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My wife and I own a 1,000 sq foot ranch in New Hyde Park that sits on a 75 x 100 lot. One of the reasons we purchased the house was because of the lot and the room for expansion. We are thinking about getting some estimates on extending and dormering the house; however, before doing that, I figured I'd do a little homework and ask you all just so I can get a decent idea of what are the costs associated with each option, as well as whatever other feedback/insight you can add. Thanks in advance.
Ideally we would like to extend the house back about 20 feet and do a full dormer as well. Based on some of the threads on here it seems a ballpark figure for an extension is about $120 K and about $180 K for a dormer. Does that sound about right?
What does it cost to tear the house down and build one from scratch? After all, if it's going to cost $250 K or more to alter the home, but building it from the bottom up is, say, $400 K, the latter option would become more favorable despite the higher cost.
Also, how does financing work for such a project? Would I just go get a loan from a bank or do financing through the homebuilder? And what about using a home equity line of credit?
Any info is helpful and greatly appreciated it. Thank you.
Look into what's called a 203K loan. I know Wells Fargo is experienced with them. As far as the actual costs of what you are doing, I defer to the contractors on here.
If you're doing it on a loan, I doubt doing all new for over $100k+ more is worthwhile. You can make the existing portion nicer by knocking down walls (since you don't need the bedrooms there anymore), maybe re-working the kitchen, and upgrading appliances. You don't need the entire structure to be new. You'll also be hit with much higher taxes for new and be restricted to current code for a new 1st floor.
Sorry, I didn't want to start a new thread since my question is related to some degree.
I'm in NHP, and doing a major project: full dormer of a cape w/1st floor extension, new kitchen, bathroom, etc.
For those that have gone through a major project such as this, what is the situation with the contract(s) that you've explored and/or ultimately signed?
Once beyond the proposal phase, would you expect a completely itemized cost contract? What type of contract, something with a total price quote inclusive of a contingency (at some stated %)? Are "not to exceed" contracts available? Like anybody that has gone through something of this magnitude, I want to guard against runaway cost adders springing up again and again that blow the budget through the proverbial roof - no pun intended.
Any advice or personal experiences would be welcomed - please DM me if you're more comfortable with that option.
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