Should you build an addition or move?

I build additions, so you might expect me to tell you that adding on is always the answer.

There are houses that make a lot of sense to add onto. There are others where you can spend $200,000 and still be left with a house that doesn’t really work.

Before you start drawing floor plans, I’d figure out which one you own.

Start with what you actually don’t like about the house

This sounds obvious, but it gets skipped all the time.

Those are two completely different problems.

If you love your property, like the neighborhood, have a good yard, want to stay in the school district and generally like the house, adding the right 400 or 600 square feet can completely change it.

Maybe you’re missing a first-floor primary suite. Maybe three kids are sharing two bedrooms. Maybe the kitchen is crammed into the back corner of the house and what you really need is another 300 square feet to open up the entire first floor.

Those are problems an addition can solve.

But if you don’t like the location, hate the lot, need a completely different floor plan and already have a long list of expensive repairs? I’d at least look at what moving would cost before putting another six figures into the house.

Don’t compare the cost of an addition to the price of another house

This is where the math gets more interesting.

Say you’re in a $350,000 house and the house you’d actually want to move into costs $500,000. It looks like you have a $150,000 problem.

Selling one house and buying another comes with transaction costs. There may be realtor commissions, closing costs, moving expenses, inspections, repairs and financing costs.

Your mortgage can change too. If you bought or refinanced when rates were considerably lower than they are when you’re considering the move, replacing that mortgage can have a big effect on the monthly payment.

So the real comparison isn’t $150,000 addition vs. $150,000 more expensive house. It’s: what does staying actually cost me, and what does moving actually cost me?

Run both numbers.

An addition doesn’t automatically add dollar-for-dollar value

This is important.

If you put $175,000 into an addition, don’t assume your house is immediately worth $175,000 more. Real estate doesn’t work that neatly.

The finished value depends on the neighborhood, total size of the house, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, quality of the work, layout, property and what comparable homes are selling for.

You can absolutely overbuild for an area. If every comparable house around you is worth $300,000, building a giant custom primary suite onto yours probably isn’t going to magically make it a $600,000 property.

That doesn’t automatically make the addition a bad decision. Your house is also somewhere you live. Not every dollar spent on your home needs to generate a dollar of resale value.

But you should understand the difference between spending money because it improves your life and spending money because you expect a financial return.

Look at the property before you look at floor plans

Before I got too attached to an addition design, I’d make sure the property can actually support it. That means looking at things like:

• Property lines, setbacks and easements
• Septic systems and wells
• Utilities
• Lot coverage
• Grading and drainage
• Access
• Zoning

In Pennsylvania, additions fall under the Uniform Construction Code, but zoning and local administration are largely handled at the municipal level. More than 90% of Pennsylvania municipalities administer and enforce the UCC locally or through certified third parties.

Permit documentation can also require a site plan showing the new construction, existing structures, boundaries and distances from lot lines.

In plain English: the fact that there’s empty grass beside your house doesn’t necessarily mean you can build there.

There’s a lot more to this, which is why we gave it its own article.

Look at the existing house

An addition doesn’t sit beside your house completely independently. At some point, the two have to become one building.

That’s where the existing house matters. We need to think about the existing foundation. The framing. Roof. Electrical service. Heating and cooling. Plumbing. Drainage. Floor elevations. And the location where we’re actually going to connect the new space.

Sometimes a homeowner has a great idea for an addition, but putting it where they originally imagined would require completely rebuilding half the existing house. Move it ten feet or change the layout and suddenly the project makes much more sense.

Good addition design isn’t just deciding what you want to build. It’s figuring out the smartest way to connect it to what you already own.

Additions are expensive square footage

This surprises people.

A 500-square-foot addition can cost considerably more per square foot than building the same 500 square feet as part of a new house.

There’s a reason. On a new house, everything is built together. With an addition, we’re building a new structure while working around an existing one.

There can be demolition. Temporary weather protection. Foundation connections. Structural modifications. Roof tie-ins. Siding and roofing that need to match. Existing plumbing and electrical that need to be relocated. HVAC that needs to be extended or upgraded. Interior walls and floors that need to transition cleanly from old to new.

And usually somebody is still living in the house while we’re doing it.

That’s why comparing an addition to a generic new-construction price per square foot usually doesn’t tell you much. For a deeper breakdown, read why additions cost more per square foot than new construction.

Sometimes remodeling the existing house is the better answer

This is another possibility homeowners overlook. You might not need an addition at all.

I’ve seen houses where the problem wasn’t a lack of square footage. It was bad square footage.

A formal dining room nobody uses. A tiny kitchen beside it. A first floor chopped into five small rooms. A huge hallway. An oversized laundry room. A bedroom being used as storage.

Before spending the money to pour another foundation and build another roof, I’d look pretty hard at whether the existing footprint can be rearranged. Sometimes removing a wall and reworking 500 existing square feet solves the same problem for considerably less money.

Other times it doesn’t. That’s the point of doing the planning first.

When an addition usually makes sense

I start liking an addition when several things line up.

That’s a pretty good foundation for the conversation.

When I’d seriously consider moving instead

I’d be cautious about an addition if you’re already unhappy with the property itself. Same thing if the existing house needs extensive work everywhere else.

If you’re talking about a major addition plus a new kitchen plus two bathrooms plus all new mechanical systems plus fixing the exterior, you eventually have to ask what you’re actually preserving.

There is a point where you’re essentially building a new house while paying extra to work around an old one. At that point, moving — or even building somewhere else — deserves a serious look.

Think about the house five or ten years from now

An addition should solve more than today’s inconvenience.

If you’re adding space because another child is coming, think about what the house looks like when those kids are teenagers. If you’re building a first-floor primary suite because you plan to stay there long-term, think about accessibility. If you’re expanding the kitchen, think about how the rest of the first floor connects to it. If you’re adding an in-law space, think about what happens to that room when it isn’t needed for that purpose anymore.

That’s something I’d rather figure out on paper than after the foundation is poured.

So, should you add on or move?

There’s no universal answer.

If you already own the right property and mostly like the house, an addition can be one of the best ways to get what you’re missing without starting over somewhere else.

If you’re trying to use an addition to fix a house, property and location you already don’t like, it can turn into a very expensive way to avoid moving.

My advice is simple. Before you ask, “What should we add?” ask, “What problem are we actually trying to solve?”

Once you know that, the right answer usually gets a lot easier to see.

If you’re considering an addition in Selinsgrove, Lewisburg, Sunbury, Northumberland, Danville, Shamokin Dam, Milton, Watsontown or the surrounding Central PA area, we can look at the house, property and rough budget before you get too deep into plans.

You can also start with our addition pricing guide to get a realistic idea of what these projects cost.

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