Remodel or Build (long)

[JayCT]

My wife and I are trying to decide if we should remodel our current home or build a new "dream" house. Our current home is a 2,300 s.f. colonial with 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, 2 car garage on 1/3 of an acre in a very convenient family neighborhood. The problem is that the house is kind of bland and is not our style. There are about 20 others just like it in our neighborhood and probably a couple of hundred in the area. I figure that even with putting $40,000 into it to remodel and redecorate, it will still not be what we want. Among the problems with it are:
1. No privacy. We are one of many homes in a field of homes that look at each other.
2. The neighbors on either side of us are strange. One is a single woman who keeps to herself and runs when she sees anyone, while the other is an older couple that p***ed off everyone around them long before we moved in. While he does nod toward me when we are outside I have never talked to him and do not even know his name.
3. My wife wants a mudroom where the kids can enter the house, take off shoes and boots, hang up coats and drop their books. To provide this would mean a significant remodeling that would add little to the actual value of the house.
4. I want a bigger garage. One side of our garage is used for the kids bikes, toys, lawn mowers, workbench, etc. We considered buying a shed, however because of the configuration of our yard, it would have to be in the back of the house which would be difficult to access and probably never used.
5. I hate the kitchen cabinets. They are boring oak which we thought about painting but I am not sure how that would look.
6. Wallpaper and carpet need to be replaced. The house is full of 1980's colors (pastel blues and mauves) that I hate. I have been slowly ripping down wallpaper, but replacing the carpets would be a major cost and inconvenience.
7. I want more land. We have a pool and a playscape that takes up most of the backyard. My kids love to play baseball. they play it between our house and the single woman's house and I am waiting for the day they break a window.
8. I hate the color of the house. It is a light blue-gray (I hatre blue), just like the one across the street. The only color my wife I can agree that we really like would not go well with the style of the house or fit into the neighborhood.

All in all the house is nice enough and most people would love to live there. We have friends and relatives that rave about our neighborhood because it is close to the highway, town and a park. The other problem is that land is getting scarce in our town and expensive. I am not even certain that I will find a decent lot to build on. Plus building is not cheap and if we stayed where we are, we would have plenty of money for our sons college, retirement, really nice vacations, etc.

Anyone have suggestions?

 

[tkyes]

Well it sounds like there is only one thing on your list of wants that you can't change "I want more land"

I would say you have to decide how much of a want that is.

 

[stinkerbelle]

. I am not even certain that I will find a decent lot to build on. Plus building is not cheap and if we stayed where we are, we would have plenty of money for our sons college, retirement, really nice vacations, etc.

the way I see it - see how much you can sell your house for (If I remember correctly, you're in Glastonbury?) You will probably get a pretty penny for the house you described...but you might price yourself out of the town. Do you want to move to the sticks where there is more land/privacy? If so, you'll get more bang for your buck there...but if you move to a similar town (or stay in town) you might not be able to afford 'new'.

I'm all for building...it's a great experience, yes I'm , but we enjoyed building our house last year. At this time last year our house was nothing more then a hole in the ground, already 2.5 months behind schedule. hehehe

 

[crz4mm2]

"Plus building is not cheap and if we stayed where we are, we would have plenty of money for our sons college, retirement, really nice vacations, etc."

This says it all to me.

 

[Kimberle]

I know what you mean, Jay. Down where we are, there is very little land. People are buying houses, knocking them down, then rebuilding. So it's like they are paying "double".

Have you thought of buying another house? Maybe you could find one that is closer to your liking.

What I would do, is get pricing on exactly what you want to do, both building and remodeling. The cost may be your determining factor.

 

[mickeyboat]

We decided to remodel our home. DH is a carpenter and he can do all the work himself so we can get a lot more for our money.

We live in town, and although we miss the privacy and lack of space, it's where we want to be while our kids are growing up. I want them to live in a neighborhood where they can go out and ride their bikes and have other kids to play with. I also want to be close to all the activities they will undoubtedly join in when they are older. I want our house to be the place where all the kids come to hang out. We have remodeled it with that in mind.

