I appreciate your insightful replies. A house down the street in my 16 year old tract house community (where every house looks identical) was just sold and the new owner hired a construction company to completely remodel/redo the interior. This past week has been the demolition phase, whereby the construction company truck has hauled pretty much everything away from carpet, interior doors, walls, toilets, counter tops, etc away. The inside of the house has been completely gutted and looks like a war zone right now and I couldn’t imagine anyone living there during the process.

Remodeling a 16 year old house right after purchase and before move-in is the best time to complete this task to minimize inconvenience and hassle, but for those who bought 8-16 years ago and now must decide between remodeling vs moving it’s more stressful. It’s difficult to imagine how you would do complete a remodel of all new flooring, new kitchen with appliances, new bathrooms, new windows, and new paint with a house full of furniture and “stuff” that could get stolen.