Would You Rather: House Addition

[toxxi]

@kimrossie Definitely B for me!

 

[isaac96]

@kimrossie B

 

[pjordan]

@kimrossie B. The walkable neighborhood is nice but it’s not like B is in the middle of nowhere. I rather just drive my kids to the park than give up a nice house to have a walkable neighborhood

 

[kapere]

@kimrossie Whichever has more land! Which sounds like house B.

 

[tealpearl]

@kimrossie Personally house B sounds amazing to me. I currently live in a house that's too small for my family and it causes a lot of tension. We thought it'd be sort of a starter home but considering the market we're stuck here. The one saving grace that makes me feel better about it is for most of the year I can enjoy a big porch and a relatively private yard.

 

[lineman2015]

@kimrossie Another vote for B

 

[bagoshizz]

@kimrossie House B.

 

[ksmvalo]

@kimrossie Definitely B.

 

[klearskyz27]

@kimrossie B. I say this because you need space in your home if you want more kids, not an over-priced apartment that you pay a mortgage on instead of rent (cuz let’s be real, that square footage is apartment sized). I say that as someone who had to drive 40 minutes to get to the city from their last neighborhood which was also a food desert. 6 minutes is literally not a huge deal in the scheme of things, especially if you want more kids. If you were one and done, A would work, but the square footage doesn’t work for more than 3 humans.

 

[ghuraba]

@kimrossie We bought a house that wasn't big enough without a renovation... and getting that renovation done with a child in the house was a NIGHTMARE and so stressful. We decided next time a house doesn't meet our needs we should just move. Having contractors through the house as early as 7am with no regard for naptime, trying to keep my kid out of their way, trying to talk to them about things we wanted while monitoring my child in an unsafe construction zone... just absolutely don't recommend.

 

[mariomarco]

@kimrossie Oh god. My husband works from home and I stay home but need to also answer emails/calls in peace...we have four kids. Get the bigger house. Drive the 6 minutes and if it bothers you that much save for another home in the future. But oh boy do we all need the space!

 

[sonofgodbrotherofman]

@kimrossie I might be a vote for house A, but I also love my space. That’s a really tough decision!! Remember a bigger house is more to clean though. My entire life is cleaning up after four of us, and I live in 1800sf. Also, land comes with maintenance too.

 

[emmy0922]

@kimrossie House A, honestly. As nice as a plot of land with a modern house is, community is more important. Seeing the usual faces, having relationships with neighbors and so on beats having a big house imo. Especially as the kids get older, it gives them more freedom and they don’t rely on you as much. My neighbor kids of all ages play together on the street. We rent our tiny house but we’d stick around if we could, especially if the area was more walkable.

 

[wvc]

@kimrossie Is this really a question? You answered it yourself!

 

[kimrossie]

@wvc It is! There are serious pros and serious cons to both choices, but they are pretty much opposite houses and offer conflicting things. Not sure what’ll prove to be more valuable to us over time- a great community/neighborhood or a good plot of land and larger house. So was hoping for some genuine feedback from those who may have been in a similar position!

 

[wvc]

Ah. Well you have B a house that is move in ready for your ideals:it’s ready for the expansion!
A needs additions? We are doing a 1100 sqft additions on an old 2/1 in a historic highly desirable neighborhood. We have been without laundry since last June. Without a backyard for our child and dogs, also it’s a terribly dangerous construction zone on the exterior.
I moved out in October, to my parents house because I felt it was too chaotic to walk two dogs and get to work on time with my kid. It became a true part time job managing the project. I also work full time.
Now our home has no working kitchen laundry and it is uninhabitable. The original structure has new appliances in it. The original bedrooms are filled to the brim with boxes from the parts of the house we had to demo. We thought we would be in by Christmas. Now I’m not sure if we’ll be back in by June.
I’m glad we are doing the addition because we will have invested a total of $300k into a neighborhood that only has 5-6k houses at minimum. We’d have to move 30 minutes away for something similar.
However, we would be losing our minds if we were still trying to manage in our own house. We would be cooking dinner outside.

We are on our second contractor. He’s better than the first, which jerked ya around and luckily only took 10k and ran. Now we have a better contractor but he’s just as slow as the last. We thought it would take three months to build. Now we are at 9 months and only the dry wall is up.

If you’ve ever been through additions or construction then you know what you are signing up for. If you haven’t, it’s going to be really really really hard. You’ll may have to move out depending on what you do. I caution everyone against it who doesn’t have family they can live with. And whatever cost you imagine you may as well double it.

There are so many things we had to learn along the way. My imagination just wasn’t educated enough about how much work it is. I can’t even imagine having a newborn in the middle of it. Not to mention the dust. You can’t live breathing in construction dust.

Don’t try to be your own GC. That was our big mistake. We had to coordinate everything. Huge mistake. Hire someone that is trustworthy. If he’s more expensive, it is worth it. Can’t stress this enough.

There is my honest opinion. City planning and zoning is a bitch to navigate and it all starts there. That may change your answer too. because one property may allow additions but only to a certain setback in the yard and another may not allow for chickens.

We have school choice where we live. We can apply to go to any school in the county. If approved you just have to have your own transportation.

Please let me know if you have any questions Id love to help you with from my own experience!

 

[wvc]

We have such similar situations. We are currently in a very walkable area in walking distance to lots of friends. But six minutes is two songs on the radio. And boom you’re there! See about your setbacks with zoning and what you can work with. We had a 864 sqft house on a less than 3000sqft lot. We maxed out our setbacks and will now have an 1800 sqft addition. We added a master bath laundry pantry master bed and great room. Now we will have a 3/2.