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Old 03-01-2014, 07:16 PM
 
1,768 posts, read 3,229,586 times
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Building porch vs. building an addition requiring foundation are two different animals. Addition will cost you. And, since you never know what will you run in once you start digging, rule of the thumb is to expect the unexpected, and have some more cash handy. Even with best laid plans, and with the best crews.

An addition for an average homeowner (with mortgage) usually doesn't make good financial sense.

MikePRU is right. Enjoyment is different. If you want to have something built for fulfilling your own vision and need, it is OK as long you understand that your enjoyment, needs and wants, will very rarely realize dollar for dollar return (if much return at all). Sometimes you can even lose all of your home equity and "value" in upgrades, because your potential/willing buyers can not afford it down the road.

With higher interest rates looming on a horizon be careful how you spend on your home. Affordability is not great right now, despite relatively low interest rates, and it might suffer even more in the next decade.

Young people/couples who would be traditionally entering the market, and would help former FTHB become trader-uppers, could be missing from our RE food chain, saddled with ballooning student debts, and unemployment. Many are, and will be postponing home purchases, or move away to cheaper areas in the US. Many FTHB will be adding rather than moving, and this trend is already here to some extent. Contractors are very busy right now.

I am not trying to be down on RE, just explaining why renovations can be tricky, including financial gamble, if not well thought out.

However, if you are sure to stay in the same home for a long time (and you will after you spend money upgrading), have stable employment, and are able to afford an addition, than by all means do it if it makes you happy.
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Old 03-02-2014, 05:03 PM
 
Location: Massatucky
1,187 posts, read 2,389,523 times
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If you add bedrooms you need to make sure you have adequate septic system sizing or make sure your town allows additional sewer flow. More bedrooms = more sewage. Sometime a septic upgrade is required and that can be another $25,000 or more.
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Old 03-03-2014, 07:19 AM
 
2 posts, read 6,089 times
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Thank you all for the responses. The original point of this project was to replace ugly concrete steps into our house with a more appealing farmers porch. We love the neighborhood that we are in and love the school system that we are part of. The addition of the farmers porch would bring our house more in-line with other properties in the neighborhood. We then started kicking around the idea of addressing a severe shortfall in closet space in our bedrooms by possibly kicking out some space above the farmers porch and making larger closets. We have restrictions for the setback from the street and square footage to property size restrictions due to our property being small. This is the determining factor in the size of the addition and a limiting factor in where we could put an addition on. There is obviously a point where it isn't going to make sense to try to do the closets and just stick with the farmers porch. I think both pieces of the project would add value to the house due to the existing shortcoming of the property but certainly not enough to offset the cost. We are just trying to weigh what the actual cost would be for the project against the perceived benefits in a house that we are hoping to stay in for many more years.
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Old 03-03-2014, 07:26 AM
 
Location: Needham, MA
8,541 posts, read 13,963,549 times
Reputation: 7921
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtzak2636 View Post
Thank you all for the responses. The original point of this project was to replace ugly concrete steps into our house with a more appealing farmers porch. We love the neighborhood that we are in and love the school system that we are part of. The addition of the farmers porch would bring our house more in-line with other properties in the neighborhood. We then started kicking around the idea of addressing a severe shortfall in closet space in our bedrooms by possibly kicking out some space above the farmers porch and making larger closets. We have restrictions for the setback from the street and square footage to property size restrictions due to our property being small. This is the determining factor in the size of the addition and a limiting factor in where we could put an addition on. There is obviously a point where it isn't going to make sense to try to do the closets and just stick with the farmers porch. I think both pieces of the project would add value to the house due to the existing shortcoming of the property but certainly not enough to offset the cost. We are just trying to weigh what the actual cost would be for the project against the perceived benefits in a house that we are hoping to stay in for many more years.
One other point I forgot to mention is that curb appeal can have a huge impact on your home's value. If adding the porch on the front drastically changes the curb appeal for the better than can help to offset the financial impact of the project.

Either way, it sounds like you're planning on staying there a while so if it makes you happy then I say do it.
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