Rough Price for an addition?

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by Goodjules

Yep. Once you have an actual estimate on the cost of the addition you can see how it compares to buying a bigger house.

This is something we discuss frequently. It depends on how cheap you are in your current house. For us, we could significantly add on to our current house and we will still be in for (purchase price of the house + addition cost) much less than it would cost to buy our current house at today's prices.

We have friends who added on and refinanced their mortgage because their monthly payment was cheaper than buying a bigger house. But they basically hit reset on on their 30 mortgage.

On the other hand, we might consider keeping our current mortgage due to a great rate and then using a home equity for (15 years) for an addition. Doing it this way would mean a total payment similar to the mortgage we would get to buy a bigger house. The difference is that we would be done paying it off in 15 years as opposed to 30.

[Amber N'At]

Originally Posted by szug-bot

Can you wait until next week? "My guy" gets back from a vacation with the wife next Tuesday. I can hit him up with this scenario and get some input.

Also, its "adviCe". (sorry!)

The guy never actually came to give us the quote. Input would be great!
LOL, my husband would have pointed out that typo too! :P

[Amber N'At]

Originally Posted by ferraris

How come? It very well may be the cheapest way to get more space.

Honestly, I have an 8 month old and became a stay at home mom. I do not believe we would be able to get a new mortgage because of the decease in our income and my husband is a self employed web designer & graphic designer. So, for a bank, it would seem risky, I think.

This whole thing may just be out of our budget, but I know my husband & I can do a lot of the work, we are handy people. Right now we don't have space for both the baby & somewhere for my husband to work. Since this is our main source of income, he needs somewhere to work & obviously, we need room for our daughter.

Thanks for all the advice guys, any help is appreciated

[onwardandupward]

Has your husband thought about signing up with a shared office space like the Beauty Shoppe (http://www.thebeautyshoppe.org)? It might be easier for him to work somewhere besides home, and it might be cheaper than paying for an addition.

[Goodjules]

Originally Posted by onwardandupward

Has your husband thought about signing up with a shared office space like the Beauty Shoppe (http://www.thebeautyshoppe.org)? It might be easier for him to work somewhere besides home, and it might be cheaper than paying for an addition.

That's an excellent idea. Plus he'd be able to deduct some expenses.

A well built, but basic addition won't be cheap. You've got foundation, framing, roofing, HVAC, electrical, windows, flooring, drywall, insulation, doors, etc... Even if you can do some of the work yourself, you'll still have to hire pros to do the bulk of it. And living through a construction project, especially as a stay at home mom with a baby is incredibly difficult and stressful. I work in the construction industry. I know what I'm talking about.

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by Goodjules

That's an excellent idea. Plus he'd be able to deduct some expenses.

A well built, but basic addition won't be cheap. You've got foundation, framing, roofing, HVAC, electrical, windows, flooring, drywall, insulation, doors, etc... Even if you can do some of the work yourself, you'll still have to hire pros to do the bulk of it. And living through a construction project, especially as a stay at home mom with a baby is incredibly difficult and stressful. I work in the construction industry. I know what I'm talking about.

A lot of those shared office are fairly expensive. You might have better luck renting an individual office from someone.

Here is one on the North Shore for 489 month.

https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/off/4962232143.html

I would imagine that you could rent a single office (in a larger office) in some of the suburbs for a few hundred bucks. A friend rents a place in Penn Hills for between 200-300 a month.