Are you asking whether you should keep & remodel a split level house, in a location you love, vs. selling it & buying a different style house? Back in the late 1970s, when we moved to NJ, "sugar maple" split levels were very popular, and the 1/2 level separation of living & bedroom space, was more appealing than the full staircase of colonials. Since then, splits have lost their appeal in the market .. but if you love your neighborhood, and don't dislike living in a S/L yourself .. who knows what the market will "like" in another 10 or 15 years?! No matter what style the house, not "pricing yourself out of the neighborhood" is always an important factor in a renovation.

it depends on what you are planning to do with the current split level, is there lots of items that need updating ? agreed with astraea, if you like the neighborhood and planning to stay there for some time, then it's acceptable to have a slightly higher priced house done right.

Thank you for your comments. Yes, Astraea that is exactly what I'm asking. The neighborhood is great- the house just needs a lot of work. Complete kitchen remodel, upgrade bathrooms, exterior needs updating as well- I don't particularly care for the s/l style and am torn as to whether or not to just do the minimal upgrades necessary to sell or to really invest the time and money to try to 'fix' what I don't like. In the end I realize it is a personal choice, but am just wondering what other people's experiences are with remodels.

If the bottom line is that you don't care for the split level style, then putting a lot of time & money into renovating it for yourself, becomes that "putting lipstick on a pig" effort .. in the end, it's still a split level you won't love.

If you're familiar with the HGTV show, "Love It or List It", they compare the cost of renovating their own house to meet their needs, and the cost of buying another house that better meets them (without the work involved), and at the end, the homeowners find out how much the renovation increased the home's value .. and decide whether they want to remain or sell/move. You could figure out how much it would cost to do a good cosmetic update, and what the projected sale value would be .. then you could do some house hunting in the area you like, to see what the net sales proceeds would get you, in a non-spit level.

I have saved this picture of a remodeled spit that was done here on Cape Cod. I think the architect did an amazing job.

Spend lots of time looking at real estate in your area. With websites like Zillow, apps and the MLS, it's not that hard. Talk to real estate agents.