WWYD - dormering home

hello...

i was wondering what you ladies would do in this situation...if you had a small home (3BR, 1BATH) and you had the opportunity to dormer your upstairs, which would you choose in this situation?

option #1 - half dormer w porch and nicer siding which you could do w your own money, but potentially not have enough room for teenage kids down the road? (you like the way this one would look better in terms of curb appeal). this one would either not raise taxes, or if so very little.

option #2 - full dormer w no porch and plain siding which would give you plenty of space and would make this a forever home, but you would need some help from family in order to afford it (which has been offered to you, but you feel funny taking it). this one would def. raise your taxes a bit.

try to imagine that you feel uncomfortable accepting monetary help from people, and that the person offering to help has caused you to feel weird about having helped you out in the past, but is saying it would be different now, is telling you they would be more than happy to help you out, and that they really want you to be happy w your decision.

also, the layout of the downstairs of the home in question is currently a little socially awkward...one of the bedrooms is located between the dining and living room. w option #1 the lack of space would mean it would stay that way forever. w option #2 you wouldn't need that BR downstairs, and eventually could knock down some walls, creating a real living room which is open to the dining room, and the current living room would become a den/play room. just can't decide if the awkward layout really matters.

TIA for your opinions.

Re: WWYD - dormering home

fm

Re: WWYD - dormering home

Half dormer is not bad at all.

Now, what you really need to see if how your local area/market is. Are the others dormered? Would you price yourself out by doing a full dormer and you become the most expensive house on the block? Etc.


What is the price difference?

Re: WWYD - dormering home

It depends on if your planning on having a forever house?

We just bought our house a year ago, and I lov eit, but it's not our forever house. We want to sell when the market comes back to make a little money off of it and upgrade to something bigger.

So if you have a plan like that then go with one, if you plan on staying forveer then 2

Re: WWYD - dormering home

is borrowing money from that person your only option for getting the money? Could you do a home equity or some other type of loan so you wouldn't feel beholden to this person?

Re: WWYD - dormering home

If those are the only options, I'd go with #1. I'd never borrow from the person in option 2 again. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice.......

Re: WWYD - dormering home

Personally I would not want to be indebted to anyone so I would either wait until I could afford it on my own or go with the 1st option.

Re: WWYD - dormering home

I would wait until I could afford #2 on my own. In 5 years - option number 2, 5 yrs after that - add the porch, 5 yrs after that - nicer siding.....

Why dormer now? What's the rush?

Re: WWYD - dormering home

Re: WWYD - dormering home

Re: WWYD - dormering home

without a doubt #1... my home, my money..

Not sure why you would even consider #2 based upon the description.

Good Luck!

Re: WWYD - dormering home

thank you for the responses.

the "what's the rush?" question is definitely a valid one...but unfortunately we DO feel like we are rushed to do it now. the economy is down, and so are prices...my FIL thinks some of the prices we've been quoted are really good, and that we should take advantage now before the economy goes up and drive the prices back up too. if we put this off for a few years to save more money, the amount of money we could save might be the new price of the half dormer by then. so we'll have waited for nothing and have to do this w kids. which brings me to my other reason to do it now; we have decided that we want to try for a baby somewhere toward the middle or end of this year. i would rather have the work done now so that we're not stuck in a house w construction, or living at my in laws house during, w a kid or kids down the road. so i really do feel that this is the perfect time.

DH and i have been going over it so many times, back and forth on what the best thing for us is. we're so confused. we've also been hearing negative feedback about every company we've met with so far. i get that every company is going to have some bad reviews, but i really want to know who the good guys are. it's been like a roller coaster for the past few weeks. so i greatly appreciate your input, it really helps to hear multiple opinions.

hopefully we'll figure out what we want to do soon. thanks again for your opinions/advice.

Message edited 3/11/2010 9:57:19 AM.

Re: WWYD - dormering home

and i just wanted to add in the person's defense, that the one who helped us before is a wonderful person...i don't think they meant to make us feel weird about it or even realize that they ever did. took me a while to realize it, but they weren't being nasty in any way, they were just talking about it all the time b/c that's just how they are...but it DID make me feel weird that it was constantly brought up. i probably over-reacted due to my issues w money...when you grow up w/o $ you tend to be weird about people helping you out w it. just needed to say that, regardless of what we decide to do.

Re: WWYD - dormering home

Honestly I wouldn't do either. Option #1 sounded good until you mentioned the weird layout. I would hate to spend all that money on a renovation but not like the layout.

I wouldn't do option #2 unless I could afford it comfortably. I would hate to owe anyone money.

Re: WWYD - dormering home

I would wait. I would not spend the money on Option 1 and I would not accept a loan or a monetary gift from the person in Option 2.

Re: WWYD - dormering home

I understand now.

It does make sense to do it now, before kids.

Honestly - in my family we loan each other money all the time. It works for us.

Since your only options are one and two - I would borrow the money and do #2. Awkward layout = no good in my book.

Down the road you could add a porch and re-side the house.

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Danielle and I did it now for the same reasons. It takes a few months to get permits and then the work itself will take longer than the contractor says it will. They started our house in December and we are not even close to being done. The permit took 13 weeks to get....

Scott

Re: WWYD - dormering home

Just be realistic too and realize contractors give you a time frame in which the work can get done- then you have to put in perspective mother nature, if you change your mind during the process or add to project during process, things come up such as what was ordered is delayed in which the contractor has no control of, and dont forget permitting processes will all lead to a longer project. that happens with all contractors. I think its smart to do it now so that in any event and time frame you dont have to worry when its time to have a baby. just go with your gut and what is realisticly affordable for all- you and the lender. you should get a ton of estimates and see who is trying to make the most profit as you will see numbers ranging drastically! its really insane!
BTDT its frustrating and exciting at the same time.