Key Takeaways
- Deciding whether to build a custom home or renovate depends on five key factors: personalization, budget, timeline, location, and long-term value.
- Building a custom home offers greater personalization, energy efficiency, and modern design flexibility compared to most renovations.
- Renovating an existing home can be cost-effective and preserve your location, but it often comes with structural limitations and unpredictable expenses.
- Colorado homeowners should assess the condition of their current home, desired lifestyle upgrades, and available lots before choosing between renovation and new construction.
- The benefits of building a custom home include total design control, improved functionality, and long-term savings through energy-efficient systems and materials.
Many clients who initially consult with Colorado Springs-based Murphy’s Custom Homes are struggling to determine whether to renovate their existing home or build a new custom home. Depending on the client, the decision-making challenge is often based on a combination of financial and emotional considerations, although sometimes one of these predominates.
With more than 35 years of experience designing and building luxury homes for Colorado Springs and El Paso County clients, Murphy’s Custom Homes is familiar with this dynamic. As such, they offer some tips for homeowners who are faced with the weighty decision of whether to build a custom home or renovate their existing one. Here are five key factors an existing homeowner should consider when deciding whether to move on by building a custom home or to stay put with renovations of their existing one.
Condition and Features of the Existing Home
Assess the age and physical condition of your existing home, as well as its basic and unique features. Was it custom-constructed with high-quality materials and expert craftsmanship to withstand the ravages of time, or slapped together with shoddy materials and craftsmanship as part of a cookie-cutter development? The quality of the materials and craftsmanship used to build a pre-1980s-era home is crucial, as is the extent to which it has been maintained over the decades. If the original construction work was subpar and it’s been poorly maintained, extensive renovations may essentially equate to pouring good money after bad. In conducting this exercise, also consider the structural integrity of the home’s systems, such as plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and appliances. If they are in poor shape to the point of needing an upgrade, it may carry more weight in considering a new custom home build.
To assess the features of your existing home, such as layout, room size, configuration, flow, modern conveniences, and detailing, consider how they work for or limit your at-home lifestyle. If you’re happy with the existing features or believe they can be easily upgraded, great. Otherwise, building a new custom home may be the more favorable option.
Cost and Budget
When evaluating your existing home’s condition and features, estimate the renovation costs needed to upgrade them to meet your dream home goals. This can serve as part of your overall cost and budget exercise to help you determine whether to renovate or build a custom home. Renovating and new home building typically carry similar costs, including:
- Design/architectural work
- Materials
- Labor
- Permits
However, building a custom home usually entails additional land acquisition costs and typically requires significantly more materials and labor. Thus, renovating an existing home is almost always less expensive than building a comparably-sized new one. Of course, the extent of renovations will dictate how much money a homeowner might save by renovating rather than building new. Additionally, existing homeowners considering renovations should be aware that the work often uncovers structural issues and other problems, which can lead to unexpected additional costs.
The bottom line is that a new home build typically requires higher upfront costs, but these costs are more predictable than those associated with renovations. New homeowners also benefit from longer-term cost savings through reduced maintenance needs and greater energy efficiency.
Customization Possibilities
When debating renovations versus a new home build, be aware that renovations may be limited by the existing layout, lot size, internal home structures, and permitting issues, which can restrict your creative design ideas. For example, the layout and lot size may impede your ability to add desired additional rooms to the home, or existing load-bearing walls may preclude some of your room re-configuration and re-sizing ideas.
A new custom-built home provides the owner with much greater control over the layout, style, and features they seek in their living spaces.
Location and Lot
If you love your existing home’s location and lot, this gives you even more reason to stay by renovating. However, if the neighborhood has lost its charm due to urban decline, increased traffic, zoning changes, new unsightly construction, or other negative impacts, or if you’ve never felt it was ideal, this may sway you more towards considering a new home build.
The question is, can you find a place to live in the Colorado Springs area with an available, desirable lot that has all the desired amenities you want, in a reasonable proximity? If so, that might provide more weight towards building new rather than renovating.
Timing and Disruption
Renovations are almost always disruptive to those living in the home during construction, and extensive renovations will undoubtedly result in months, if not over a year, of disruptions to your lifestyle. Building a new custom home will undoubtedly take longer than renovating your existing home, but it will be far less disruptive, as you will not be living in it during its construction.
Need More Clarity in Your Decision-Making: Contact Murphy’s
Murphy’s Custom Homes trusts that these five primary factors you need to consider when deciding whether to renovate your existing home or build a custom home have helped you better navigate this delicate decision-making process. If you have any questions about building a custom home in the Colorado Springs and El Paso County area, we would be glad to discuss your options with you. To learn more about the award-winning custom homes we’ve built in the region over the past 35-plus years, check out our “Parade of Homes,” and then contact us at (719) 488-8818 for a free consultation.
FAQs: Building a Custom Home or Renovating in Colorado?
Q: How do the costs differ between renovating an existing home and building a new custom home in Colorado?
A: Colorado home building experts estimate that moderate renovations, such as a kitchen or bathroom remodelling job, range from $50 to $150 per square foot, while more extensive structural home changes can cost $200 or more per square foot. After accounting for the lot cost, design, and permitting, building a new custom home typically costs between $150 and $300 per square foot.
Q: How might the location of my existing property influence my decision-making?
A: If your existing home is located in a prime location, such as near Pikes Peak or a top-rated school district, renovating it will preserve your access to it, as there are probably limited numbers of available lots. On the other hand, building a new custom home may allow you to find a larger lot in a growing area with modern community features.
Q: Do Colorado building codes and other regulations make it easier to renovate or build a new custom home?
A: Generally speaking, building codes, zoning laws, environmental regulations, and other regulatory requirements put more constraints on new builds than they do on renovations. However, renovating homes in historic districts faces preservation restrictions that can significantly limit the changes that can be made to older homes.