Piecemeal Reno or All Out...
First, a little background about our house in Windsor Terrace. We’ve owned it for five years. It’s very small, just 20′ x 20′, and about 100 years old. There are three stories and a basement, with one room per floor. Ground floor is the kitchen/dining room, middle floor is the living room, top floor is…
First, a little background about our house in Windsor Terrace. We’ve owned it for five years. It’s very small, just 20′ x 20′, and about 100 years old. There are three stories and a basement, with one room per floor. Ground floor is the kitchen/dining room, middle floor is the living room, top floor is the bedroom. That’s right, a single family house with just one bedroom. The good part, though, is that we have a normal sized lot (25×100), so there is a large backyard and room for expansion.
The stuff that needs to be done on the house is starting to pile up. Right now, it’s windows, gutters, stucco repair, and in a few more years, probably the roof. In our dream world, we’d also like to add an extra two bedrooms on to the back of the house to give us some extra living space while not giving up too much of the backyard.
Now the dilemma. Be proactive and do everything at once – renovation and expansion (i.e. big time refinancing)? Do renovation now and expansion in a few years? Or just do repairs in piecemeal as the need comes up? We have no plans on moving anytime soon, so preparing a house for sale isn’t a factor in our decision. I’m just looking for some advice of what people have done, and how they personally would recommend going about this.
Thanks
Its true if you sold now you would probably make the most money, but then you would be priced out of the market. You could rent and wait for the bubble to burst. I know someone whose house was destroyed and have been offered more money for their empty lot than they paid for the house and the lot combined. They want to rebuild but all the bids are higher than their insurance compensation. You could get a great brand new 4 bedroom 3 bath single family house for $300,000 if you don’t mind moving to South Carolina. If you REALLY LOVE your house and your neighborhood don’t worry about your resale value. Let your next of kin worry about that.
contrarain view: the most valuable thing about your place may be just the land. What about selling and buying a place that fits you better? Someone else might look at your place and consider tearing it down and building a new three story with a better footprint.
Also, If you invest, say, 300k now in it, you probably won’t get it all back on the sale, so you are probably looking at the max profit right now vs. after the renov.
Per comment below, yes, we’ve got plenty of equity available and the stairs are on the side of the house. Does that make a difference? I can’t imagine what the place would be like if the stairs were in the center…
Agree with the previous post…at least get the plan and financing together now…I would even say do all the work now and just get it overwith. I’m living in an ongoing project and all the dust and debris is really taking a toll, and cutting into my ability to just enjoy summer and life in general. Do it all at once! You won’t want them to come back once you see how it disrupts your life.
Also agree that you should tell your architect and your eventual contractor 20% under real budget, so you can come in at your real goal.
I know those houses.. Do you have that center staircase or is it on the side? Do you have any equity? Borrow now while the rates are low and get an Architect to draw out plans that include a rear extension, if its possible. You don’t have to build it right away, but at least you won’t be throwing money away on work now that maybe will be removed in the future. You will spend less and get a better price if you do it all at once. If you can’t afford to do it all, leave off those things that can be easily added on in the future. Just make sure your Arch. knows your budget and tell him/her 20% less than you are willing to spend.