Do You Have What It Takes To Be A Realtor?
“Normal” people often ask me, “Cathy, could I make it if I’m not genetically predisposed to being a Realtor as you were?” Heredity did play
Renovate or Relocate? It Depends on How Much You’re Spending
If you’ve thought about moving recently, there’s a good chance you’ve also considered… not moving.
Between higher mortgage rates and the cost of buying a new home, many homeowners are choosing to stay put and upgrade what they already have.
According to a recent survey, more than 2 in 5 homeowners say they’ve renovated their home in the past year, and another third are planning to do so in the next year. In fact, roughly 65% of recent renovators said they specifically chose to improve their current home instead of moving.
When you see numbers like that, it’s easy to assume it’s the most sensible move right now. And in many cases, maybe it is.
But deciding whether to renovate or move isn’t something to base solely on what everyone else is doing. In fact, if you’re in the same category as about 12% of the people in that survey, you may want to think a little more carefully before committing either way.
Most Renovations Seem to Be Relatively Low-Cost, and Low-Risk…
For a large number of homeowners, the money being spent on renovations is relatively modest, and not something that’s going to make or break them financially. The survey found that the most common projects fall between $1,000 and $20,000 for 73% of the homeowners. These tend to be smaller upgrades, cosmetic improvements, or tackling one area of the home at a time.
At that level, renovations are usually pretty straightforward and relatively low-risk. You improve your space, enjoy it while you live there, and if you eventually sell, those updates can help your home show better and compete in the market.
These aren’t high-stakes decisions where homeowners feel pressure to recoup every dollar by dramatically increasing the home’s value. And in many cases, moving would have cost significantly more anyway.
So if the goal is to make your home more comfortable and better suited to your needs—and you’re not banking on it making your home worth more than it cost to do the work—it’s a perfectly reasonable decision.
The Price Point Where Things Start to Change
The dynamic starts to shift as the numbers climb.
The survey found that 16% of homeowners reported spending between $20,000 and $50,000 on renovations. At that level, it’s worth being a bit more thoughtful about what you’re doing and why.
If you’re at the lower end of that range, it’s probably not all that risky. But as you move toward the higher end, it becomes easier to expect that the investment will increase your home’s value by more than what you’re putting into it. And unfortunately, that’s often not the case.
That said, if the renovation will make you happier in your current home and you have realistic expectations about the return on your investment, it can still make sense, especially if moving would mean buying into a significantly higher price point.
But once you get beyond that range… it becomes a different conversation.
Once You Hit the $50,000 Mark, You Should Consider the Alternatives
The survey revealed that 7% of homeowners are spending between $50,000 to $99,999, and 5% are spending $100,000 or more on renovations.
When you start investing that kind of money into your home, it’s worth asking a bigger question: does it still make more sense to renovate, or would it be better to move?
As mentioned earlier, most renovations don’t deliver a full return on investment. Some add value. Some make a home easier to sell. But very few give you dollar-for-dollar payback, let alone a profit.
And it’s something many homeowners don’t fully realize until later. It’s not unusual for someone to spend $50,000, $75,000, or more improving their home, only to decide a year or two down the road that they want to move after all.
At that point, the expectation is often that those upgrades will translate directly into a higher sale price. But when an agent runs the numbers and looks at comparable sales, the reality is that the increase in value doesn’t always match the cost of the improvements.
It’s a frustrating realization for homeowners… and not a conversation agents particularly enjoy having after the decision to renovate has already been made.
And that’s exactly why it can be so helpful to involve an agent before you start renovating.
Agents don’t enjoy being the ones to break the news after the fact that the numbers don’t quite add up. But when you bring them into the conversation early, they can help you look at the bigger picture and decide whether it makes more sense to renovate your current home, or explore what your options might look like if you were to move instead.
The Takeaway:
A recent survey showed that roughly 65% of homeowners are choosing to renovate instead of move. And for many—especially those taking on smaller projects under $20,000—it can be a smart, practical way to improve their home without the added cost of relocating.
But as renovation budgets start to climb, the decision becomes more important to think through. For the roughly 12% of homeowners spending $50,000 or more, it’s worth stepping back and considering whether upgrading your current home is truly the best move, or if that money might go further toward buying a home that already has those features in place.
Before committing to a larger renovation, it can be helpful to loop in a local real estate agent. They can give you a clearer picture of your options, help you understand how those improvements might impact your home’s value, and make sure you’re making the right decision based on both your goals and the numbers.
