• The KillerFrogs

OT - Home addition or moving

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MAcFroggy

Active Member
This is totally an off-topic question, but has anybody dealt with doing a second floor addition to a home in DFW. We love the neighborhood we live in, and are struggling making a decision between adding onto our house or moving. I assume a lot of people on this board have dealt with similar situations. What was your experience like adding a second story/remodeling. Are you glad you dealt with the hassle or do you wish you would have just moved?

Thanks again for any advice.
 
ticketfrog123

ticketfrog123

Active Member
Depends on what you’re looking for in a new home

Are you able to find a new residence at a lower price point than your current home (assuming same area)

if you believe housing is a bubble, then you’re likely just rolling your current real estate gains into said bubble and potentially taking a larger hit in the future.

if you’re fortunate enough to field multiple job offers from your current location (promotion, career goals, etc.), then go for it

from personal experience, you tend not to get a huge return in sale price from renovations unless it’s a complete gut and renovation.

part of the reason why there’s some hilariously small homes in Dallas and Fort Worth that were purchased at 300k and listed for >$700k
 
F

flyfishingfrog

Active Member
Have you looked at housing prices?

you can sell yours for more than ever probably but the issue is you have to buy at those same high values - moving is hard right now

not that remodels are cheap either because demand is crazy for materials and contractors

it you build a second floor - what’s your plan during construction? Make sure you factor in trying to find a temp housing and the costs if that is your plan

several of our friends had to rent while doing repairs or renovations and were down right shocked at how hard it was to find a place to rent and the cost once they did
 
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jake102

jake102

Active Member
I'd recommend doing neither at this point. Your options:

1) Sell and buy. Well you are going to sell way high, but you are going to also buy way high. So those wash each other out... but you're also going to pay 6% to a realtor. So you lose.

2) Renovation. Demand and materials are insane right now. Lumber is literally 2-3x what it was 12 months ago, in large part because so many people are doing exactly what you are wanting to do. Contractors are going to be slow and expensive. Our next door neighbor did a huge remodel of their downstairs kitchen, including adding a room onto the house and reconfiguring walls and it went 20% over budget and they were displaced two months longer than expected.


If you are willing and able, I'd do either nothing or go with option 3 which is to sell and buy somewhere that isn't experiencing astronomical jumps in prices. Basically sell high and buy average.
 
Paul in uhh

Paul in uhh

Active Member
Dfw housing prices are concerning to me. We need a bigger home, but a home the size we need at a price we can afford currently will put us in a far less desirable location.

We are trying our best to save up a massive down payment so that we can keep our current residence as a rental when we move out.
 
M

MAcFroggy

Active Member
flyfishingfrog said:
Have you looked at housing prices?

you can sell yours for more than ever probably but the issue is you have to buy at those same high values - moving is hard right now

not that remodels are cheap either because demand is crazy for materials and contractors

it you build a second floor - what’s your plan during construction? Make sure you factor in trying to find a temp housing and the costs if that is your plan

several of our friends had to repent while doing repairs or renovations and were down right shocked at how hard it was to find a place to rent and the cost once they did
Click to expand...

We have a family member with an empty condo that we can live in rent free for 6-12 months if needed. So we have that part covered.

However, the whole process just seems pretty stressful overall.

We currently live in the city have have the ability to walk to the park, school, and restaurants. It is pretty hard to that in a freestanding house in DFW. That is one of the main reasons we are looking at adding on as opposed to moving.

Yeah, selling a house in this market would be great. However, buying in this market seems brutal.
 
Z

Zebra Frog

KMA
I agree with everything that has been said.
I might add that there is a mortgage loan for rolling renovations costs into a new mortgage. It depends on a lot of different things, but it isn't that hard to do. If you have the money saved to do the renovation, that would be best, but be prepared for it to cost more than you might think.
 
The Frog to be Named Later

The Frog to be Named Later

Active Member
flyfishingfrog said:
Have you looked at housing prices?

you can sell yours for more than ever probably but the issue is you have to buy at those same high values - moving is hard right now

not that remodels are cheap either because demand is crazy for materials and contractors

it you build a second floor - what’s your plan during construction? Make sure you factor in trying to find a temp housing and the costs if that is your plan

several of our friends had to repent while doing repairs or renovations and were down right shocked at how hard it was to find a place to rent and the cost once they did
Click to expand...
I have also repented after a home reno project. Usually a DIY one.
 