When the kids grow up and leave the house, we are going to do something different. Maybe a bit more provacy and more land. But for now, we are going to stay where we are.

I see a lot of people putting their houses on the market because housing proices are high right now. They think they are going to make a fortune and end up with a lot of cash left over. But they soon discover they can't find anything worth having for less than they sold their own house.

One issue to consider with remodeling is whether you will be able to live in the house through the construction or whether you have somewhere else to stay. It sounds like your home will need extensive work to make it what you want. Do you want to live through the mess? It will be more expensive (ie take more time from the builder) if you are living there. It will take longer if you are living there.

Edited to add: Also beware of "while you are at it" issues if you remodel. DH is famous for it. While we're at it, let's change the entire heating, electrical and plumbing system, while we're at it, let's build a dormer when we do the roof.

Tough decision. Good luck!

Denae

 

[TimeforMe]

We recently put an addition on our home and remodeled the kitchen (new cabinets, floor, appliances, countertops, etc.) so I feel pretty confident that the figure you mentioned is way off. I would at least double that figure. It sounds that you are not very happy with your current house even though others "rave about it". You're the one that lives there and it sounds like you're not that crazy about it.

Instead of BUILDING your dream house, can you find one already built that might fit the bill? I know real estate in CT is very expensive (we live in Fairfield), but is really a good investment.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Just thought I would chime in here...

I did build a house. Guess what it STILL costs ALOT of money!!! Our house is 4yrs old and we had to replace the flooring which cost 15,000.

Plus the deck 8,000, landscaping (haven't done it yet 3,000 there), we still need to do the basement so that's 25,000, then we are thinking about a pool, $40,000.

So I wouldn't make the "money" as the reason to move. Do you HATE your house? If you remodeled would you like it better? How important is the 3 car to you?

Things like flooring, wallpapering, painting, cabinets, outdoor appearance should not be included into the equation. That is the "cost" of living in the house. These are things that you are expected to keep up on. You will be doing this if you move into used. You have to paint (inside) the WHOLE house when you build. (We have one more closet...YEA!!!!)

Do your homework and get the costs first. Remodeling, building, etc.. Not an easy decision, but I had to say something because the "new" house seems like we are dumping a TON of money into it. But we love it.
Good Luck!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I just had to add something. I know your wife wants a "mudroom" but as I had the floors done I had to tear out the stuff in the closets. I had some closet organizers draw me up something to organize the girls for school in the entry closet. Hang up their bookbags, shoes, purses, coats, etc..

Also I haven't had them out but there is something called GarageTek, that supposedly can get you organized. Maybe next Father's Day....(for us)

 

[JayCT]

Thanks everyone for all the comments. Tonight DW and I went to our DS's baseball clinic and talked about looking in another town. We like the town we are in for convenience (yes it is Glastonbury) but have realized how snobby it is. Not one person at this clinic talked to us and we have been going to this thing for several weeks. Last weekend we went to a couple of open houses and ran into a couple who are building in the next town. They said that they left our town because people were not that friendly and they wanted a smaller community. They invited us to build on the lot next to theirs. They were extremely friendly. DW is feeling the same way and I can't say that i blame her.

I can not say that i am unhappy with our home. If I was, I think we would have been out of here a long time ago. I just want something with a little character. Something not so cookie cutter. We joke that we live in Stepford because all the homes are perfectly lined up with the standard two maples on the front lawn and the neat and trim front yards. I feel aweful when my neighbor across the street comments on me having the kids old pitch back sitting in the driveway or when I have a bag of clippings next to the garage.

I have done my homework on this. I have talked to a couple of builders in the area about costs to build. I also know that my remodeling estimate is probably low. Our house is in very good shape and we could sell it tomorrow with a few cosmetic changes. The things I said cost $40,000 are not major remodeling stuff (no walls to knock down, no electrical or plumbing moves, etc.). The house is 17 years old. Someone would come in and find it perfectly acceptable. Well at least I now know we could consider other towns and will have our agent check listings there. We have looked and really could not find what we want in our town. Maybe the next towns over.

