$258,000.00
This is the preliminary estimate for our addition. It includes everything. It is more than our home cost us to begin with. It is also about $100K more than I had hoped to pay. So, now what? The way I see it, I have a few choices.
Option A: Scrap my plans and live comfortably in my cute little home the way it is. It is livable after all – we’re doing pretty good so far. Trade-offs? Always wondering what could have been, not being satisfied with the status quo. COST = ~$0.00
Option B: Start saving my pennies and plan to do the project at a much later date. Trade-offs? Well, less time to enjoy the additional space. Oh, and there’s inflation. COST = ~$300,000.00
Option C: Cut costs by doing a lot of the work ourselves. Trade-offs? Time. It’ll just take that much longer for us to complete the job. COST = ~$150,000.00?
We pick Option C. For better or for worse, we’ll put a lot of sweat equity into the place. I think we’re going to have to teach the kids to paint or tile or something… that’ll be good quality time, no?
But in my wildest dreams
I often wonder if I can finance my addition via some sort of social media methodology. Remember that guy who traded one red paper clip for a house? Can I get that creative? Do you suppose I could rent my front yard to a performance artist? Post ads on my house for awhile? I often wonder if I can make my addition some sort of showcase so that various vendors are compelled to donate their products and services to the effort. Doesn’t sound unreasonable to me. Sponsorship…. I’ve been reading ProBlogger to get insight into that one.
In reality
Eric bought us the house, and it’s up to me to fund the addition. As I have started my own company, I need 2 years worth of tax returns to prove that I have an income and could pay a loan back. No pressure. I just have to make my company sustainable, piece of cake – right? That’s where Building Character come to play… (not that you’ll fund my home, of course) but as an outlet for me, a journal, a resource, a community to keep me sane, reign me in – my support group!
Help me out here…
Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not materialistic. Really. I hate to shop for myself (or others), I wear jeans that I bought over 10 years ago, and hand-me-down shirts… There are no knick-knacks in my house (excepting for the rocks of course), my kids are not swimming in cheap plastic crap. However, the things that I do surround myself with, I consider to be quality items. Furniture made from solid wood, and the tools to make said furniture, the art on my walls is primarily photographs that Eric and I have taken in the field… and we don’t skimp on food (did I mention Eric has mad skills?). We are proud of our stuff, and the stuff that we don’t see or use, we tend to donate. So why am I so hung up on my home? Why is it so important for me to create more space in my home, and update the spaces that I already have? Here’s what I can come up with:
- Achieving a goal… We knew that we couldn’t afford the house we really wanted in the neighborhood that we really wanted. So our plan was to buy in the neighborhood we wanted and build the home we dreamed about. I’m proud of us for starting. And it’ll be cool for our kids to see us accomplish it.
- Investing in our home… I’m not a real estate agent – although I don’t rule out the possibility someday – but I understand the value of adding square footage. We are in a neighborhood that historically holds its value, if we do it right (read: don’t overdo it), we’ll add a ton more value to the house.
- It brings us together… Eric and I are on the same page. We’re excited to realize the potential of this home. Particularly as we know that previous owners had similar plans that were scraped for one reason or another. This house is telling us to “bring it on!” We enjoy a challenge.
- For me, I think it will signify that I’ve made it. I know, I know… that is materialistic. What I mean is, the prospect of making this home into the home of our dreams gives me warm fuzzies. But really, it’s not going to happen unless I’ve been successful in growing my company.
I hear my business coaches now. The first step to success is writing down your goals.
Makes me feel successful already.
How are you going to overcome hurdles to meet your goals?
Hi,
I’m a builder in Portland, ME. I’ve been doing this for 20 years.
A question: why did your architect design something that will cost $100,000 more than you were prepared to spend? Was the budget not part of the design criteria?
The first discussion you had with your architect involved discussing the “program” for the addition: what problems did you want it to solve, what aspects were important. You state early on in this post that your existing house is “livable” as it is. But clearly the addition solved $250,000 worth of problems. That’s either a lot of little problems with your livable house, or a few really big problems.
