Home remodel/rebuild questions...

[jshouse]

Earlier this year we bought 2 acres and have been saving some money to build a house on it. We knew it would take about 12-18 months and ended up buying a small house that we were renting with plans of renting or just selling it when we finish the build.

Long story short, we have been kicking around just adding on to this little house and staying here, we like the location/schools etc. It is around 1100sqft and pier and beam.

I know there are 1000 variables, I just wanted some opinions on the feasibility of doing something like this. This is the best pic of our house now and what we would like to "turn it into" lol.

Our house is right at 60ft wide and so is the new one, and we have .25 acre so going back into the backyard isn't an issue.

My questions are can the roof be raised/altered that much? Would the cost get out of control? And having no experience with this, can the interior and exterior walls and such be moved around that much? My wife seems to think it can all be done, and I'm sure it can but at some point the ROI just wouldn't be favorable I'm sure.

She flipped the new house to keep the kids bedrooms on the same side of the house.

I was just curious if it's not all that big of a deal or if we were being unreasonable...

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[MadHatter]

Completely doable, but your cost wouldn't be much different, than starting from scratch imo. Lot of demo, hauling off, etc..Lot of redoing/bracing the existing structure to hold that roof, dormers, etc.. Lot of tying in, rerouting electric (?), etc..
I would say build new.

[RutnBuk]

You would be better off just tearing down and starting from ground up.

[deerplanter]

It can be done but it will be costly and you may want to check your building easements because I doubt the garage would work as the picture. another issue if you move load bearing walls they may not be over slab beams.

[TxAg]

They do a lot of that in my neighborhood. The neighbors just did something very similar for ~$200k

[jshouse]

Thanks fellas, I appreciate the input, that's what I was looking for

[mfarmer]

Agree with everyone. Other thing I would caution about is having a house worth $300k in a $100k neighborhood if you ever decide to sell.

[jshouse]

We have also talked about just turning that carport into the master bedroom with another bathroom next to it and adding a pool

That was my vote.

[JayB]

Plus, on a project that size, there is no way you could continue to occupy while in the construction phase. You would then have to get another property to rent while you remodeled/built.

[jshouse]

Agree with everyone. Other thing I would caution about is having a house worth $300k in a $100k neighborhood if you ever decide to sell.

The houses along the street are all much nicer than ours and several of them have been remodeled in the last couple of years. It's in the older area of town that has become popular lately.

[Twipper333]

Make every choice when it comes to residential real estate with the resale in mind. You never know when your life situation could change and you need to liquidate that asset. You never want to be the most expensive, biggest, nicest house in the neighborhood. The comps in that area will drive what you can get for your property and by the looks of it, building/rebuilding in that area will put you far and away above everyone else around you and you will never get out of it what you sink into it.

Beautiful home plan, depending on finishes and location you could build it for about $250k-$275k - figure about $100-$110/sf. if you already own the land. Little on the higher side if you have to bring utilities to the property.

[jshouse]

Make every choice when it comes to residential real estate with the resale in mind. You never know when your life situation could change and you need to liquidate that asset. You never want to be the most expensive, biggest, nicest house in the neighborhood. The comps in that area will drive what you can get for your property and by the looks of it, building/rebuilding in that area will put you far and away above everyone else around you and you will never get out of it what you sink into it.

Beautiful home plan, depending on finishes and location you could build it for about $250k-$275k - figure about $100-$110/sf. if you already own the land. Little on the higher side if you have to bring utilities to the property.

I wish it was that cheap to build, seems like everyone I talk to around here say it's closer to $125-145/sqft

[Twipper333]

I wish it was that cheap to build, seems like everyone I talk to around here say it's closer to $125-145/sqft

It shouldn't be if you already own the land and already have utilities. If you contract it all out yourself you might even do better than $110. I just built 3000 SF in Dripping Springs for $140/SF and that included a 1 acre lot for ~$100,000. If you're in Rockwall, there is no way cost to build is $125-$145/SF. DS is some of the most expensive land to build on in the state.

[JHT]

Bust out the driveway and frame the carport area out and add on the sqft you want upstairs on the back of the house since you have the space.

No matter how far you put your kids away..... you will hear them.

[jshouse]

we are kicking this around again, just wanted to see if anyone else had any thoughts... we really like this location, the size of the lot and the property behind us is treed and 10 acres with the house in the middle so i dont think anyone would ever build close to us. we are thinking about doing the remodel on the house and adding a pool. with what we have in it now, i think we will still be cheaper than buying anything around here similar.

we are supposed to meet with an architect this week to get their thoughts.