I am considering a property with small built up but a large lot in the backyard. Mostly sometime in future, I would have to extend the house in the back. Assume current house is a rectangle and so is a backyard, will extend its length to add a master suite in one side and living room in other with passage to the backyard in the middle. Even after construction, there will be enough space in the backyard.
Advantage:
I will be able to buy the house at current price without much of pressure. I will be saving around 250K to 300k compare to a full-size house for the family of 4. (Note still the full size house will be 15 percent less in built up - assuming I extent, and 20 -30 percent less in lot size)
At the time of construction, I can decide my choice, my time and my financial status. (The minimum I would like to extend around 700 sqft without going 2nd floor).
If possible I may not extend it but can sell it at an increased price (if it happens), the area is good and emerging and housing price in the area may rise faster then in general(especially with improvement in school rating) - This is just a wishful thinking not dependent on it.
Once extended the house value is much more.
Disadvantage
I am a first time home buyer and all I hear from people 1) buy a larger lot based house in tight budget and increase later or, 2) don’t go for an extension it’s not for everyone - the only expert can do.
I will have to vacate the house for 6-12 months (though I read if one is doing outward extension - not upward- they may manage to stay the house)
Questions
Is extending house for a person like me a nightmare or it is manageable - there will be some inconvenience.
Is it must to vacate the house even if the extension is outward and not upward. I know there will be an inconvenience but assume we are ready to compromise.
If you plan it well and have a good contractor in mind, go for it. I know people who have children and they did the rehab while living in the actual home in SF and they managed. A lot of eating out of course but cheap eats are easy here.
Thanks. Never had any contact with any conractor, my agent claims to have known few, so is my banker and couple of friend, nothing more. Hope to find one - we do not plan to touch this for next year or 2.
Never too early to plan for what goodies you want in the new space I say. And it is fun too. Remember, easiest to do at that stage when new framing, etc. so bring on the heated flooring, Russound sound systems, hard wired networking, whatever is in vogue these days… maybe plumbing for a jacuzzi or sauna?
I don’t plan on moving into our new home until 2 years after we rent it out but I am already thinking of how to modify the kitchen for maximum utility and coolness. Once the clock actually starts, you really don’t want to be thinking at that point about color coordination or flooring material. Remodels are hard enough as they are with picky housing inspectors or lame contractors.
I agree with elt1, realtors have more selling pressure than guiding your construction.
IMO, can you, as a first timer, live in that house without addition or expansion for at least 5 years? If so, go for it.
For 1) Yes, it is a hassle, but it can be managed by your money and time. You need to go through it 9-12 months or more. This means you need to have sufficient money and time to cover it. I can not explain in words, but it is hard for first timers, but it is fine for experienced as they know ahead and absorb it.
I did something like this. Tldr: Yes, you can live in the house during construction provided you plan how you will migrate to different areas of the house as construction happens. I did this. It was not pleasant - think sheetrock bits and gypsum dust everywhere, open walls , gaping attics for a couple of months. I almost lost patience but am past most of the pain and only need a bathroom done now.
Long version:
Clearly determine what is the maximum sq ft you can build without getting hit by sprinkler fees and school fees for your city. These alone can add 10% to your cost. You want to stay within this sq ft limit.
Shop around for good architects. If you find your architect is not good enough as he draws your plans, cut your losses and find another one. Dont worry about the few thousand $ lost. Also you can get the plans approved and defer construction for one year usually.
Make sure you’ve mentally planned how you want the outside of the house to look so that you can present this to the architect as early as possible - this includes windows ( try to get bay windows projecting out , also you should get wide tall windows) , front doorway ( try to get a wide enough entryway to have a double door - this makes your house show well, roof styles - regular ranch vs spanish style sloping roof), exterior lights ( how many lights around the garage, entryway, side of the house, etc ), any skylights . All of these details matter for the plan which is submitted to the city.