What are they, these expensive problems?
Is this really the right architect to be talking with?
Hi Dan…
All very valid questions…
When we sat down with our architect, it was to do a feasibility study. Eric and I had specific ideas for the house, and a few spaces that we couldn’t quiet nail down. We had brought our plans, sketched out in pencil, to the architect and pointed out to him that one of our main issues was the placement of the staircase on our design. We were trying to connect our future kitchen more directly with the garage below it via some sort of secondary staircase. Our architect came up with a better plan to improve traffic flow to all parts of the house, which only involved one central staircase. We haven’t invested a whole lot of time or money into architectural plans yet, but preliminarily, he provided us with a vision that we’re very happy with.
Yes, our house is livable… but we’re not satisfied with our current space. Our problems are 1) we need a master suite; 2) we need a larger kitchen; 3) we need a larger dining room; 4) we need a new garage and workshop.
Eric and I plan to take on a fair bit of the work ourselves – we’ll have the pros in to excavate the basement, complete the foundation, framing, plumbing, electrical – the major systems, and the drywall on top. And we’ll take it from there. When we’re in a position to move forward with the addition – we’ll work with our architect to refine the design, and the contractors to agree on our budget.
Perhaps we’re not approaching this the right way?
Thanks for your comment – it’s food for thought.
I’ve taken some time to read back through your blog and look at the drawings. I’ve commented elsewhere.
Regarding the price: It looks like you’re renovating every square inch of the existing space, and building or renovating something on the order of 2600 square feet. A price of $100 per square foot for that work strikes me as being low.
Since you’ve got this terrific vehicle — a well-written blog — in which to explore these issues, you might want to consider some other ways off approaching what you’re trying to do.
I think I might begin by considering the original set of goals and the way that you’ve defined the problem that needs to be solved.
If you are really constrained by a budget of $100,000, I would place that at the center of the conversation. For example, I would state the problem this way: “we would like to enlarge our kitchen, create a master suite, enlarge the dining room, and build a new garage and workshop for $150,000.” (I note here that “build a room for a piano” is not in the list of criteria.)
As a builder, I can tell you that this is a very, very challenging goal. At the very least, these criteria will need to be met within the existing building footprint.
I would also argue that the way to a solution passes through the existing family room. That, along with the space above the garage. This is the cheapest square footage available to you.
How about some pictures of the outside of the house — all four elevations?
I’ll note here also that you’ve redefined the problem: now the problem is, “how can I earn an extra $150,000?” Perhaps that’s the right question to answer, but I’m not so sure about that.
You mentioned in your Problogger comment that you haven’t found blogs similar in interest to yours. I agree — I haven’t found any, but I wish there were more out there, because this is exactly the process most people go through when they set out to find a way to enjoy their houses more. I hope you’ll share any others you’ve found.
Fun!
Thanks for your observations & suggestions Dan…
Our initial idea was to keep as much of the existing structure as possible, and build upwards above the garage. The garage is a tear down – it’s not structurally sound, and it is a few feet higher than the rest of the basement. So, a large part of our expense will be the excavation of the garage area level with the rest of the house, and building a new foundation in its place.
I think that the central staircase in the new design does a great job of connecting an entryway (through the garage area) with the kitchen… right now, the garage is unusable… and the stairs from the basement originate on the opposite end of the house from the garage. So, it’s a major improvement over the current plan. Having said that – I hadn’t thought that it could get better than the current plan.
At this stage in the game, our budget is very tentative (read: we have no budget yet). Our plans hinge on the success of my company – it may take a few years to feel comfortable making the plunge. “How can I earn an extra $150,000?” remains the question!
I hit a (small) goldmine of like-minded blogs today – the Construction Management Schools blog listed 50 Sites to Help You Remodel Your Home. I found the link via the Home Improvement and Design Carnival. The Problogger request was timely – I really started to dig in.
If the question is, “How can I earn an extra $150,000?” I definitely can’t help you.
Good luck with this project!