“Moving usually beats improving.”

Small improvements certainly are worth doing to make your home more livable and to increase its value. But if your home is too small, too far away from work or family, has the wrong floor plan or lacks a number of features you really want, chances are your fixed-up home still won't suit you well.

Major additions and remodeling projects seldom return 100% of the investment in them--often much less. They tend to "over-improve" the home, hiking its value beyond what neighborhood prices will support--and what buyers will pay for. Consider, too, the inconvenience of living through a major construction project and the hassles of managing it. You're likely to get more of what you want, at a lower cost, buying a different home.