Adding a bedroom and bathroom to a house (Waltham, Peabody: for sale, how much)

[thinkingotherthings]

Hi folks, my family has been searching for a 4-bed house for over a year at this point, but after our most recent reassessment of our needs we've come to realize that we might not need all 4 bedrooms right off the bat -- We may be able to fit comfortably into a 3-bed house (as long as there is some extra space for a home office) with the intention of expanding the house to add another bedroom, and possibly also another bathroom, in a few years' time.

I would love to hear from those of you who have experience building an additional bedroom and/or bathroom on their house in eastern MA.

• Is this a bad idea?
  
  
• What advice would you give to someone who has no building experience?
  
  
• Are particular styles of houses or layouts easier to expand than others?
  
  
• Are there considerations about the land I should be aware of (more of a factor I imagine if the expansion would need to be out as opposed to up)?
  
  
• Ballpark cost estimates for adding (a) a bedroom and (b) a bathroom in eastern MA?
  
  
• How long, if at all, would we need to be out of the house for while the builders are working?
  
  
• Another approach would be to buy a house with an unfinished basement and convert that to a living area with a bedroom and bathroom. Is this generally cheaper since the space is already there? I guess the main consideration with this strategy would be to make sure the basement is not prone to flooding, and that it would be feasible to run the plumbing to the basement?
  
  
• Bonus question: thoughts on having siblings 2-3 years apart in age share a bedroom? And if feasible, until what ages?
  

Thanks!

[OutdoorLover]

I have never done an addition, but I have some home design software that I use to whiteboard designs for my retirement home, so am accustomed to some simple considerations, and will only say that:

I think you want to first consider the existing home layout and lot boundaries and think where you might want to add a bedroom in a place that would physically be feasible:
- you're adding onto the outside of the existing building, and to keep costs reasonable, will likely want to add onto the outside of the building on the first floor.
- you can't put it where there is already a garage
- you'll need some kind of interior passageway to service this bedroom to allow ready access, or, it could also be added onto the outside of a living area like the living room or family room
- you'll need to stay within property boundary setback regulations for the town in the zoning district of the home - typically the house boundaries must be at least e.g. 15-feet from the property line - setbacks are a simple idea, but the restrictions do vary by town and zoning district
- speaking of regulations, if the place has a septic system, I believe these are typically rated for a given number of bedrooms, and if you're serious, you probably want to check that as well - if you'll exceed the approved # of bedrooms for the septic system, you'll need to upgrade that as well

[wolfgang239]

I would try to hold out and find what you want. You are talking adding an addition, so you'll need to find a home with a suitable layout to do so in addition to hoping it would pass any town requirements. Then you have the design and construction costs and unknown financing rates and conditions in the future. Seems like way too big of a headache if you already know it will be happening.

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by wolfgang239

I would try to hold out and find what you want. You are talking adding an addition, so you'll need to find a home with a suitable layout to do so in addition to hoping it would pass any town requirements. Then you have the design and construction costs and unknown financing rates and conditions in the future. Seems like way too big of a headache if you already know it will be happening.

Good point - I agree. It should be less expensive, less trouble, and less risky to find a place that already has an acceptable configuration, than to buy some other place and plan to turn it into the house you want.

[thinkingotherthings]

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

I have never done an addition, but I have some home design software that I use to whiteboard designs for my retirement home, so am accustomed to some simple considerations, and will only say that:

I think you want to first consider the existing home layout and lot boundaries and think where you might want to add a bedroom in a place that would physically be feasible:
- you're adding onto the outside of the existing building, and to keep costs reasonable, will likely want to add onto the outside of the building on the first floor.
- you can't put it where there is already a garage
- you'll need some kind of interior passageway to service this bedroom to allow ready access, or, it could also be added onto the outside of a living area like the living room or family room
- you'll need to stay within property boundary setback regulations for the town in the zoning district of the home - typically the house boundaries must be at least e.g. 15-feet from the property line - setbacks are a simple idea, but the restrictions do vary by town and zoning district
- speaking of regulations, if the place has a septic system, I believe these are typically rated for a given number of bedrooms, and if you're serious, you probably want to check that as well - if you'll exceed the approved # of bedrooms for the septic system, you'll need to upgrade that as well

Thanks for the tips, OutdoorLover. Just curious what home design software is that?

Originally Posted by wolfgang239

I would try to hold out and find what you want. You are talking adding an addition, so you'll need to find a home with a suitable layout to do so in addition to hoping it would pass any town requirements. Then you have the design and construction costs and unknown financing rates and conditions in the future. Seems like way too big of a headache if you already know it will be happening.

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

Good point - I agree. It should be less expensive, less trouble, and less risky to find a place that already has an acceptable configuration, than to buy some other place and plan to turn it into the house you want.

Although we have by no means decided on this route with certainty, the way we see it is that this would give us the best chance to get into one of our top choice towns (Winchester/Belmont/Lexington/Arlington) within our budget ($1.5M)*. Delaying the expansion by a few years would give us a bit of time to rebuild our savings, and if we get raises at work in that timeframe then we'd be all the more comfortable with the costs.

I haven't run the numbers but my casual sense is that 4-beds in our top choice towns tend to sell for 300k–500k over 3-beds. I had thought adding on ourselves might be cheaper.

*I will caveat that I don't think we are 100% priced out of 4-beds in our top choice towns, but we'd be sacrificing something to find one in our budget – either the house would be very dated/in need of repair, or have short ceilings, or be on the outskirts of town not close to anything, etc... We are also still considering our second choice towns (Burlington, Waltham, Natick) where we think we could get a good 4-bed in our budget.

