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I just want to take the time to thank you all for your honest input, it is shed some light on my decision making. When I thought about moving to LI I was excited, I work here and love it, love the people. I wanted to move without my husband having to drive too far to work and not getting to see the kids as well as I. I did not want to have to pay any more than 300k in a good area with great school district. Apparently this is not possible without a far commute for both my husband and I. Spending time with our kids is more important than the big back yard and if I have to commute a certain distance every day and only get to see the kids an hour it is just not worth it. We currently own a multi family house we were going to rent but I have decided that we will expand our home allowing us to turn the crawl basement into full living space. Where we live is very convenient to all, my job and hubby job since the school district is not so great kids will go to private school. Instead of spending 300k and paying taxes on top of that we will spend about 100k to renovate or 900 square foot basement allowing us the extra money for private school. Maybe 7-10 years from now we'll be in a better situation to get exactly what we want without losing time away from our kids.
Thanks again for all your help and input it really give me the tools I needed to make the best decision for our family.
shouldn't cost 100K to renovate a basement unless you're putting in super high end stuff. Good luck with everything
I pray and hope it will not cost any where close to that amount, I plan on renovating and staying in area pricing. I'm praying it will cost me alot less to do basement. Nothing high end just comfortable dont want to have to pay any more than I should.
I have decided that we will expand our home allowing us to turn the crawl basement into full living space.
Before you spend money on that, make sure the City will allow you to do this or you will face nothing but fines and the demand to turn it back into "non-living space." This sounds like a "cellar" rather than a "basement" and the City has standards on what can and cannot be turned into living space.
Before you spend money on that, make sure the City will allow you to do this or you will face nothing but fines and the demand to turn it back into "non-living space." This sounds like a "cellar" rather than a "basement" and the City has standards on what can and cannot be turned into living space.
Awesome advice !!
To the OP....
I know they have some height restrictions on the basement ceilings and size of windows etc.... so its a good idea to get the permit before starting on your project.
Also remember to get the CO after the project is done because if the law changes in next 5 years, the work you did may have to be demolished !!
I know CO = more taxes.... not sure which is the lesser evil of the 2.
Thanks for the advice, yes I plan on getting permit as I want this space to be a legal living space if that means I even have to put an entrance from outside that is why I estimated possibly 100k, I'm willing to pay to get it done correctly legally. The whole point of this renovation is to give my family more space and give us good resale or rental value. So maybe 5-10 years from now if we decide that we can purchase another home we can rent both units comfortably or sell the house without any issues.
I have contractors coming this weekend to give me a quote and if it cannot be done than since we have a ranch we will seek that option to add on to the top of the home which will still cost us some money but again still cheaper than purchasing.
Thanks for the advice, yes I plan on getting permit as I want this space to be a legal living space if that means I even have to put an entrance from outside that is why I estimated possibly 100k, I'm willing to pay to get it done correctly legally. The whole point of this renovation is to give my family more space and give us good resale or rental value. So maybe 5-10 years from now if we decide that we can purchase another home we can rent both units comfortably or sell the house without any issues.
I have contractors coming this weekend to give me a quote and if it cannot be done than since we have a ranch we will seek that option to add on to the top of the home which will still cost us some money but again still cheaper than purchasing.
Best way I can describe it is, it is a high ranch all brick attached on both sides by other homes. Sort of like a town house. 2nd floor has a balcony with stairs that go up straight to that floor. 1st floor is just simply ground entrance.
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