The Bobcat Nation

My wife and I are looking into adding a 2nd level on to our house. Does anyone know the best way to start this process? What is the going rate for estimates these days.

I have a bro-in-law in real estate. He said the cheapest way to remodel is to sell and buy a new house!

That is what allot of people are saying. Where my wife and I are torn is, we could spend 100-200k on the remodel and have a house twice the size of one we could buy in bozeman for that same amount. We were looking at houses in Bozeman Sunday and for 250k you get 1300 square feet with no yard. We could have 2200 square feet with a big yard with the remodel. And we would be into the house for 230K.

Just got done remodeling a house in Boise, and the biggest thing I can tell you is that it is a great time to price-haggle with contractors right now. They are all hurting for work and dollars like the rest of us, and I found that if you find someone who doesn't have a lot of work at the moment, they will figure that doing some kind of work, even below market value, is better than sitting at home doing nothing. Just for numbers, I was able to get the entire interior of my house painted for $400 and had a contractor doing different things for me that took two-and-a-half days, and I paid him $450. Pretty darn cheap, and they did great work. Remember, they need the money and work more than you need them, because there are a hundred other guys who also need work right now.

Find a good builder and tell him what you have in mind. I think things have slowed down a bit, so they might be a little easier to find than say a year ago.

SACCAT wrote: We were looking at houses in Bozeman Sunday and for 250k you get 1300 square feet with no yard.

Holy smokes.

We close on our new house on the 15th. We sold a 2400 sq ft house on a 9600 sq ft lot for 189,900 and bought a 3100 sq ft house on a bigger lot for 264,500. Also went from 2 car garage to 3 and moving up 20 years.

Billings_Griz wrote:

SACCAT wrote: We were looking at houses in Bozeman Sunday and for 250k you get 1300 square feet with no yard.

Holy smokes.

We close on our new house on the 15th. We sold a 2400 sq ft house on a 9600 sq ft lot for 189,900 and bought a 3100 sq ft house on a bigger lot for 264,500. Also went from 2 car garage to 3 and moving up 20 years.

Are you trying to make me feel better?

This is why we are looking at the remodel. If we want to stay in Bozeman (and we do) It seems like a better plan.

for 250k you get 1300 square feet with no yard.

Oh, I more than feel you pain. For $250k in Seattle you could maybe get a 750 sq foot "condo" (really a converted apartment built in 1955) with one covered parking spot.

SACCAT wrote:

Billings_Griz wrote:

SACCAT wrote: We were looking at houses in Bozeman Sunday and for 250k you get 1300 square feet with no yard.

Holy smokes.

We close on our new house on the 15th. We sold a 2400 sq ft house on a 9600 sq ft lot for 189,900 and bought a 3100 sq ft house on a bigger lot for 264,500. Also went from 2 car garage to 3 and moving up 20 years.

Are you trying to make me feel better?

No, just I couldn't afford a house in Bozeman!

The first things I'd consider are:

1) By spending 100K or more on a remodel, are you pricing yourself out of your current neigborhood?

2) Are there any height regulations in your residential zoning district?

We considered adding a second level but it's cost prohibitive to do so in our neigborhood, and there are height restrictions of 24 feet for our R-1 zone. We might be able to squeeze another 300 sq feet of living space in at our current height, but the cost per square foot doesn't justify the remodel.

GrizinWashington wrote:

for 250k you get 1300 square feet with no yard.

Oh, I more than feel you pain. For $250k in Seattle you could maybe get a 750 sq foot "condo" (really a converted apartment built in 1955) with one covered parking spot.

In a neighborhood where you need bullet proof vest...

Au Blue wrote:The first things I'd consider are:

1) By spending 100K or more on a remodel, are you pricing yourself out of your current neigborhood?

2) Are there any height regulations in your residential zoning district?

We considered adding a second level but it's cost prohibitive to do so in our neigborhood, and there are height restrictions of 24 feet for our R-1 zone. We might be able to squeeze another 300 sq feet of living space in at our current height, but the cost per square foot doesn't justify the remodel.