Timeforme - Are you in the Town of Fairfield or Fairfield County? I am originally from the Town of Fairfield and have a lot of family and friends there.

 

[TimeforMe]

Hi Jay: Yes, we are in the Town of Fairfield (in Ffld. County ) I've lived here since we've been married (almost 19 years), but my husband was born and raised here. Prices are through the roof here as I'm sure you know.

Good luck with your decision. Are you going to look at that lot the people spoke of?

P.S. I know what you mean about snobby. There's lots of that around here, too.

 

[JayCT]

Timeforme - Where in Fairfield do you live? I grew up on Tunxis Hill, went to McKinley, Fairifeld Woods and Warde. Still have a lot of family and friends down there. I was there yesterday to see my father and sister. You are right, things there have gotten snobby too.

Fairfield was a such a nice town (it still is) but it has gotten soooo expensive. In my sister's neighborhood, two builders bought homes, tore them down and built a new $750,000 + home in their place. The strange thing is that they both have sold. I hear that is happening all over town. It is a shame when they jam a large house on these tiny lots. It just doesn't look right. My wife and I have talked about moving back, but even with an increase in pay it does not compensate for the difference in house prices. I guess we are spoiled.

We have looked at already built homes but haven't seen what we want within our price range. We are looking for a home similar in size to our current home but with a little more character. We have seen newer homes we like but they are much large than we want (our town is the McMansion capitol of eastern CT). As for lots, I have written letters to the owners of five lots that have interested me. The letters went out last week, so I haven't heard back yet. I am also going to extend our search to other less expensive towns. We will see. Thanks everyone. Jay

 

[Microcell]

Jay-

It sounds to me like you want to move. I understand having more money staying, but Ihave had both bad and good neighbors, and good ones are worth so much! My DD has really had a better quality of life living in our more expensive house with neighbor kids near her age that are nice! I would not trade her happy childhood for money.

As an observer reading your posts it sure looks to me like you are leaning toward building, I would do it if you can. The further out you go from a metro area the cheaper the housing.

I just have to share, those of you in Oklahoma have a secret gold mine- I went to visit my Dh a few months back while he was in Oklahoma City for a week on business and NEW houses were going for 98,000- 138,000. I was surprised by how cheap they were and went on a mission to find the most expensive house there, and could only find one for $160,000! Really it did not look like all that bad of a town- Univ of Oklahoma was there, but no major league teams, though. I can't believe how cheap and I live in Kansas City, which compared to CT is cheap with our 180,000 to 350,000 new houses!

 

[stinkerbelle]

Originally posted by TimeforMe
Hi Jay: Yes, we are in the Town of Fairfield (in Ffld. County ) I've lived here since we've been married (almost 19 years), but my husband was born and raised here. Prices are through the roof here as I'm sure you know.

I dunno how you do it TimeForMe...I rented an apartment in Fairfield after college and was dumbstruck with the prices.

I have a coworker who lives in Fairfield that wants to sell...they need a bigger home...however they'd be priced right out of the town if they sold. I told her to come up to my neck of the woods and she rolled her eyes at me.

 

[TimeforMe]

Jay: I'm sending you a pm (hopefully)

Stinkerbelle--Where in CT do you live? Yes, unfortunately many people who've grown up here can't afford to raise their own children here anymore We were fortunate in that we bought our home from DMIL (much to DH's sisters' dismay ) at a good price. We've added on, put on a new roof, dirveway, new vinyl siding and gutted every single room in the house, so our mortgage is still rather high considering the "deal" we got. Hopefully it will pay off when it comes time to sell. The town, however, does have a lot to offer: beautful beaches, great schools, lots of recreational and community services, close to NYC, etc. I feel fortunate to be able to raise our family here.