One of the best investments you can make as a home owner is to build a new extension or home addition. While space is the main reason why people choose to remodel, there are lots of other good reasons to upgrade your existing home, such as to boost the property value, bring in more natural light, and generate a secondary income in the form of rent.
Whether you are in the early planning stages, or the thought of renovating has been on your mind for a while – but you are not really sure if you can justify this big decision – then this useful article will help you better understand the possibilities that lie in store for you.
Here are 5 benefits of home additions to help you make an informed decision with your next home remodelling project.
Extra Living Space
By far the most popular reason to build a new home addition or extension is to gain extra living space. That’s because there are many ways to uncover newfound space and how you go about it is entirely up to you. You can choose to build new rooms, extend an existing room, or add a second-storey – whatever suits your needs and budget.
Best of all? You don’t have to think big to enhance the space and comfort of your home. Even just a few feet of extra space to an existing room can make a world of difference. So whether you wish to extend the bathroom, kitchen, bedroom or main living space, the choice is yours.
Add New Household Members
While it’s a good idea to invest in a home that meets your current and future lifestyle needs, the truth is, sometimes life throws you a curve ball or you decide to shift the goal posts later on down the track. For example you may wish to have more children, permanently care for a sick and/or elderly family member, or earn a rental income from roommates.
Regardless of the reason why for, a major lifestyle change, it does mean you need to re-evaluate how your current house functions and where you can add extra space to accommodate for the new household member.
Whether you decide to add new rooms or extend an existing room, either of these options are a great way to give any new member the space and comfort they need to feel right at home.
Boost Property Value
All homeowners want to earn a sizeable profit from their investment when the time comes to sell. And having a new home addition or extension is an effective way to bump up the resale value. However, not all remodelling ideas are guaranteed to bring you an equal return on your investment.
But how do you know what kind of addition or extension will add profit to your bottom line? This is not an easy question to answer as there are lots of factors to consider. Your best bet is to consult your local home additions builder. They can assess your unique circumstances and advise you on the most cost-effective and profitable remodelling idea.
Before you do so, ask yourself these simple questions. They may help you narrow down the scope and make a more informed decision about your extension or addition:
- Will it be used seasonally or all-year round?
- How much square footage will you need?
- What does your existing home currently lack? (i.e. not enough bathrooms, bedrooms or kitchen space)
- Do you know of any properties in your area that recently achieved a higher sales price due to having certain modifications? If so, what were they?
Personalisation
Remodelling offers you the rare chance to not only add new space but also update existing parts of the home. Whether the reasons are purely cosmetic or vital to enhancing the lifespan of the property (i.e. repairs), remodelling is the perfect time to give an ageing home a fresh facelift which reflects your preferred style.
How you wish to personalise the family home is entirely up to you. You can repaint the interior and exterior. Upgrade to new doors and windows. Replace old flooring with new carpet or hardwood. Or renovate the entire kitchen. Regardless of your goals and budget the options are near-limitless.
Fortunately, any reputable home additions builder will have a professional designer to help you make these tough choices. So you will get all the advice and support you need to make your home look and feel exactly the way you want.
Energy Efficiency
Depending on the age and build process of your current home it may be costing you money in high energy bills. Fortunately, remodelling is a great way to reduce your energy costs and overall cost of living.
Firstly, you need to identify the parts of the home that are costing you money. A reputable home additions builder may be able to help you find this out and tell you what kind of improvements are needed. During the initial consultation, some of the energy-efficiency problems they may look for include:
- Gaps in the property (i.e. exposed door and window frames) causing air from inside to escape while letting outside air to come in.
- Poor insulation in the ceilings, walls and flooring, which forces the heating and cooling appliances to work harder in order to keep the indoor temperature at a comfortable level.
- An inefficient hot water system that, while cheap to install, comes with extremely high running costs.
- Poor quality window frames, which includes a lack of window glazing and shading.
Once you know what needs to change in order to improve your home’s energy-efficiency, you can implement these ideas into your new addition or extension, and even update existing parts of the property.
Best of all? By taking the appropriate measures to futureproof your home, it will be more attractive to potential buyers and undoubtedly yield a higher resale value.
If you’d like to find out what a new home addition could do for you, request a FREE site inspection from APEX Alterations & Additions today. Simply call 1300 654 380 or contact us now to get started.