S

SuperTFrog

Active Member
MAcFroggy said:
This is totally an off-topic question, but has anybody dealt with doing a second floor addition to a home in DFW. We love the neighborhood we live in, and are struggling making a decision between adding onto our house or moving. I assume a lot of people on this board have dealt with similar situations. What was your experience like adding a second story/remodeling. Are you glad you dealt with the hassle or do you wish you would have just moved?

Thanks again for any advice.
Click to expand...
We have a home building company and would love to chat. We do a bunch of remodeling/additions as well. Sent you a DM.
 
M

Moose Stuff

Active Member
Agree with the above comments about home prices. We've considered moving to take advantage of how much our home has gone up in value since we bought it 7-8 years ago but the immediate next question is where do we go where we can get a similar house for a price we're happy with and then we immediately decide to stay where we are.
 
Realtorfrog

Realtorfrog

Full Member
Of course I would say sell and buy right!!!

it’s not that easy..... inventory is super low and we are seeing properties with 40 to 50 offers and thousands over asking with appraisal waivers! Realtors are having to get super creative to get clients in to properties.

I had a listing recently 15,000 over asking, appraisal waiver, quick close and $500 in option money no repairs from inspection.....I agree renovations are not fun and are very stressful but buying and listing right now is stressful as well.

if you are contingent on selling your house first makes it even more difficult to compete.
It’s a good problem but it makes for sleepless night hoping your clients fin add lot get a yes!!!!

If you want a sales comparison reach out and I’ll see what I find.

Good luck it’s crazy!!
 
Paul in uhh

Paul in uhh

Active Member
Moose Stuff said:
Agree with the above comments about home prices. We've considered moving to take advantage of how much our home has gone up in value since we bought it 7-8 years ago but the immediate next question is where do we go where we can get a similar house for a price we're happy with and then we immediately decide to stay where we are.
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Exactly. Moving to a house we are happy with price wise would put us in a rent-heavy neighborhood or in the next county
 
Paul in uhh

Paul in uhh

Active Member
Realtorfrog said:
Of course I would say sell and buy right!!!

it’s not that easy..... inventory is super low and we are seeing properties with 40 to 50 offers and thousands over asking with appraisal waivers! Realtors are having to get super creative to get clients in to properties.

I had a listing recently 15,000 over asking, appraisal waiver, quick close and $500 in option money no repairs from inspection.....I agree renovations are not fun and are very stressful but buying and listing right now is stressful as well.

if you are contingent on selling your house first makes it even more difficult to compete.
It’s a good problem but it makes for sleepless night hoping your clients fin add lot get a yes!!!!

If you want a sales comparison reach out and I’ll see what I find.

Good luck it’s crazy!!
Click to expand...
Had a friend with a property in Haslet... the *second* best offer was 35k over list, full cash. He didn’t tell me what the chosen offer was.
 
YA

YA

Active Member
Realtorfrog said:
Of course I would say sell and buy right!!!

it’s not that easy..... inventory is super low and we are seeing properties with 40 to 50 offers and thousands over asking with appraisal waivers! Realtors are having to get super creative to get clients in to properties.

I had a listing recently 15,000 over asking, appraisal waiver, quick close and $500 in option money no repairs from inspection.....I agree renovations are not fun and are very stressful but buying and listing right now is stressful as well.

if you are contingent on selling your house first makes it even more difficult to compete.
It’s a good problem but it makes for sleepless night hoping your clients fin add lot get a yes!!!!

If you want a sales comparison reach out and I’ll see what I find.

Good luck it’s crazy!!
Click to expand...
My wife sold a home in Burleson recently that was $40k over asking price. In fact there were 9 offers with all over the asking price and 6 of them were moving from California.
 
Peacefrog

Peacefrog

Degenerate
SuperTFrog said:
We have a home building company and would love to chat. We do a bunch of remodeling/additions as well. Sent you a DM.
Click to expand...
What location do you do you work in? If FW, himmeup with one of these DM things. I have projects that need to be done at my house. Any chance you do driveways/patios?
 

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