Don’t move, improve. Better return-on-investment for your property.

For some people, the longer they stay in their home, the more they love it. They raise their family there, and find it hard to picture ever leaving. But for others, the shine can begin to wear off if they stay somewhere too long. All the things they used to love about the property are no longer enough to make them want to stay. Your home might not feel enough for you anymore.

If you’re feeling this way about your property, you don’t necessarily need to leave. Making some changes could be what will help you fall in love with your home again. You could create some more space by extending, reconfigure the layout or add some beautiful new features.

Moving home is often expensive. When you sell your home, you need to spend time coordinating between selling and buying. Buying a new property will require you to put forward a deposit, pay mortgage fees, cover stamp duty, have surveys carried out, and more.

When you’ve finally bought a new property, the physical act of moving costs you even more money and more time. You need to spend time packing and paying people to help you move your things. Your money might be much better spent carrying out some changes to your property instead.

Improving your property could raise its value. If you’re not certain about moving but you think you’ll do so in the future, it’s worth investing in your property now. When it’s time to move, you’ll get a better return on your investment if you’ve managed to make some changes that make your property more valuable.

Some of the changes that you can make for the best ROI include adding extra living space by extending or rearranging the existing space to make better use of it. Converting a room or space that isn’t currently being used to its full potential, such as an attic, can offer tremendous value both in terms of better quality of life and what your property could fetch when you eventually decide to sell.

One of the reasons you could be considering moving home is that you feel that the space it offers is no longer suitable for you. Maybe your family has grown, or you’ve been left with an empty nest. Or perhaps your lifestyle has slowly changed, and your home doesn’t feel right for it anymore.

Instead of moving somewhere else, making some improvements with a contemporary architect could involve reimagining how you can use the available space. You might want to make your home more open-plan, create some outdoor space, or simply modernise so that your home look more up to date.

Moving home doesn’t just mean a new house. It often means locating to a new area, with new neighbours, different amenities and a different atmosphere. Even if you remain close to your old home, it’s not the same.

If you love the neighbourhood you live in, you don’t have to give it up because you’re feeling unhappy with your home. Choosing to renovate and redesign your home gives you the opporxtunity to stay where you are and continue to enjoy the property that you first fell in love with.

Making improvements to your home isn’t without its issues. It can mean you have to adjust your life at home while the changes are being made. However, you could find that there’s much less disruption to your life when improving your home, compared to moving to somewhere new, particularly if you use an experienced residential contemporary architect like Scenario Architecture to plan, design and build your project. We were longlisted for a ‘Don’t move, improve’ New London Awards 2016 for the inspiring project pictured above. Have a look for inspiration, contact us for ideas.