Renovate or Rebuild?

A dilemma often facing homeowners is whether to renovate their existing home or start from scratch.

While there are no simple answers – and every situation is different – there are a number of key considerations that need to be taken into account.

Firstly, the type and location of your existing home plays a big role. If you live in a reasonably sound period home in a prestige area, there might be value in retaining some of the period features (usually the façade and front rooms) and renovating/rebuilding the rest.

If you’re looking at buying, check with your local council too, as a heritage overlay for example, might place some limitations on your options.

On the other side of the coin, designing and building from scratch might involve some demolition costs, but will result in a brand new, low-maintenance home, designed totally around the lifestyle and living requirements of your family.

Without doubt, a well-designed, high quality renovation or new home can add considerable value to a property in the right location – but it always pays to research the sale price of new and renovated properties in your area to ensure you don’t over capitalise or even under capitalise.

And if you’re thinking of ‘selling up’ altogether, it’s worth thinking about what you’ll be paying in stamp duty, agent’s fees, removalists costs etc. on your next property.

Demolishing and starting from scratch, or renovating your existing home, become attractive options when you consider that you would be paying $55,000 in stamp duty on a $1 million property purchase.