Talk to a local realtor. And sit down and number out the projects that the old home needs. Figure out how much those will cost.

A custom home will always cost more than a builder grade home. Check out what local builders are offering as spec homes. Those are usually just barely above builder grade. Yours could cost 1 1/2 times as much by the time you end up spec'ing for more upscale materials and a plan that the builder hasn't built before. Or more, if you're talking high end.

Compare the numbers. Figure that the numbers are all lower than what you will end up paying either way.

I think you should build new only if what you want is not already available on the market, or can't be remodeled into an existing home, or if you really like the design/build process, or you have access to land that is really unique such as a specific location or view. If you can take what you have and make it work for you, then you might want to do that.

We built new because we had the land (DH's grandmother's property), the existing structure was in such miserable condition it could not be reasonably fixed, and we both enjoy design and build process.

There will be more compromises in a remodel as not all structural changes are economically possible, like siting on the property, but then again, there are compromises in a new build as well.

There are technology and material improvements which might make building new attractive...think energy efficiency... but as you know, there are historical and other structural advantages to older homes (like the quality of hard wood floors) that are hard or expensive to come by in a new build.

But I have seen some pretty phenomenal remodels where the new house looks nothing like the old. (Neighbor is a builder and converted a flat roofed 50s style ranch into a 2-story historical looking colonial...he did a great job!) So I'd be sure to explore those opportunities thoroughly before I jumped into the new build process.

The complexity of a remodel can vary wildly depending on your municipality and the extent of the changes you want to make (typically as a percentage of your whole house) I get the sense from reading a lot of the posts on this forum that most people live in very low maintenance areas where approvals are quick and there aren't as many restrictions.

I live in a well established neighborhood (originally orchard, developed originally in the 50s-60s into 2000-3000sqft country-style residences, more recently incrementally redeveloped into 5000-25,000sqft mansions) with ever increasing property values due to location within a major metro and property owners determined to fight anything that might negatively affect their land value or enjoyment. So, it's proportionately more complex and expensive for me to do anything compared to most people on this forum.

We are doing an extensive remodel (small addition in rear, back to studs, new infrastructure, moving many walls, boosting ceiling heights, etc.).We are largely retaining the existing shell of the house.

We are still changing enough that the planning department considers our project to be "new construction", despite many existing walls remaining standing. As a result there are many additional fees that get tacked on, as well as all sorts of additional compliance items (sprinklers, tempered glass on all exterior window panes, fire resistant materials on all exterior surfaces, etc.) We are in earthquake country on a hillside, so everything has to be structurally engineered. The original house is a pier & beam foundation on 42" piers. We need a few new piers and those will be 15'+ drilled into bedrock. These are not inexpensive. We managed to avoid even more penalties by leaving the existing roof framing intact.

It's been very frustrating because our town doesn't have all these rules written down, it's just up to the planning department. Our architect has met with them several times to understand the process better himself and help guide us through it. There are ways to appeal certain items but they all add extra months to the planning process with no guarantee of success.

I should add that I feel fortunate that our town has minimal guidelines wrt. colors, architectural style, or historical significance. Some nearby communities require an architectural/historical review board approve your design. While I understand the desire to prevent that tacky house that sticks out like a sore thumb, I find the concept of some panel of bureaucrats nitpicking my design preferences offensive.

Anyway, depending on how picky your municipality is, do your homework. Get a topo done. Be aware of your MFA/MDA maximums. Locate easements, understand the setback rules, etc. Be aware of any non-conforming aspects of your house, as they may come back to bite you if you try to get changes approved (been there, done that). Honestly if I could turn back the clock 2 years, I'd probably just have torn the whole house down and started over, the costing is just not that different for new vs. complete gut remodel (most of our expenses are in finishes). But we've invested enough in this now and spent enough time that we just have to proceed.

This post was edited by caben on Tue, Nov 5, 13 at 1:49

If I decide to go the remodel route, it would all be within the existing footprint. I would be taking the 2 rooms upstairs and turning that into 1 slightly larger bedroom with a bath, and maybe reconfigure the existing walk-in closets. The rest of the work on the existing house would be more updates (new garage doors, new fence, minor remodel to downstairs bath, landscaping) but the price could still really add up especially to add an additional bath.

I'm going to price out both options and then weigh whether the advantages of one over the other make the decision easier.