March 24, 2008

Cost to add top floor addition on brownstone

Can anyone give rough cost to add a top floor addition to a small (3-story) brownstone, which is NOT on a landmarked block. I know there are lots of variables, but if you're just trying to add something that is say 450-550 sf (say a master bedroom with bath), is there a ballpark? 100K? More? How big a deal is it to break through and then have to add a new roof/skylights?

March 12, 2008

Which configuration raises value of house more?

We have a four-story brownstone in Prospect Heights that needs some major renovation. We're torn about whether to turn it into an upper triplex with a garden rental, or a double duplex and we'd live in the top. Does anyone know which configuration works better for re-sale value? The limitation of the lower duplex rental is that it could only be a one-bedroom, unless we did major, far-too-expensive and destructive renovations. The house is otherwise pretty much in its original form, with lots of original details. Any advice re re-sale value? Thanks.

March 3, 2008

Making a 2nd Bedroom from Living Room

Hi all,

I am hoping for some advice on a planned addition of a wall to our current 1BR co-op in BH.

When we purchased the place about 1.5 years ago, it was advertised as a convertible 2BR. Currently, the 1 BR is 17' x 14', and the living room is 22' x 14'.

We would like to cut the living room from the above size to 14' x 14', leaving the 2nd BR around 8' x 14'. (3 of 4 walls are there, we would only need to add one wall) The room would have a window, so I believe it would qualify as a bedroom (right?). Ceiling height is 8'. We definitely need the 2nd BR.

The questions are:
1) Should we do a solid wall (meaning bring in architect, buildings dept, etc.=higher $) or one of those temporary type walls (free standing, sliding, etc.)(not sure if we need all of the above for this and I am sure overall price is cheaper)?
2) If we did the temp wall and put it on the market, could we advertise it as a 2BR? Would we make more money if the wall was temporary or a true wall.
3) What would you do based on the space and the cost?

Thanks in advance.