If you’re like most people, you probably dream of finding your perfect home. You may even have slightly unrealistic expectations. I want a house in a big city, with a backyard, an office, large, windows, and a massive, sun-filled kitchen.
When you’ve decided that you want to achieve your dream home, you’re often left with two options: move or improve. Many people choose to move, but for us DIY lovers, we understand that we could probably make many of the biggest changes ourselves, and put our own unique stamp on our properties.
Slater & Gordon Solicitors has done some research into this topic, and if you like the idea of improving your home instead of moving, you’re not alone. It turns out that around 56% of people are willing to buy a home they’re not completely happy with and then improve it themselves. However, 50% of people also think they’ll move in the future, so it’s important that you know where you stand before you decide to spend time and money on DIY.
Interestingly, 61% of people said they would be more interested in making major changes to their current home, like renovating rooms or knocking down walls, compared with moving. It’s easy to see why. Moving is rarely a stress-free experience, and while DIY comes with many different challenges, trying to find a new home in the perfect area for work and the kids schools, and dealing with lawyers and real estate agents isn’t something that most people will do unless they have to.
35% of Brits said that location is the most important factor when they’re thinking about where to live. I have to say that I agree with this, and if my home was in the perfect location for the whole family, I wouldn’t move and would instead improve it until it became my dream home.
While location is my biggest concern when choosing a home, I would say it’s also important to have enough room to grow. Whether that means adding on a room to the side of the house, knocking down a wall so I get my dream kitchen, or turning a disused garage into a small guesthouse. It’s important that a house has potential, so you know that you’ll be able to live in it as your circumstances change in the future.
However sometimes, the time it would take to DIY just doesn’t work with your schedule. If you work full-time, your DIY would only be able to take place during the weekends, which could mean months of disruption while you make the necessary changes.
Sometimes, even if you’ve decided that you’d like to improve your current house, it can be worth checking out what else is on the market. You may just stumble upon your dream home.