I think Au Blue's first point is a very good one. I've always been told that you don't want to own the most expensive house in the neighborhood. Rather than your value bringing everyone else's up, the reverse is most often true - at least that's what I've been told.

HelenaCat95 wrote:

Au Blue wrote:The first things I'd consider are:

1) By spending 100K or more on a remodel, are you pricing yourself out of your current neigborhood?

2) Are there any height regulations in your residential zoning district?

We considered adding a second level but it's cost prohibitive to do so in our neigborhood, and there are height restrictions of 24 feet for our R-1 zone. We might be able to squeeze another 300 sq feet of living space in at our current height, but the cost per square foot doesn't justify the remodel.

I think Au Blue's first point is a very good one. I've always been told that you don't want to own the most expensive house in the neighborhood. Rather than your value bringing everyone else's up, the reverse is most often true - at least that's what I've been told.

We looked into the Height restrictions and we are fine there. There are new houses being built in our area that are going for around 300k or so. Right now the market is down a little, so houses are not going for as much as they were, but I don't see that lasting long in Bozeman. Thank you all for the suggestions and comments. Keep them coming.

So you all know, we purchased our house 5-6 years ago for 130k. It is a great little starter house on a little over 1/3 acre. The house is 1100 square feet with 3 bed rooms and 1 bath. We had it appraised about 3 months ago at 220K If we do the remodel we will add a level to the house with 2 bed rooms, 1 bath and a family room. We would turn one of the bed rooms down stairs into a mud room and extend the bottom of the house out about 8 feet, and add a bathroom onto the master bedroom.

SACCAT wrote:

HelenaCat95 wrote:

Au Blue wrote:The first things I'd consider are:

1) By spending 100K or more on a remodel, are you pricing yourself out of your current neigborhood?

2) Are there any height regulations in your residential zoning district?

We considered adding a second level but it's cost prohibitive to do so in our neigborhood, and there are height restrictions of 24 feet for our R-1 zone. We might be able to squeeze another 300 sq feet of living space in at our current height, but the cost per square foot doesn't justify the remodel.

I think Au Blue's first point is a very good one. I've always been told that you don't want to own the most expensive house in the neighborhood. Rather than your value bringing everyone else's up, the reverse is most often true - at least that's what I've been told.

We looked into the Height restrictions and we are fine there. There are new houses being built in our area that are going for around 300k or so. Right now the market is down a little, so houses are not going for as much as they were, but I don't see that lasting long in Bozeman. Thank you all for the suggestions and comments. Keep them coming.

So you all know, we purchased our house 5-6 years ago for 130k. It is a great little starter house on a little over 1/3 acre. The house is 1100 square feet with 3 bed rooms and 1 bath. We had it appraised about 3 months ago at 220K If we do the remodel we will add a level to the house with 2 bed rooms, 1 bath and a family room. We would turn one of the bed rooms down stairs into a mud room and extend the bottom of the house out about 8 feet, and add a bathroom onto the master bedroom.

Heck, if you're almost $100,000 in the positive right now (based on appraisal), I say it's a wise investment. You're really not out anything, at least in my opinion. Good luck!

I think you and your wife have the right idea, especially if you like the location and lot size. I think you could probably figure around $60 to $70 per square foot on the addition, depending on the finishes you choose nad how labor intensive it will be to prep your existing home. As a reference point for your addition cost, my husband is a contractor in Bozeman and he recently bid a brand new home with upgraded finishes for about $115 per square foot.

Well all you people that said it would be better to sell than to remodel were right. I got the bids back from 5 builders and the cheapest one was $184,000. I told the guy I could put another house in my back yard for less than that. We are now improving the landscaping and make the house look nice. replacing all the appliances and such. I need to go into the building business. Thank you all for your help.

P.S. Does anyone need a good starter house in Bozeman?

Whoever you got those bids from were retarded. That kind of addition is a pain but not worth 184K. If you want a builder go outside of Bozeman. There are a lot of hungry contractors out there and Bozeman's aren't the best. You can P.M. me if you want any contacts outside of Bozeman.