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We have a slightly under 1000 sq foot 2 bedroom 2 bath house in Arizona that we use mainly in the winter.
We like the location and most everything about the house but are thinking of adding on an extra room.
Currently there is a porch in the backyard that needs a new roof.. so I was thinking of just having a new room built where the current porch is. This would sort of be like an "Arizona room" except that it would be all new permitted construction, new slab, new roof, fully insulated all to current building standards. This would block a window to the master bedroom and I know I would have to move that window to the other wall of the bedroom per safety standards for a bedroom.
We like the current porch so would then duplicate the same sort of porch but now just extended out from the new room. So the new roof section would need to extend out past the new room addition and a new slab pored for the porch.
Since we mainly live in this house during the winter, it would be completely adequate to heat the new room with just a space heater and most of the time it would not be heated at all. I personally have no reason to cool this room as we will have some insulated French doors between the new room and the original house that can be closed for the few times per year that we would need to run the AC (2.5 ton - house is just under 1000 sq foot and that is the only part we would cool).
Since there is no plumbing involved but lots of new windows, I think the cost will be around or less than 150 per square foot.
But I really want the new addition to be included in the square foot of the house because I want that to show up in an appraised value - important for the new owner getting a loan.
So.. do you think I would also need a second AC unit on the is new room ? Keep in mind that I would never use it, its just so that the room would add to the appraised house square foot.
I would like to at least break even on the house value going up with the addition.. I think the current value per square foot in this area is a little over $200.
We are doing the same thing as this on our house right now, and it will add 225 Sq ft of living space in the form of a den/TV room. The floor is at the same level as the rest of the house and the addition will look like an integral part of the house...not an add on. At $130. per sq ft, this will add about $30,000 to the house value. It will probably come in at about $40.-$45. a foot to build ($7500-$10k). We did not get any permits, and hope that doesn’t backfire, but I doubt it will, since all the hard stuff was original to the house.
The roof, concrete floor and electrical were original to the house, so adding walls, raising the floor, and adding more outlets has been rather straightforward. We are in a hot climate too, so are using good insulation, solar windows, and extending the HVAC from the adjacent living room.
I think you would be making a mistake to not put AC in. When I first embarked in this, I started a thread asking what I should do about heating and cooling. The most unanimous opinion was a mini split heat pump. It hangs on the wall and both heats and cools as needed. We are able to just extend our existing ducts, otherwise we would have done the mini split.
Last edited by gentlearts; 02-23-2020 at 03:14 PM..
As close as I can figure based on national and regional averages (Remodeling Magazine's annual "Cost-vs-Value" report)- AND your intended finish- your ROI would be MAYBE 50%.
All the major catagories for remodeling are down from last year- some significantly. There can be very specific reasons, and others are very regional.
Today, you're better off buying what you want/need versus adding those to an existing house- not what you wanted; but definitely the best ROI.
Responding in reverse order.. building on vs selling then buying something different is something I have already been considering. In this case, I have a view I would have a hard time duplicating and since its a second home, tax complications to consider.
On the return on investment on something like this, maybe my model that the appraised value would increase proportional to the increase in square foot added is off. Probably still important to do all the right stuff to make sure this was added to the appraised square foot. Looks like its more complicated than that I guessed. I may be able to live with 50 percent ROI in this case given all the other personal variables which would be off topic here. Hmm.. Maybe part of this is that the addition may not qualify as an additional bedroom.. I would have to look into that. We are on city sewer so that would not seem to limit calling this an additional bedroom.
Ductless mini split heat pump does seem like a good idea if the goal is to have the addition count as living area. I will add that into the list if I do chose to go ahead with this.
As close as I can figure based on national and regional averages (Remodeling Magazine's annual "Cost-vs-Value" report)- AND your intended finish- your ROI would be MAYBE 50%.
All the major catagories for remodeling are down from last year- some significantly. There can be very specific reasons, and others are very regional.
Today, you're better off buying what you want/need versus adding those to an existing house- not what you wanted; but definitely the best ROI.
Amen. If this is your only reason for spending this money - to hope to add appraised value to it, which will also increase your taxes - I don't see that it makes sense at all.
Amen. If this is your only reason for spending this money - to hope to add appraised value to it, which will also increase your taxes - I don't see that it makes sense at all.
I totally agree and the new room that your considering might be different than what potential buyers might prefer to have. I would list the house as is knowing a small section of roof needs new shingles.
You did mention that you like the area and that alone is a major positive factor when selling. Sounds like your best option is to sell and upgrade to a nicer house that you would better suit your needs.
Well, conventional wisdom for decades has been that you won't get your money back out of add-ons. Why would your situation be different? That's the question you need to ask yourself.
But I really want the new addition to be included in the square foot of the house because I want that to show up in an appraised value - important for the new owner getting a loan.
No. That's the problem. I've lived in Phoenix for 40+ years, owned several homes, and I'm familiar with how appraisals are done.
You will need to duct the existing heating and cooling system into the new room for it to be considered part of the home's living space.
It will still have some value, but at a fraction of the value per SF of the rest of the house.
I'm basing my comment on a home I owned decades ago so you would be wise to contact several professional real estate appraisers for confirmation (or not) of the comment before you do anything.
Another problem with market value (regardless of appraisal) is that potential buyers will see a room with a "shed roof" that doesn't match the rest of the house and may get turned off by it, or treat it as an enclosed patio regardless of how it appraises.
Putting on my "buyer's" hat for the moment and looking at the back of the house, I'd say that nothing you do to it is going to enhance the market value of the property. It will look like a crappy add on.
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