Need some advice.

[Alphacowboy]

Hey guys, have a question about housing. I currently own 9. 5 acres in a highly saught after area, houses around me are in the mid 600s to 1. 5 mil. Anyway, my house is only ~2300 square ft. Not huge, but not small either. To bring my house into the the surrounding market, I really should have over 3k square ft. Remodeling what I have will not gain me ANY equity, only square footage will give me any sort of return. I dont plan on moving anytime soon, so I am not looking for a turn and burn senario, but the long haul investment. The market is kinda crappy now, but in 5-10 years when I do plan on selling, I think it will have rebounded as it seems to always do.



SO, here in lies my question, the addition I am looking at doing is renovating the current garage into a dining room and kitchen area. Adding to that is a laundry room, mud room, and sewing/craft room. Beyond that becomes a 3 car garage that actually fits my vehicles. I end up with 3200 square ft of finished housing, and a large 3 car, almost could be a 4-5 car if you wanted to (parking 2 cars sideways at the back of the garage. ) The total for this project with me doing a majority of the work myself and materials is around 100k. I dont want to finance any of it if I dont have too. I currently have 20k saved up and in a money market. Looking into the county buying the front of my property for future road expansion, for a little extra help. (that is being talked about, but no imediate plans, so I would loose it anyway in the future) But, they said they have no funds available at this time, and they would have too look into it for maybe next years budget. (I guess they like it when people are open to sell than when they have to take it over, go figure) So, what I am wondering, think it would be a bad thing to have the foundation put in this fall, and the cement work finished so that next spring I cant dig into framing it? It just sucks cuz my quote for JUST the cement work (footings, garage floors, aprons, and block is 15k!) Not to mention the 7-8k dollar excavating estimate I got. If money is tight next year, the foundation might just sit until the next year.



I dont know why, but I just cant seem to figure out what to do. I got an estimate on the value of the house if I was to do what I want to do and it gives me well over 200k in equity, might be even close to 300k, but I dont want to morgage it to do it... my payments are high enough!



The driving force for me to jump on this soon is that the exterior of my house is in great need of fixing. The siding is in very much need of replacement as are the upstairs windows. BUT, i dont want to redo all that only to have to redo it all later when I remodel as not one window stays where its at.



heres what the proposed plan looks like... .

(There is a faint line just to the left of the front door, that is the existing end of the garage. )

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[Gene Arnold]

I'd approach with extreme caution. I've seen a lot of remodels done by owners that compared pretty poorly when compared to what buyers expect when dropping upwards of $3/4 million (or more) for a house. This REALLY shows up in houses that have had the garages turned into living space. Some people have the ability to pull this off really well but personally, I don't think the return is worth the trouble. If you really need the extra square footage that changes things and the use you get out of it becomes of value. You've already found that stuff cost a lot more than you thought and that's just the start of things.



Gene

 

[MLisle]

Gene brought up some excellant points, another thing to consider if you keep the house and land as is, it will appeal to people who want to buy and re-model to their tastes as well as people who like it as is. If you re-model you are greatly reducing the number of prospective buyers the place will appeal to. You are in a very advantageous position right now, large lot and small house in a very desirable neighborhood.

 

[Alphacowboy]

I guess I should have mentioned that I am a construction person by trade, this would be no fly by the seat of the pant home owner night mare remodel! :-laf I do this for a living as it is, actually building two houses this year, so I am no stranger to this stuff. I just dont know if I should take this plunge or not, 2 years ago, i would have been all over it like nothing, but with the market kinda **** pore, even though i wouldnt sell it anytime soon, kinda leary about dumping money into it. BUT, I need to do something or I am going to have a huge issue here in the next year or 2 if I dont start fixing stuff.



Another reason its kinda pushing me is that my wife and I live in the basement, something I remodeled when I first moved here. The rest of the house needs some major fixing and upgrading, but when I bought it from my grandmother, that was the whole idea anyway. So, the upstairs sits empty. The wife and I are thinking maybe next year of trying for kids, but I really dont want to be in the middle of a remodel project and that whole deal. If only I could win the lotto! :-laf

 

[fest3er]

The general advice I've always heard is that whatever you do to your home, you should do it for yourself, and you should plan to get a number of years of use out of it.



So whatever changes you make, be sure they are well thought out and work well, and that people will flow through the house easily. People won't realize that the big reason they like a house is because they aren't always tripping over and dodging obstacles as they move through the house.



Do it for yourself, enjoy it for 5-10 years, then sell it when the time is right.



N

 

[Alphacowboy]

The general advice I've always heard is that whatever you do to your home, you should do it for yourself, and you should plan to get a number of years of use out of it.



So whatever changes you make, be sure they are well thought out and work well, and that people will flow through the house easily. People won't realize that the big reason they like a house is because they aren't always tripping over and dodging obstacles as they move through the house.



Do it for yourself, enjoy it for 5-10 years, then sell it when the time is right.



N

I totally agree, one of the biggest reasons I want to update the upstairs, its not functional and cluttered. Hey, It was built in the 70's and my dad designed it in HS drafting... :-laf Since I work in the buis, my biggest pet peave is things that do not flow. SOOOOOO many designers out there today go for look and omit function, pisses me off. Thats why I like when I get to be not only the contractor, but the designer as well. I always do a combination of both. the plan above is the 3rd or fourth drafting, this final one not only abides by some setback issues I have to abide by, but also worked out functionally and astheticly as well. I think my biggest issue is financing it. I refuse to borrow more money, I owe enough as it is, and I really dont want anymore loans over my head. I cant out right afford all of it right now, but I guess that is where I am stuck, I could start it with what I got, then save up and do the next part when I have the money. Trying to decide if I should jump on it now and get the foundation in so I avoid a few things, the cost factor, most likely its going to be cheaper now than later. Plus, if I get it in and approved and started now, if they do widen the highway, I am already there and they cant say too bad, your too close now. I am pushing it as it is, with the design above, that puts me within 152' of the road center line. I have to be off the highway 150' fromt the center line. soooo, its close!