With the housing market currently in hyperdrive, many homeowners have decided to cash in on exploding home values to make an upgrade. If you’ve decided that your family needs some extra space or are eyeing some new amenities, you might find yourself asking, “Should I add on to my house or move?” It’s a worthwhile question, and with some research, you can make a more informed decision on getting a home addition vs new home. Do you get the sense that everyone in your Instagram feed is sharing pictures of their new house, or their new home renovation project? You’re not alone. With the housing market currently in hyperdrive, many homeowners have decided to cash in on exploding home values to make an upgrade. If you’ve decided that your family needs some extra space or are eyeing some new amenities, you might find yourself asking, “Should I add on to my house or move?” It’s a worthwhile question, and with some localized research, you can make a more informed decision on a home addition vs new home.
Table of Contents
Time & Investment: How much does it cost to move?
Shopping for a new home can be an exciting process. It can also be a terrifying, exhausting, time-consuming and expensive process. According to Nerd Wallet, the average homebuyer spends eight weeks searching for a new home. Even if you are lucky enough to find a home with the space and amenities your current house is missing, there’s additional the financial cost of moving. According to Consumer Affairs, the average family spends up to $2,000 on movers. Of course, moving to a new home may mean taking on a new mortgage.
How much does it cost to build a home addition?
An alternative to relocating to a new home is to build an addition on your current home. Building an addition is a full-scale development project that requires adding a foundation and fully-enclosed spaces to create new inhabitable rooms for your home. Whether you are allowed to build an addition will be up to your local property and zoning regulations. Despite all this, additions have become immensely popular in the last couple of years. According to Home Advisor, home additions generally run between $80 and $200 per square foot, pushing complex projects up to $150,000 for a single room addition. With all this new construction coupled with supply chain issues, lumber costs have also exploded. According to Family Handyman, lumber costs doubled in late 2021, and have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.
If you are thinking about adding space to your current home, there’s another option to consider beyond adding on or move… expanding your outdoor additional living space.
Benefits of expanding outdoors with modern patio covers
If the stress of moving or tackling a home addition project seems too daunting, an alternative path to creating additional living space is to look to your backyard, patio or deck. With modern aluminum pergolas, like the Azenco R-Blade, homeowners can easily add livable square feet to their home. With integrated lighting, automated screens, and a gapless louvered roof designed to capture every drop of rain, these pergola-covered patio spaces can be an ideal solution.
Budgets for today’s modern pergola projects vary extensively based on the overall size of the pergola project, local regulatory needs for such structures, and other unique aspects of your pergola project. If you are considering how much does it cost to expand a house with a dynamic and flexible pergola space, reach out to us and we’ll have one of our local dealers walk you through your options and project budgeting.
As you are evaluating the different pricing options for moving, building an addition or expanding your new outdoor living space, consider some creative ways to make a pergola project more financially attractive, such as:
- Tax credits for solar panels – Depending on your state, solar tax credits may be offered to fund a pergola project; and you could enjoy a regular flow of renewable energy to offset your utility bill.
- Outdoor office – The pandemic reshaped the way we work, namely a massive shift to working from home. Savvy homeowners are creating hybrid spaces to relax, some with an outdoor office. For self-employed folks, that new square footage may even be beneficial when filing your tax returns.
- Increase home value and position your home for resale – Adding a beautiful and functional outdoor living space to your home may increase your home’s value. Many home buyers call out dedicated outdoor living spaces on their list of “must-haves” for their realtors.
Home Addition Alternatives
If you have been trying to decide between moving or building a home addition for some added space, we would encourage you to take a look at an alternative. Building a modern, all-weather pergola can create dynamic all-weather living rooms that solve your space constraints without the headaches of moving or massive construction.
Fixed Insulated Roof
Do you have a growing family and need space for the kids to play? Consider adding a solid fixed-roof pergola to your patio that provides full-time protection from the sun’s harmful rays. Surround the patio with a low retaining wall or rows of sturdy shrubs to help corral the little tykes. With some embedded LED lights, the patio even becomes a nighttime play spot.
Motorized Louvered Roof
Do you have a newfound love for live-fire cooking or wood-fired pizza? A covered patio or deck is the ideal home addition to make room for your new culinary addictions. Constructing an adjustable louvered roof pergola in your backyard allows you to control the sun/shade balance while you cook and feed friends and family. The adjustable louvers also allow you to maintain plenty of ventilation when firing up the smoker or barbecue and then close the roof tightly to keep out the rain.
Voiced-control Options
Does your small home no longer accommodate the entertainment style of your growing family and friend group? A high-tech smart pergola will expand your reception space to accommodate everyone. With our optional hands-free voice-controlled pergola, you can impress your guests when you order Siri or Alexa to open the louvers or bring up the LED lights as the sun sets.
If you are considering adding onto an old house, contact us and have one of our expert dealers reach out to explore your pergola options.
