeowners renovating went from 19 percent during the first quarter of 2020 to 36 percent in the second quarter. Are you looking to add more living space, upgrading your kitchen and bathrooms, family room, customer patio/barbecue area w/pool, landscaping, etc.? What permits will you have to apply and attain and what will your timeline look like?

Everything can be simplified by following a tried-and-true, step-by-step plan and process so that you can work hand in hand with your architect and contractor or builder if you are starting from scratch. Customizing your home whether renovating or building new can be done right from the initial stages. There are always changes that can and will come about as you go along building your “dream home.”

Humans are creatures who don’t always follow a specific, strict course of action and there are those who are always changing their minds and augmenting decisions for various reasons. Husbands, wives and significant others may and may not see eye to eye (we know what that is like, right?) in the beginning but vacillate as the project progresses and their vision unfolds.

Visualizing and painting a picture of your specific needs and wants can establish a basis to start from and potentially minimize issues later on. When you do the required and necessary research, educating and learning, it will assist you in saving money as well as your valuable time.

With a full kitchen renovation, homeowners can recoup about 59 percent of the cost, and a new master suite will typically return 50 percent, according to a study from the National Association of Realtors (1.4 million members) and the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (463,537 members). But the highest returns come from less flashy projects as follows:
1.) Minor Bathroom Remodel: Returns an average of 102%
2.) Landscaping: Returns an average of 100%
3.) Minor Kitchen Remodel: Returns an average of 98.5%
4.) Attic Bedroom Conversion: Returns an average of 93.5%
5.) Major Bathroom Remodel: Returns an average of 93.2%

Prices on existing homes continue to increase as well as the bidding wars with multiple offers. There are and will be more people who currently own who will consider staying in place and renovating and/or expanding their existing homes instead of moving to larger quarters. Then there are those current baby boomers and others who feel that upgrading and redesigning their homes by retrofitting and adding handicap-accessible and special needs items will be the most prudent way for their future. This will provide them that much more comfort and enjoyment in their later years and their value will increase over time with their improvements.

There are those who are extremely fortunate in the 1-5 percent club who have earned huge sums of money during the pandemic and have multiple choices as to either to renovate or buy, knock down or build new.
Then again, however, there are more people who have already left large cities like New York over the last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic (and are not coming back) than ever before to have more open space, an office to do Zoom and telecommuting for their work at home, where they also have privacy and less physical human interaction as well as lower taxes and costs. Situations can always and do occur to enable, change or even disable your plans. Projecting your future is never an easy task, but it’s all in the planning.

Now that the pandemic is winding down as we reach the 60-70 percent vaccination rate in many locations, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has eliminated the protocols for social distancing, things can get back to a more normal environment so we can all begin to travel once again and enjoy our lives.

Philip A. Raices is the owner/Broker of Turn Key Real Estate at 3 Grace Ave Suite 180 in Great Neck. He has 39 years of experience in the Real Estate industry and has earned designations as a Graduate of the Realtor Institute (G.R.I.) and also as a Certified International Property Specialist (C.I.P.S). For a “FREE” 15 minute consultation, a value analysis of your home, or to answer any of your questions or concerns he can be reached by cell: (516) 647-4289 or by email: [email protected] Just email or snail mail (regular mail) him with your ideas or suggestions on future columns with your name, email and cell number and he will call or email you back.

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