We did a major renovation 12 years ago (400k) while our kids were in jr high and high school. I would do it again in a minute. By renovating, we got the exact house we wanted and got to stay in the neighborhood we enjoyed. It has been wonderful making memories in the renovated space which has plenty of room. I would go for it.

We did this renovation 5 years ago for $500k (extended footprint of the house 15 feet to add new kitchen, family room and primary bedroom/bathroom above). Given the increased cost of materials, I'd guess we could have spent more like $600k now. We did it when our kids were really little so that we could use it for their whole childhood. We love the space and use it constantly. But I don't think I would have gone through the stress, cost and discomfort at your stage in parenthood. Maybe a smaller renovation to make the house more functional but not a major one.

If your kids are that close to leaving for college, maybe wait and move after they leave? Then you won’t have school constraints.

FWIW we renovated and then moved a few years later. That’s a more common story than you’d think—we have friends who added a floor and moved three years later. You suffer through the renovation and afterward enjoy the new space but are bothered by things about the house you can’t change. It opens your eyes to new problems. We did ok financially but I made some expensive choices that I wouldn’t have made if I had known I’d sell so soon. Absolutely love the new house/neighborhood we moved to.

Anonymous wrote:No, we know if retired neighbors who admit that they don’t even flush all the toilets in the house because it’s just the two of them. The parties aren’t that often and sometimes Grandma and Grandpa go to the kids’ homes anyway. They over built for the 2 of them. They’d rather travel the world. Use that $500,000 elsewhere.

Yeah, ymmv, but no way would I upend my life and want a bigger house-- either as a renovation or as a move -- in the expectation that we'd need more space when kids brought their families home. It's like people who buy a pickup for the one Home Depot run a year, or who design their kitchen to accommodate the one dinner party they have a year (which people do, but it doesn't make sense to me really).

You're not adding another level for $500K. You will need to move out for this renovation. Only you can decide if it's worth the time and hassle.

Just move, dude.

I don’t think it’s crazy but do you want to spend a year living in a rental with your kids? Do you think you can rent a place that’s not too far away and not super cramped?

Anonymous wrote:No, just move away, downsize, whatever. Don’t spend the last few years your kids are living at home stuck in a renovation. That’s a nightmare.

Depends on what they are having done. If they're not taking down exterior walls it might all be outside work.

Anonymous wrote:No, just move away, downsize, whatever. Don’t spend the last few years your kids are living at home stuck in a renovation. That’s a nightmare.

This. Your entire home life will be upended for awhile. And I would get clear on whether you are doing this for your quality of life or to try and build equity - because your quality of life will decrease significantly before it increases. If you're chasing equity, I would chat with some realtors first to make sure the return will be worth the hassle.

No, we know if retired neighbors who admit that they don’t even flush all the toilets in the house because it’s just the two of them. The parties aren’t that often and sometimes Grandma and Grandpa go to the kids’ homes anyway. They over built for the 2 of them. They’d rather travel the world. Use that $500,000 elsewhere.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, just move. Or knock down and rebuild.

We did a smaller reno (added a floor over part of the house; originally budgeted $250k, ran way over), we had to project manage the whole thing, and the result is still not better than if we had a house that was all built at the same time.
Your 50s house has 50s foundation, walls, wiring, etc., and the walls aren't square because they've shifted over time. When you add a room or a floor, things will not tie together perfectly. Nothing fixes that except a scrape renovation.

We've done renovations of homes in the past but its been a long time, a different time. We don't want a newly built home, many neighbors have them and they lack character. We love the midcentury modern look and feel. We used to live in a 1920s house in DC so compared to that this is modern!

You seem really set on it so I hope it goes well for you. Personally I would never do it again.

I'd previously done a basement finishing / new bathroom project and a master suite reno, but a big structural project was just way harder and involved more compromises.
I'd scrape and rebuild if I had the money, but I'll never do an addition to an existing house again.

I would only live through that and spend that amount of money if I absolutely needed the space and it made more financial sense than moving.

In your case it doesn’t.

No way. I’d downsize when kids go to college. I wouldn’t spend 2 out of the next 4 years renovating.

We just went through a similar decision process. In our case, renovating wasn't really an option since expanding the house would have required substantial changes to the backyard which is a lot of what we loved about the house. Living there with an altered lot would make us sad. So we moved instead - within the same neighborhood, but to a larger house that had already been expanded. If it was just the two of us, we would have happily stayed, but like a PP said, we're planning for the kids to go to college and bring people home with them eventually. We wouldn't have had space for that in our old place.

Sure, go ahead but be ready for changes to budget. My sister bought a house budgeting 500k in renovations but it's going to cost then 1.2 mil, there are always surprises when it comes to renovation and construction. Go into all of it with your eyes open and keep plenty of extra cash in hand. Good luck!