If you own a home, there are all sorts of things you can do to make it feel more like your own.

You can install new floors, remodel a bathroom or kitchen, change the lighting, paint it or landscape. The list goes on and on.

And if you don’t like what you’ve done, you can change it all back.

But there’s one change that’s bigger than them all, and there’s no going back from it – building an addition.

There are all sorts of reasons to be tempted to build an addition on your home.

You may want to add a home office. That was something that many people may have wished for in 2020. You may have a growing family and need to create more space. Maybe you want to add a lanai, sunroom, outdoor kitchen or a new master suite. Outside of Florida, the addition may be a finished basement. The list of addition possibilities and reasons for them are almost endless.

The best thing about an addition, especially to a home you originally bought rather than built, is it is your opportunity to create something that is truly and totally your concept and vision.

But before you jump into this major decision, it’s best to carefully examine the pros and cons. It is often said that the biggest investment one can make is to buy a new home. Adding on to that home is likely the second biggest decision you can make, so it is just as important to weigh everything before making the decision.

Here are some of the reasons why, if you need to expand, a home addition may be the way to go.

If you have outgrown your current home, building an addition is the most cost-effective way to create more space. It will almost certainly cost less than buying a new, bigger home.

Creating an addition increases the value of your home. In most cases, it’s likely that if you later choose to sell, you will recoup the cost of your addition.

You get to stay where you are. If you are building an addition because you need more space, you get that added space without having to move.

That all sounds good. But before you take that leap, let’s look at the other side.

While this first con is short term, it still needs to be considered. Unless you’re planning to vacate for the duration of the construction period, you have to live through the expansion project. In fact, if the addition is adding on a second floor, you may have to vacate for the duration.

You should have a construction professional handling this, but the permitting process may not be easy.

If you like your big yard, you may be about to lose some of it, unless all the expansion is adding a second floor.

Finally, if you go back to the pros, we said that building a home addition can be cost effective, and it will increase the value of your home.

However, you can create a budget for your addition and then see unexpected costs come into play. While those additional costs should never bring the cost of your expansion to more than a new home, they may be enough for you to be thinking that a new home may not be that much more expensive.

And you should be careful about overexpanding. Yes, your addition will increase the value of your home. But there is a danger in making your home the biggest in the neighborhood. When you do want to sell it later, you may be competing with neighbors selling their homes at a lesser price.

So, what does all this mean. Creating a home addition may be a great idea. But it is important to consider everything before making the decision.