[chicagoliz]

Some additions are easier than others -- if there is a house with an attached garage or some room that is only on the first floor, it is easier to add a second floor room on top of that than to build out from scratch. Another possibility might be the attic or a second floor that could become more functional by adding a dormer.

A lot of basements aren't really liveable because the ceilings are really low or it is somehow susceptible to water, etc.

I do think it is a good idea to expand your search, though to 3+ bedrooms because a lot of houses do have space that could be used as an office or is somehow not able to be considered an 'official' bedroom, but could easily be used as one or turned into one with relatively minor modifications.

[Jwelder93]

I just finished putting a second floor onto my house in Peabody. We added 3 bedrooms to the existing two, and we didn’t spend any days out of the house. Granted, it was hard when the roof was fully off and open in the middle of summer, the AC did overtime this summer. It was costly but it was done for what I’d assume at a bigger discount than others would charge. We paid around $95,000. It is really tough when you’re having work done to the house, but I easily added 100s of thousands in equity. And 2 bedrooms sell significantly less than 3 bedrooms so I would say it’s a worthy investment for sure.

Do your homework on the contractor. Ask to see similar projects they’ve done, maybe even references. Our contractor was an absolute nightmare to deal with and was horrible at running the business and customer service side of things, but he hired and did a great job in the end so I’m thankful for that.

With an addition going out, you will need to factor in needing to have your land surveyed and if your town will even allow you to do a bump out addition. This is called a variance, every town requires this. Especially look into this if you’re close to neighbors. You won’t need a variance if you’re adding up to an existing structure.

All in all, I’d do it. It adds equity and with house prices today, it’ll be costly either way you cut it. We paid $328k for our house and every house with a full second floor was/is well over $600k-$700k and I’d rather only spend $100k than $300k+ For someone else’s idea. Hope this helps, good luck, and get multiple prices and DO NOT go for the least expensive option. We actually went on the slightly higher than middle range.

[Strannik33]

"We paid around $95,000." I find it hard to believe . . . a handyman did it? Not sure what exactly was done, though.

The going price for an addition in MA by a reputable contractor might be something like $300-400 per square foot -- you do the math. YMMV, of course. DIY addition designs are the worst, so please talk to a builder -- or better, an architect -- if you plan an addition.

OP, do yourself a favor and don't get entangled with construction work on a house, while living there with a family. One of our neighbors just did something like that, and OUR lives were miserable for more than six months, with banging starting at 7 am, construction vehicles plugging up the street, the wonderful smell of Port-a-Potties permeating the air, etc.

Get a bigger house now, if you can, or wait and pounce on one when it becomes available.

[simplexsimon]

Originally Posted by thinkingotherthings

Although we have by no means decided on this route with certainty, the way we see it is that this would give us the best chance to get into one of our top choice towns (Winchester/Belmont/Lexington/Arlington) within our budget ($1.5M)*. Delaying the expansion by a few years would give us a bit of time to rebuild our savings, and if we get raises at work in that timeframe then we'd be all the more comfortable with the costs.

It's good to think things through, but in reality how many 3BR houses in these towns are on lots big enough for an addition and will be for sale this year?

It seems less likely you'll get what you want in 5 years (or whatever your timeframe is) going this route vs buying the larger dated home and using the cash to update that.

I also have my doubts about the above quote of $95k to add an entire floor unless there was a ton of sweat equity involved by the owner.

[thinkingotherthings]

Originally Posted by chicagoliz

Some additions are easier than others -- if there is a house with an attached garage or some room that is only on the first floor, it is easier to add a second floor room on top of that than to build out from scratch. Another possibility might be the attic or a second floor that could become more functional by adding a dormer.

A lot of basements aren't really liveable because the ceilings are really low or it is somehow susceptible to water, etc.

I do think it is a good idea to expand your search, though to 3+ bedrooms because a lot of houses do have space that could be used as an office or is somehow not able to be considered an 'official' bedroom, but could easily be used as one or turned into one with relatively minor modifications.

Good points chicagoliz.

Originally Posted by Jwelder93

I just finished putting a second floor onto my house in Peabody. We added 3 bedrooms to the existing two, and we didn’t spend any days out of the house. Granted, it was hard when the roof was fully off and open in the middle of summer, the AC did overtime this summer. It was costly but it was done for what I’d assume at a bigger discount than others would charge. We paid around $95,000. It is really tough when you’re having work done to the house, but I easily added 100s of thousands in equity. And 2 bedrooms sell significantly less than 3 bedrooms so I would say it’s a worthy investment for sure.

Do your homework on the contractor. Ask to see similar projects they’ve done, maybe even references. Our contractor was an absolute nightmare to deal with and was horrible at running the business and customer service side of things, but he hired and did a great job in the end so I’m thankful for that.

With an addition going out, you will need to factor in needing to have your land surveyed and if your town will even allow you to do a bump out addition. This is called a variance, every town requires this. Especially look into this if you’re close to neighbors. You won’t need a variance if you’re adding up to an existing structure.

All in all, I’d do it. It adds equity and with house prices today, it’ll be costly either way you cut it. We paid $328k for our house and every house with a full second floor was/is well over $600k-$700k and I’d rather only spend $100k than $300k+ For someone else’s idea. Hope this helps, good luck, and get multiple prices and DO NOT go for the least expensive option. We actually went on the slightly higher than middle range.

Thanks for that perspective Jwelder. Wow, adding 3 bedrooms for $95K!? That doesn't sound bad at all. I assume the towns I'm targeting might be a little bit more expensive for construction work, but if we could add 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom for under 150K that would be great value I think.

How long did it take to get your expansion done? And specifically how much time did the pre-work take (planning, permits, designs, etc.) vs how much time did it take from when the construction actually started?