Is Your House A Tear-down or Renovation Project?

Whether you’ve lived in your old home for years or are considering purchasing an older home, you may be faced with the decision to remodel or rebuild. Perhaps the lot is fantastic, but the home is just not worth salvaging, which can often happen with waterfront properties. Or, maybe the home has history and memories that you just want to preserve. This article includes 4 considerations for determining if your house a teardown or a renovation project.

Do you want to increase living space, perform a whole house renovation or just update a few rooms? Once you’ve answered that question, the next question is for your Design Build firm.

When building or remodeling, zoning and permitting are key considerations. For example, let’s say you are buying a waterfront property and you want to demo the house. What are the impact fees and costs associated with this type of project? Will the county allow you to expand the footprint? Or, would you be better off keeping the current footprint the same and adding a second floor? That beautiful deck you want to add may increase the amount of impervious surface on the property, which is a big no-no in critical areas of the Chesapeake Bay.  All of these factors should be considered before you begin the design process.

The structural condition of a home will strongly influence whether or not you choose to renovate or rebuild. A home that is questionable is probably leaning towards a rebuild. A structural engineer should be able to provide insight into whether or not the home will need ‘shoring up’ or if it can bear the load of a second floor. Remember, remodeling often uncovers hidden defects once the drywall is removed, so you and your contractor will want to factor in these possibilities to your budget and timeline.

They say that if your marriage can survive building or remodeling a house together, you can survive anything!  Either project can cause stress, so both partners must be ‘all-in.’  Where will you stay during the project? Living in an apartment or at mom and dads can be an additional stress factor and cost money. Make sure to weigh these options carefully.

At Parker Design Build Remodel, we have resources so you can finance your renovation project with special loan programs that can help you purchase and/or renovate with one fixed mortgage payment.

There are many rewards that come from tearing down and building a new home or renovating an existing home.  Be sure to choose an experienced Design Build firm that is empathetic and committed to providing a pleasant experience.  Contact Parker Design Build Remodel for a free consultation today!

To learn more about this project, click here.