We like our property, but the house...

[RCannon]

is a little small, so we are thinking. Should we move to house where we may not like the property, or should we remodel?

Our 3 bdrm ranch style house is <1500sq ft, and when we moved our property was nothing but old farmland. Now with trees growing nicely, pond filling, sunroom attached, and barn complete it would be really hard to walk away. It has taken 15 years to get this way! All we really want to do is expand the living room, make one bedroom slightly larger and make the second bedroom the master instead of the current master bedrm. The living room and the two bedrooms are all on the same side of the house.

What would the cost of something of this nature be? If it's reasonable I will get an architect and builder to give us a "real" price but thought I would ask here.

Anybody had any additions put on recently?

Any opinions here? /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[Gatorboy]

This sounds like a no-brainer to me. I would remodel your existing house if you love the property.

The trick is to add-on to the house without it looking like an "Add On". I would get an architect to design something that will look good. Depending on how handy you are, you may be able to do alot of the work yourself and save yourself alot of costs.

The nice thing about adding on, is that you have a place to live and can work on your "project" at your own pace.

 

[cowboydoc]

I'm in the beginning of doing the exact same thing. When we moved to the place we are now we went down in house size with the idea we were going to add on a family room, rec/workout room, and master bedroom/bath. We have a split level brick house now and we are going to go in an l shape off the back of the house and add on about 1000 square feet. I'll do most all of the work myself. My brothers will probably come out and help get it under roof. I have gotten the estimate for materials and we are at about $30k. But we are having vaulted ceiling, jacuzzi bath/separate shower, a couple big french doors, lots of windows, skylight, and pretty nice fixtures. You could probably easily knock $5k or so off our materials if you were going more basic. This is also figuring in doing brick on the outside as well.

 

[fivestring]

I second Gatorboy's response.

 

[Chuck52]

RC,

We added about 600 square feet to our ranch-style last year. Added a master bath and dressing room walk in closet, plus a new family room with coffered ceiling. We were planning on about $50K, but it ended up more like $70K. Part of the added expense was that our house is brick and we wanted to match it. We did, and it added at least $5K to our estimate. Then we ended up replacing the entire roof...wasn't part of the original plan, but it made sense. The rest of the additional expense, perhaps another $5K, was due to "misunderstandings" between the contractor and us. If you contract the work, be very specific as to your plans and the estimates there for.

Chuck

 

[gsganzer]

I'm looking into the same thing. I love my place, but with some little ones on the way, it's going to need expansion. My house was built in '65 and although it's nice, it could use some modernizing.

I've been told to figure $65.00 - $75.00 a finished square foot. Our preliminary plan calls for almost a 1000 sq. ft addition. That calculates into some sizable cash and I don't think I could ever recover it if I decide to sell someday. (Realtors say you can only increase the value about 10% over your neighborhoods values). I'm not sure that should concern you or me, if we plan on dying there.

There are some ways to cut down on the cost per square foot. Namely, be frugal with the building (you don't really need that italian marble floor) and do as much of it yourself. I'm lucky that my wife has a building construction degree from Texas A&M (no jokes please, she's heard them all) so she will be the GC. I'm planning to only contract the foundation and rough-in. I'll do the exterior siding, roof and finish work. (I'll also contract the wallboard, it still takes me 10X longer then the pro's) The problem with doing it yourself, is that it's guaranteed to take a lot more of your time then you think. You also need to have all the money in place, so you can keep the project flowing and get it done in a timely manner. I don't like the notion of "paying as you go" or doing it in phases as more money rolls in. If you start it, get it done before you're creative instincts take a fancy to something else.

I agree that you should hire a good architect to design the addition so it looks like part of the original house. Nothing kills the value faster then an addition that looks like some tacked-on afterthought. You can figure on $3500-$5,000 for the architect.

 

[Golfgar4]

I'd go along with the others and suggest that you seriously consider adding on and/or remodeling.

You mention a number of things about your property with the trees growing, the pond filling, etc. Are you willing to start all of that over again, or pay a hefty price for comparable property that already has it? I assume you like the area and want to stay around there, correct?

Going the add on/remodeling will be a lot less expensive. Check around your area for home designers that have experience in designing additions and doing remodels. You don't necessarily have to go to an architect right off the bat, although certainly if you're going to do an addition the plans would need to be approved by an architect.

My wife does this very thing. She meets with the clients and determines what they're looking to do, and then she draws up the working plans. Over the course of a number of meetings, she and the clients refine the plans until the clients are happy with the final version. Then she takes the plans to an architect for his approval and certification. She's been doing this long enought that the architect hardly ever has to make any changes to the plans, because she knows the building codes and legal requirements as well as he does. And her hourly rate is less than what the architect would charge to provide the same the service, so the client saves money.

Right now she's working with 1 client that's building the whole house that she designed, another client that is remodeling two average size bedrooms into one large master bedroom and master bath (new empty nesters!), another client that's adding on a family room, and variety of other paint treatment and refinishing projects.

So check around and see if you might be able to find someone like that. I think she mentioned that right now, in our area, the going new construction rate is averaging around $70.00 per square foot or so. But that's the actual building cost, and wouldn't necessarily include architect/designer fees.

 

[Docsknotinn]

I would think 50-75k in your area russ. Its hard to say because a lot will be based on the elevation of your home, aluminum or vinyl sideing Vs Brick as well as what you do to finish the rooms. Carpet alone can vary between 1 and 3k per room. Lots of variables on how you finish it and what state your electrical is in etc. A bathroom can hit 60k in a flash. Dave

 

[higgy]

I do a fair amount of remodels with my dad (although as he get older theres alot more of me and a lot less of him, but i cherish every moment that we are together). Remodels can run all over the place as price is concered. My wife is a real estate aprasier, if you can find an honest one they can tell you how much the value of your home would be by looking at comparible properties in your area.

You cannot buy mature landscaping if you like what you have.

One pitfall many fall into is living in their project. This can and does work, I do it myself, but if you are not motivated the hassel and strain on the family can be major. Don't let it drage out.

Have a good plan, follow the plan and if needed the $ spent for drawing and plans for the remodel are well worth the investment. There is a local draftsman here that will do eng. plans for P&Z for a bout a grand, 1 to 1.5% of the project cost.

Have a good time.