Instruction: Is it better to rebuild or remodel a house?

Response: The answer to this question depends on several factors, including your budget, the nature and extent of the updates that you would make to the original house, the costs of building materials and services, and any zoning requirements or local codes and regulations that may apply to your project. You should start by first determining your budget and any timelines you are working against. Next, determine the updates that you would need or want to make, including must-haves and nice to haves in your list. Next, consider working with an architect to help draw up plans that align to your goals and engage a residential engineer to help determine what updates can be made within the existing house structure and what updates may require substantial modifications or may not be made under the structure. At this point, you may be able to determine whether or not it makes sense to rebuild or remodel, however, to get a final sense of the costs and scope of the project, you should request bids from contracts on your plans and ask that they provide estimated costs and timelines as well as recommendations on how to approach the project. Compare these costs and recommendations against the anticipated costs of leveling and rebuilding the house from scratch, which may also require input from the architect and/or contractor to help determine. Once you have gathered all of this information, balance your desires, including must-haves and nice-to-haves, against your budget and timelines to help make your decision.