Your opinion on this situation

I just bought my house last year. But it seems I am already starting to outgrow it. I loved the larger than average property size than most in my area but the house is too small for the whole family. I thought it would be easy enough to expand when I purchased it but it seems after some REAL thought, it seems a whole lot more complicated.

If you were in my situation, would you add to the house or plan to move and not do anything.

My house has been redone in the last 2 years from previous owners, new roof, new sheetrock, new electric, new siding, new kitchen, new windows, pretty much everything. Adding on will require me to rip out all my sidng and redo it b/c the colors never match and the roof etc. I have a ranch and don't want to go up but want to go out. Making this addition will cost me about $40,000 for a 300 sq feet area(price is high b/c i want siding to match). The only money I have put into this house so far is a new furnace and cac.

or

Save my money, live here for 5-7 years or so and then just leave and purchase something else.

what is your opinion?

Re: Your opinion on this situation

hmmm, its a tough one. How do you feel about the overall area, schools, etc?

Re: Your opinion on this situation

This is not an easy decision. You would really have to crunch some numbers and figure our how much you could get for your house if you sold it now and how much a larger house will cost you. A 300 square foot addition to your current house is not much for the price you quoted.

Re: Your opinion on this situation

It is not an easy decision at all. Having just sold and bought myself, I may be biased. I would not want to go through that process again anytime soon, and I would lean towards expanding.

You should get some estimates for the cost of expanding though. It may or may not be worth it.

One thing, the market has dipped a great deal even since last year, so you probably will lose money selling now. It may also take you awhile to find a buyer--there's a lot on the market, so people are taking their time. Interest rates are also higher, so that may make buying look less attractive to people.

It also depends how much you like the house and neighborhood otherwise. If you love everything about the place but the size, that's one more reason to continue expanding.

Re: Your opinion on this situation

we jsut went throught a similar situation. we've owned our house for about 2 1/2 years. its a "starter" house with two bedroom, one bathroom and not really a ton of closet space. its ok for just two of us, but we knew before we had kids, we would hvae to add on or move. we thought this would all happen in 4 or 5 years, and we would have time to save up to add on, etc.
WELL, DHs dad ended up having to move and offered us a "deal" on his house. it is one we don't have to add on to. it took us a LONG time to decide whether to buy his house from him or just stay where we were and add on. in the end, we decided to buy his house. in the end, its the same amoutn we would pay to add on to our current house, without all the headache of the construction, etc. we also took into consideration the town. we like the town we're in now, but his parents town has a better school district. its also in a slightly nicer neighborhood.
so, look at where your house is now. how much do you like the neighborhood and town? if its where you really want to stay, then i would say its worth staying and adding on.... if not, maybe look for a bigger house. it can't hurt to just look and see whats out there in your price range- maybe that will help you decide. good luck!

Re: Your opinion on this situation

I was in this exact situation. I got suckered into a smaller house because I loved the property. Thought I would expand. Then I priced it, and thought about the practicality of expanding this house, and decided it was not worth it.

We sold, and bought bigger

But every situation is different.Hard call.

Re: Your opinion on this situation

I'd price out other houses in the area that have the room you need, and then get estimates for the addition you'd want to do. Then decide how much you like the area you're in, and if you want to live through construction like that.

Also, are you sure they wouldn't be able to match up the siding? If it was only done two years ago I can't imagine it would've faded much. That would save you so much money.