We talked to the guy from the renovation/design group yesterday. He walked around our backyard and through parts of the house. Then he told us he wasn’t sure that his group was able to do the project for what we had hoped. In fact, the price he quoted would be more than enough for us to go out and buy something else. It was a quote that most people would be happy to hear from their real estate agent when a seller is interested. Even though our property is worth more than the price he quoted, it would make our property so completely out of market. We live in an area that is semi-hot right now and we have 7 acres and all the houses from the intersection to our house are nice and huge, but our house is a brick rancher from the early 70s.
As much as I like our house it will always be a brick rancher from the early 70s. I’m not going to go all “Before and After” on the house turning it into a manse where the original house is lost. We’re trying to figure out another way to get what we want but not spend almost as much as we paid for the house 8 years ago. Yes, you heard me, for a modest addition (1 room, albeit, a kitchen) we were quoted a price that was just a little shy of what we paid for the whole kit and caboodle 8 years ago.
Granted we have some slope issues–our house stands on top of a hill and we’re towards the part of the hill that goes down a ravine/gully. We have maybe 50 feet of backyard and then it slopes into a wood that eventually runs into a creek. With that knowledge, whatever gets added on has to deal with that “feature” of the property. It does make a difference about exactly where the addition goes and how the slope of the yard and the basement all play into the construction. Did I mention the quote discounted our need for making the basement livable?
We’re re-grouping and we’ve decided to take the guy’s suggestion to talk to a builder or maybe get some design help from the original firm. My “have-to-happens” are these: the basement must be useable; the washer and dryer have to come out of the garage; the kitchen must be expanded; the price can’t put our house out-of-market.
I had hoped, foolishly, that the guy we talked to would give us the answer we needed. Instead we’re still in the land of what-are-we-going-to-do.