WWYD? Extend vs. move

So..we are expecting another child and need more space ultimately. We are in a large split, so would build over our living room or there is a new construction with extra beds/baths basically across the way from us. We are going back and forth and a lot has to do with what we can get for our house and what we can get the other house for. Any thoughts? Some we have already had:

-restarting a mortgage-ugh!
-buying and selling (although there's no one living in the other house) stress
-the other house already has the room we need
-living through construction with a newborn/baby

Just trying to gather as much info. as possible. We would need to stay in our current area, which has low inventory so it's kind of a seller's market..thanks for any insight!

Re: WWYD? Extend vs. move

As long as you can afford it, I would definitely go for the new house! We finished our basement and while it did not directly impact our living and they taped off the door pretty good there was still so much dust and noise. I can't imagine doing that with a newborn. We really didn't have any issues and it took 2 months start to finish and I told DH I'm never living through that again (and it really wasn't even that bad).

New construction sounds great! Everything nice and new and you don't have to worry about when the current owners will leave (yes of course you still need to sell, but it is a sellers market now). And the fact it is still in your neighborhood is a win! I really don't see any negatives about moving to the new construction.

Re: WWYD? Extend vs. move

Is the new construction a flip? If so, be careful because most that I have seen aren't made well. They may look nice but someone who is flipping isn't going to make sure everything is perfect

Re: WWYD? Extend vs. move

Re: WWYD? Extend vs. move

Also be careful. With New constructions you don't know what the taxes are and neither will the agent

Re: WWYD? Extend vs. move

WWYD? Extend vs. move

When I was expecting we debated the same thing - whether to move or expand. We put our house on the market knowing we had to get above a certain price to be able to accept an offer. After 4 months and only low offers we started the expansion process and have been living in our same house since and are very happy we did the extension.

Re: WWYD? Extend vs. move

Re: WWYD? Extend vs. move

I think all things, considered, the new house seems like a great opportunity. Also as far s buying and selling, especially if inventory is low in your area, I bet it would be a quick sell. You have a nice, comfortable home. I bet you'd attract buyers faster than you think.

As far as the whole moving process, you just do it and it's done. It seems like one way or another, you'll have to deal with some sort of inconvenience. I'd choose moving over living through major construction, personally. Just seems overall easier, in my opinion.

Re: WWYD? Extend vs. move

If you have a large split, what kind of extra room do you need? Is it just the need for an extra bedroom and bathroom?

If so, I would dormer up over the living room to make a master suite. I think in that scenario, it wouldn't be too crazy to live through construction given that you could still live in and use the main, existing house. You would be doing an extension, not renovating the current space.

If you feel that your current house would be too small in terms of overall square footage, common living space, etc. then you are probably better off with the new construction.

But given comments above about flips and taxes - I just wanted to clarify. Is it a BRAND NEW construction? In other words, a house on that lot was knocked down and a builder built a new house there from the ground up? Or is it a flip or a renovated house? I'm asusming it's not brand new because you mentioned a family had been living in it.

If it's brand new construction, it doesn't matter what the previous taxes were on the knock-down home. It will be taxed as a brand new construction, and taxes are very high on new construction. Other posters are correct that you don't have the final assessment until post closing, and the builders' "estimated taxes" are usually lower than the final (by quite a bit). New construction can also be "bare bones" - no landscaping or fencing or yard improvements (decks, pools), no finished basement, no washer/dryer, etc. You can add some of the interior stuff in, but upgrades can really cost you $$$.

A flip is a different issue - quality of course can be a concern. But you set on taxes (you know what they are) and you often get more "improvements" included than with brand new construction.

Re: WWYD? Extend vs. move

if you like the location and just need an extra bedroom I would build the master suite on top of the living room. I live in a split and if I had the $ would love to do this to my own house. Many houses in my area have that addition.

WWYD? Extend vs. move

We have the same situation you describe. A large split and feel that we don't have enough space when we decide to have another child (we currently have a 2 year old DD). After discussing things with DH, we'll likely dormer over the living room to create a master suite with a large walk in closet and master bath. That will make our current 3 BR 1.5 BA house into a 4BR 2.5BA house. We also plan to finish the basement and make that into a playroom area, thus opening up our current den lower level. We really like our location and we have absolutely fantastic neighbors and decent taxes (they're still high but are good for LI).

WWYD? Extend vs. move

Thanks everyone. We need to look at the two potential houses around. One is a new construction so the tax thing will happen but the other has been lived in very briefly so they should be able to give us ballpark info.