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with previous experience of building and renovating DIY, owner builder, subcontracting and full builder service (and somewhere else to live and no full time jobs or young children to worry about) we decided to use a combination for renovating our 50s double brick with redundant extension over several years...stage 1 consulting council and our builder to determine possibilities, preparation and approval of plans and negotiating finance stage 2 diy internal demolition of bathrooms and kitchen, including professional removal of asbestos, stripping out old wiring, roof insulation, timber trims, doors, wall and ceilings linings, brick chimney, opening new doorways and carefully salvaging floor tiles and sections of old plaster cornice for later patching, stage 3 subcontract carpenter, electrician and plumber to replace some windows, open up new doorways and build internal walls, first fix plumbing and new wiring, selection and purchase of all taps, PC items, doors, handles, windows, cornice, architraves etc and plan and order the new kitchen and all cabinetry stage 4 employed the builder and his team of trades to remove old roof tiles, rebuild the whole roof, add new structural supports, extending a new hip roof over an old extension, new wall cladding, new bathrooms and laundry, patch damaged plaster work, replace the rest of the windows, add new doors and timber trims and stage 5 we organised installation of the new cabinets, painter, tiler, plumber and electrician to install lighting taps etc ...i'm exhausted just thinking about it but we saved money by doing lots of work and subcontracting ourselves but the services of an excellent builder was worth every cent because they have the trades coordinated to arrive in the correct sequence and results happen so much more quickly but taking our time allowed us to pay more attention to details and we were able to salvage and recycle and sell items that a builder doesn't have time to save eg tiles removed from our roof were used on our neighbours' extension and we sold all the old copper wire and windows...look forward to learning what you decide

there are numerous Sydney based building companies that offer a KDRB service and many that offer display homes that can provide an excellent starting point for house plans that can be modified to suit.. check websites that have designs (with prices) identified by width of block, size of house (50 squares=465sqm) number of bedrooms, bathrooms and garages for suitable houses and ask for quotes based on your specific site and be prepared for much more than you expect but probably less than the cost of a house needing major renovations that doesn't meet your needs.. and of course you could hire an architect to achieve a truly custom designed home but a few tips would be to obtain a proper site plan showing exact length of all your boundaries, direction of north, locations of services, a detailed contour diagram showing the precise levels of your land and contact local council to find out the maximum size house that can be built on your block and any restrictions for height or easements

Personally , I'd want way more info , and some pictures . Some older styles are suited to renovating , but some have weird floorplans -- so do you compromise on your new place simply because it would be too hard / too expensive to remove a pile of walls and plumbing and maybe windows or get the concrete cutters to remove bricks , you get the idea . As a rule of thumb , if you can theoretically do it in stages ( even if you do do it all at the same time ) , then a renovation would be the more likely option , but if you need to move out and do it all at once , and especially if you will still have compromises , then a complete clean sheet would make sense . Then what you can't imagine over a forum , is the cost versus the end value . Basically , anyone can throw $1 mil at a house , or knock down and spend that $1 mil on a rebuild , but step 1 -- is the finished product worth $1 mil MORE ? If not , then selling and moving actually makes more sense , maybe not what the heart says , but you have to be realistic . And if your Step 1 answer is yes -- which will be worth the most ; which will look the best ; which will suit you the most ? Those are the things that a forum can't answer .