Once the architect has his draft make sure that windows, doors, skylights, shower stalls are all standard dimensions( a quick search on lowes/hd will confirm) . Custom sizes for these will cost much more or delays in procurement. Try to understand everything on the plan early - the electrical layout, plumbing, framing. This will help you think about potential issues during construction.
Also try to plan the addition in such a way that you can still expand the house in 2 or 3 different ways again down the line. Don’t leave yourself locked into inflexible plans.
If possible go for a high roof on the addition so that you can get a huge attic space which you can convert to a children’s den. (note this will be unapproved and you dont want to tell the inspector this). I’ve had friends to this successfully.
Ask around and get references for at least 5 contractors. From each contractor, get a list of the most recent projects/addresses they did and go talk to those owners. There will be some who will charge top dollar and you will not have to lift a finger. The other end will be deadbeats who can never complete a project on time/cost ever. You can err on the cautious side and go with top end or take your chance with the middle tier. Another option is for you to be the General Contractor for the project and have someone else execute the various bits. This is a little more stressful but you have full control and can boot a crappy contractor out fast. It is also very important to draw up a good contract and what kind of payment/penalty terms you put into it.
Whatever schedule your contractor quotes, double it and be prepared for schedule over-runs. Also be prepared for cost overruns (usually 10 to 20% over budget) and have a plan in place to scale back the construction if you don’t have the money. City inspectors will accommodate this usually.
Well, you are describing a fictional occurrence that may or not happen. Why? Because you are talking to investors here who are aiming to get the same type of property you want to buy.
Cost of materials are going up in a yearly basis. So is real estate, I hope. Labor, taxes, inflation, the cost of installing new safety requirements, etc, should be taken as parameters to decide if buying now a big house is for good or not.
So, if you go for a remodel, after buying a small home, why not make a spread sheet about the costs of adding any rooms or rooms to your (alleged home) including the increase in materials, cost of labor in the future, and the lost of equity if you bought a big house.
If you are buying a small property because you are not qualified for a bigger home, then, that’s another story.
A friend of mine had on GC as contractor, he did not check insurance/bond, gave $70000, contractor never finished job, finally served lawyer notice and got settlement , but lost some amount.
What kind of insurance/bond you have asked from each contractors?
Each of the tradespeople who came were licensed (I checked) and bonded. For example: the electrical guy had to have a bond of >15000$ per California state law.
Yelp is decent to find tradespeople. You can use yelp request a quote and get email quotes. I hear they are also planning to roll out discount codes that you can use within the request and Yelp apparently will provide guarantees of work quality from some of the top rated businesses.
Ive also used Angie’s List for a previous renovation but find Yelp to be more faster with the workflow.
You can do some of that with Yelp reviews. But to get hard numbers you have to ask each contractor for work he did previously and go do due diligence yourself.
Regarding contractors, I think you simply have to ask for references and samples of their work. If they are not willing to provide, move on. If a contractor is reasonably confident of his/her work, references shouldn’t be an issue right? Go and talk to the past customers and ask them if they were happy with the work and what were the pros/cons.
I am going to buy me a bunch of chickens, they will hatch and I will have more chickens, which I am going to make they hatch another bunch of chickens and then I will have more and more hatchings to the point I am going to be a millionaire and buy bunches of luxury cars and homes for investment.
If you don’t get the reason I wrote that, you are not paying attention to this topic.
Not able to understand your point here. Is it based on your experience or plain philosophy? I think buying a smaller house with a larger lot is popular advise, just going into detail for the same. If you have experienced - bad/good - would be happy to know.
I think your approach is more than fine, Sir. You are buying what you can reasonably afford and can expand when you are able to. Sounds like a winning strategy to me…
If you save money, then expand when there’s a recession (if you can wait for it). You’ll get much better pricing and contractors are more eager to do the work. For a project that big, you’re probably only picking the GC. They’ll pick all the subcontractors. That’s good if you pick a good GC. They won’t use bad subcontractors, since it’s their reputation on the line.
