Advice needed on home addition

[user435]

Hello Bogleheads, first off, thank you for your helpful guidance throughout the posts in this forum! I have leaned a lot!

I need an advice on a house addition project:
My house's current value is ~ 1.3M ($700 per sqft). I am thinking extending our living room to another 500 sqft. The current design build quote is $400 per sqft. It requires around three months for permits and 4–5 months for construction. I understand that the actual cost can be double and the actual time it takes can be even more. The construction is isolated until the time that they need to attach the extension to our living room which is the final stage. When I compare this scenario to moving to a different house with the same size (after addition) I hardly can justify that. This is because our current mortgage is less than 3% which is impossible in the current market.

I was wondering if you can share your opinion on this matter. Does this extension make sense assuming it can be done with no financing if it costs up to 150k?

[snackdog]

500 sq ft doesn't sound like a lot given the drama of managing a whole project, the distruption, etc. I would hope for a more impactful addition and/or renovation if I were to endure all that.

[Tib]

By my arithmetic, your house is currently about 1,850 square feet. Adding 500 square feet to the LR would probably double its size, which might be great if that (rather than a family room or den) is where you generally hang out and you'd like the feel and/or functionality of a larger space. An expansion of the LR sounds terribly disruptive. But if you're willing to endure it and are otherwise satisfied with your house, then I see its probable financial advantage over selling the house and buying a larger one, which would also be disruptive.

[delamer]

If it’s 500 square feet and the quote is for $400 per square foot, how are you coming up with $150,000?

That’s a large amount of space to add to one room. Can it be divided from the existing room by pocket door or something similiar? Otherwise all of the noise in one part of the room is going to flow into the rest.

[Watty]

My house's current value is ~ 1.3M ($700 per sqft).

Price per square foot for your existing house is meaningless since in some areas 80%+ of the value of the property may be in things like the lot, driveway, garage, etc. In addition things like kitchens and bathrooms are a lot more expensive than something like an extra bedroom or office which you might add.

[123]

You could likely see little return on the addition when you (or your estate) sells the home. Buyers have certain expectations about square footage and how it is distributed throughout a home. Square footage alone does not make a great room. There is likely a point where a living room becomes too large and extra space is better apportioned into a den or other purpose. It could be a different story if the addition opens the home up to expose a magnificent view (i.e. beach front, lake, timber forest, grand prairie, dramatic valley_).

[Watty]

When I compare this scenario to moving to a different house with the same size (after addition) I hardly can justify that.

Also keep in mind that if you spend $200K to expand the living room you might increase the homes value something like $50K( ?????) since you are not adding bedrooms or bathrooms so in the end your house might be worth $1.350M If you buy a $1.5 million dollar house it will be worth $1.5M.

[Admiral]

$400/ftsq x 500ftsq = $200,000. If you think it could be double that, I would run away.

This sounds like a lot of money to add a single room that's 25x20 (or some derivation thereof). Why do you need a living room of that size added to what you have?

[brewerandgardener]

Timely post for me.

I'm sitting in our new kitchen for the first time after undergoing an 8 month renovation where we had to move out for four months. Saying it was stressful is an understatement.

That said, if it's not going to stretch you financially, if you're not looking to get the money "back," and if you think it'll add value to your life, I say go for it!

Here are two anecdotes:

- Our renovation started with a small addition. The processes sounded like what was described to you: build all of the addition without touching the main house and then one day "breaking in." That portion of our project had 0 impact on us (then there was a lot more work inside to be done that did have an impact lol).
- Contractor quality varies dramatically, and with that comes the accuracy of estimates. Our estimate has been very close, with the exception of areas we intentionally went over (adding in windows, expanding the deck, etc.). I don't think it's reasonable to expect to pay double what you're initially quoted unless you choose to do that.

[snowday2022]

You didn’t comment on how much money you have available and the overall state of your finances. For example, I am adding 500 sf to my house but for less money and only a fraction of my disposable savings for a year. If this were say, 5 years of your savings, it would be a hard no.

[Admiral]

Just did a gut reno of a bathroom. East Coast. $180/sf construction price (not including fixtures). I will say, however, that a quote I got from a v. good contractor I've used before was double that. The most expensive single line item was the tile labor.

$400/ftsq is too much, IMO, esp for a livingroom.

[JPM]

Agree that $400/sf sounds high, but unclear what the market is for remodeling contractors in OP's area. If OP's wife wants it badly, it will be easily worth the money.

[ZWorkLess]

If the addition will make a big improvement in your enjoyment of your home, you plan on remaining in the home for some years, and you can comfortably afford it, go for it. We knowingly overspent on a big addition project a decade ago. It cost twice as much and took 4 times as long as expected, but I’m still happy with it. A de add later, I ur adult kids and us parents just cooked dinner together, all 6 of us, in my perfect kitchen. If you’ll love it and can afford it, do it.