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If you like the area you live in, but your home doesn’t live up to your expectations or needs, then you may want to consider rebuilding your home. While a new home builder will tell you to build from scratch, a renovation company will want you to rebuild and a real estate agent will want to sell your home for you, it’s up to you to decide which building plan best suits you and your family’s needs. But before you draw a new set of plans and break out the sledgehammer, read this article to discover the pros and cons about knockdown rebuilding and you’ll be sure to get exactly what you’re looking for in a new home.

The Pros

Every real estate agent knows the three most important rules of real estate—location, location, location. And it’s your existing home's location that makes your home special to you and your family. With a complete knockdown and rebuild, you’re still in the same great location that you’ve always been, except now it’s in a new home that suits your needs and tastes.

Knockdown and rebuild construction is also the perfect choice for higher density construction projects in cities and rural areas. Many older buildings in rural areas tend to be rundown and worthless, while the property is in just the right location near schools, shopping and jobs, making a knockdown rebuild a worthwhile and budget friendlier endeavour than relocating.

Sometimes a home might still appear to be in good condition, but the age of the home means that it was not built to building code standards. Repairing the home up to code may be too costly and a knockdown rebuild is the most cost effective solution.

When considering a room addition to an older structure, the transition between the old and the new might be too extreme and can be very noticeable. This is the perfect time to knockdown the entire structure and rebuild from scratch.

The Cons

The biggest con to a complete knockdown and rebuild is relocation. Months might pass before you’re back at your new home, so a suitable location must be determined before you begin any knockdown rebuild project. The costs associated with relocation often make homeowners think twice about a knockdown rebuild project.

Another big con is that the character of the home will be lost. In older homes especially, it’s the look and style that make it attractive. With a complete knockdown and rebuild, it makes it difficult to maintain the character of the previous home.

Additional costs can be added during the demolition process as well. Environmental concerns can bring a knockdown to a screeching halt. Asbestos, lead and other toxic materials in an older home can send your knockdown budget higher than anticipated. Smaller amounts of space around the old home can also make waste removal difficult.

Real estate returns can also be a turn off when it comes to a knockdown and rebuild scenario. If your home is already the best house in the neighbourhood, building a bigger and better one might not be in your best interest. A “White Elephant” tends to stand out in an area without similar homes. The lesser valued homes actually make the value of the more costly home go down and can easily become a big problem for the new homes resale value.