Renovate or move house

[DobbyLovesSocks]

We have been in our current house for nearly 3 years. We haven't done much to it as circumstances changed just as we were moving in. We will be in a better position financially over next couple of years so we have been looking at houses in the area and thinking of moving. DS went to a friends house yesterday and I went with him to chat with mum etc. Her house is same design as mine but has been renovated and IMO makes much better use of the space. This got me thinking and after talking to DH we are now in a quandry: do we renovate where we are or move house?

Renovation (we think) could give us a kitchen/diner and utility with downstairs loo. If we moved this is what we would be looking for. Garden needs doing as well (old patio ripping out and replaced). We have a driveway and space for one car so would like the bit of path just outside our back garden converted (neighbours have had theirs done so don't think it be an issue and as we live at the bottom of a cul-de-sac it's not a public footpath as such).
Obviously there are pros and cons to both and costs/hassles to both. What would you do in my position?
Move: YABU
Renovate: YANBU

You need to realistically look at how much it would cost to renovate vs how much it would cost to move

Look at the realistic costs of moving, including removal, conveyancing fees, estate agent fees and decide whether that amount of money would fund the renovation.

Presumably, you’d be looking at increasing your mortgage too, so factor in the costs of doing that and the increased monthly payments. Then you have to weigh up whether you want the disruption, but being able to choose your own fixtures, or whether your lifestyle would make it difficult to live in chaos for a while.

You could be talking about 80k if you're talking about an extension and new walls etc.

Certainly I wouldn't be thinking about either just hoping your circumstances will improve in the next couple of years. You have to wait till you actually have money, rather than just the prospect of having money.

We've just done an extension and was £60k. To move would have been £20k plus then probably re doing all the bathrooms and kitchen etc. We've already spent £20k on this house doing all that for example. So another £40k or £60k and stay put in our house in an area we love. We chose to stay out and extend

Oh we’re in the exact same position but have a change of area to think about too! It’s so hard to decide what to do. I totally feel your pain. If I didn’t want to live in the other area I’d stay put and renovate. I’m assuming there’s no change of area to consider for you.

Our circumstances will definitely improve as a short term loan we have will be paid off plus both me and DH will be getting payrises.
Area we live in is ok - district within big town and if we were to move, it would be to another district within same big town. I'd love to move back to district we moved from a few years ago but nothing on the market at the moment (I realise that can change). If we were to move we would still have to sort out back garden otherwise that will knock quite a chunk off asking price.
Will need to look at costs of moving - I was surprised when we moved last time that it didn't cost as much as I thought it would. We also had quite a large deposit to put on the current house we have as we sold the house we had for a lot more than we bought it for

To echo the others, make an informed decision. Work out the financial costs of buying, moving and selling v staying and renovating. If cost is not a consideration and neither is location, look at convenience. Could you gain more space, time and cash from moving? More from staying? Thinking ahead, how long would you envision staying in that house, for?

Every house / area has a max value.
How much will you spend on renovations & how much will it value the house at? If it's close to or above the max value then you are over investing in the house & moving should be considered.

Our stamp duty was c£12k. Then solicitors c£5k. Estate agent c£3k. Removals c£1k. That's the best part of £20k just to change our address