Building a House Addition, the pros & cons
Whenever interest rates drop and home equity loans become affordable, the sound of workers frantically building house additions become louder and louder. The house addition is the single most expensive home remodeling purchase a homeowner will ever make. Unlike an interior paint job or landscaping, a house addition is one project that cannot be undone. So it pays to carefully consider this process from all angles before writing that first check to the contractor
House Additions Are All Your Creation
You may have an old house that was initially created by a builder and subsequently changed over the years by other homeowners. When you install new floors, paint the walls, or remodel a bathroom, you are only adding your unique touch to this pastiche. But a home addition is space that you can legitimately claim as your own creation. Building an addition is like designing a whole new house without the expense of a whole new house. Few remodeling projects are as thrilling and creatively satisfying as working with the blank slate that addition-building affords you. Breaking out and making changes to older areas to incorporate the new addition as part of the house can give your house a brand new look.
Building your dream design adds sentimental value and advantages in the long run. When you build a addition you can have everything your way, from the carpets to the cabinets and everything in between. There are definitive feelings of emotional fulfillment and pride in a house that has become ‘your baby’. Also, having everything brand new and up-to-date is an advantage when you build an addition to an existing home. Modern society is also reflected in a newly built addition – everything from wiring for high-speed internet to the latest in spatial, acoustics and architectural trends can be added without much trouble.
Great Cost to Value Ratio
Studies have shown that nearly all of the cost of a mid-range two-story addition may be recovered at the time of sale. The key phrase, “may be recovered,” means that there is no way of predicting the real estate market years in advance. It is typically cheaper to build an addition than to buy a new home that equals the space of your existing house plus an addition. At the very least, the closing costs involved with selling your old house and buying the new house would push this option over the top.