There are, of course, plenty of people who are happy with their renovations, and remodeling is certainly a thriving business. For many people, though, moving is the simpler, less expensive option. There seem to be plenty of cost advantages to staying put and renovating. If home prices begin to accelerate in your area, you may be able to add on for less than it would cost you to buy a bigger home. You also avoid the considerable costs of selling your home, buying a new one and moving, which can drain away 10% or more of the value of your home each time you change abodes.

Most home owners have that “feeling” you may want in your home that has nothing to do with home size, but more importantly quality and function. Maybe you have a "Not-So-Big" house and are looking for ways to optimize space, such as replacing/adding pocket doors rather than standard doors.  Utilizing all closet space by installing floor to ceiling built-ins.  Replacing kitchen fixed or sliding shelves with drawers, raising dropped ceilings where possible.

Does buying and staying really pay off?

In fact, the conventional wisdom about building wealth is that the fewer times you move in your lifetime, the better. Let's say you have two homebuyers, each starting out with a $600,000 home. The first buyer stays put for 30 years, while the second moves up to a bigger, more expensive house every 10 years. As you can see, the move-up buyer can wind up with a much more valuable home. But this buyer also paid more over the years in monthly mortgage payments, and he still has 20 years left on his final loan. Factor in those two things, and the buy-and-hold homeowner seems to come out ahead.

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