Should we spend 500k on a renovation?

[Anonymous]

It's dumb unless your homes sell for 4m

[Anonymous]

Three level addition in addition to that amount of work on the existing structure is going to cost AT LEAST 500K in the close-in DC suburbs. I got 6 bids for similar work—all in the 500 to 700K price range (Arlington). You have to decide whether to put that into your existing house or move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can build a new house for 500k

Sure, you can build a new house, but the relevant question is whether he can build a new house that would be equivalent to his renovated house for 500k. Unless these are really dumb Renos, then highly likely the answer is no.

Also, PP is not taking into account the cost of the land, which in the close in suburbs will at at least 500k on its own. The land is what’s expensive, people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here- it would be a three story renovation. House is on a hill, so expanding/renovating the kitchen, adding room to the second floor above the kitchen, adding room to the basement, adding a deck, and expanding into our front portico.

It seemed absurd to me as well, so glad I’m not being cheap.

500k is not absurd in the DC area for this much work.

Of course it is, but there is the Bethesda premium for people who don’t know any better.

And where are you finding this magical contractor who also doesn’t know any better?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can build a new house for 500k

Sure, you can build a new house, but the relevant question is whether he can build a new house that would be equivalent to his renovated house for 500k. Unless these are really dumb Renos, then highly likely the answer is no.

+1. You are going to get a cheap, contractor-grade level home for that amount of money. Don’t forget the $$$ it will cost to tear down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you want to look at this from a mathematical point of view, which I do because I’m an appraiser, here is my take.

Lets assume you live in McLean 22101

Let’s assume we are looking at the average house size of a home UNDER 2M (price per square foot goes DOWN the lager the home, a big home has diminishing returns)

This fictional home based on current listings is 2051 sqft and goes for $535/sq ft. I’m speaking of homes under 3500sq feet, because any larger the price per sqft starts to plunge.

You will see an uplift from the AVERAGE for a well updated home of 10%, this means your home potentially could be worth $588/sqft if you do a very nice quality renovation

Lets say your current home is REALLY beat up and is worth only $486/sqft

If being a prudent investor is your goal and you live in the beat up home, I think you could spend $210,227 and if you do a bang up job, at least break even before realtor fees. I would be leary of adding square footage as you start now working with diminishing returns.

If you tell me your zip code and FINISHED above ground square foot I can give you your exact formula.

Hello Appraiser PP, May I ask if your 3500sqft threshold is for above finished area only? Does ceiling height affect home price too? Thank you!

[Anonymous]

It depends. How much did you buy your house for? How much would you buy it for today? Is that difference is close to $500k, then it may be worth it? At the same time, not all decisions need to make sense from a pure numbers’ game point of view. For example, if you love your house, you neighbors, and your neighborhood, you may overinvest into a remodel from a pure market price point of view, but if you can afford it and if it’ll make you happy, who cares? Have you looked at what you’ll be able to buy if you were to sell your house today and add $500k to the down payment?

[Anonymous]

For those saying to sell and buy a new house, keep in mind all of the costs involved in that - realtor fees, getting the house ready to sell, moving costs, starting over with a mortgage, etc. that can get expensive quickly, well over $100k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want to look at this from a mathematical point of view, which I do because I’m an appraiser, here is my take.

Lets assume you live in McLean 22101

Let’s assume we are looking at the average house size of a home UNDER 2M (price per square foot goes DOWN the lager the home, a big home has diminishing returns)

This fictional home based on current listings is 2051 sqft and goes for $535/sq ft. I’m speaking of homes under 3500sq feet, because any larger the price per sqft starts to plunge.

You will see an uplift from the AVERAGE for a well updated home of 10%, this means your home potentially could be worth $588/sqft if you do a very nice quality renovation

Lets say your current home is REALLY beat up and is worth only $486/sqft

If being a prudent investor is your goal and you live in the beat up home, I think you could sp[twitter]end $210,227 and if you do a bang up job, at least break even before realtor fees. I would be leary of adding square footage as you start now working with diminishing returns.

If you tell me your zip code and FINISHED above ground square foot I can give you your exact formula.

Hello Appraiser PP, May I ask if your 3500sqft threshold is for above finished area only? Does ceiling height affect home price too? Thank you!

Yes...above grade only is counted. Cieling height does impact value, but that's blended into the price per sq ft. Of course that above analysis has one house in McLean that is throwing the ppsqft artificially high because there's a small tear down on a large subdividable lot in there. I'd need to also pull lot size to get a more accurate estimate. Also that analysis includes pimmit hills which also, believe it or not has a high ppsqft. Those homes are more "valuable than the larger homes.

The larger the home the worse off you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want to look at this from a mathematical point of view, which I do because I’m an appraiser, here is my take.

Lets assume you live in McLean 22101

Let’s assume we are looking at the average house size of a home UNDER 2M (price per square foot goes DOWN the lager the home, a big home has diminishing returns)

This fictional home based on current listings is 2051 sqft and goes for $535/sq ft. I’m speaking of homes under 3500sq feet, because any larger the price per sqft starts to plunge.

You will see an uplift from the AVERAGE for a well updated home of 10%, this means your home potentially could be worth $588/sqft if you do a very nice quality renovation

Lets say your current home is REALLY beat up and is worth only $486/sqft

If being a prudent investor is your goal and you live in the beat up home, I think you could sp[twitter]end $210,227 and if you do a bang up job, at least break even before realtor fees. I would be leary of adding square footage as you start now working with diminishing returns.

Thank you. That's very interesting. So how about those ramblers and split levels? If count only the above grade area, their sqft will be almost halved... Is it a new appraisal rule?

I'm very interested in your estimate because I have a 3900 sqft above ground 1980s colonial in 22102 (there is another 1100 sqft of finished basement area). It's 8 foot ceiling on a half acre lot. I'm curious about how much $$ of renovation shall I put into this house that will make sense? I'm thinking about renovating the bathrooms, expanding deck, and landscaping etc.




If you tell me your zip code and FINISHED above ground square foot I can give you your exact formula.

Hello Appraiser PP, May I ask if your 3500sqft threshold is for above finished area only? Does ceiling height affect home price too? Thank you!

Yes...above grade only is counted. Cieling height does impact value, but that's blended into the price per sq ft. Of course that above analysis has one house in McLean that is throwing the ppsqft artificially high because there's a small tear down on a large subdividable lot in there. I'd need to also pull lot size to get a more accurate estimate. Also that analysis includes pimmit hills which also, believe it or not has a high ppsqft. Those homes are more "valuable than the larger homes.

The larger the home the worse off you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want to look at this from a mathematical point of view, which I do because I’m an appraiser, here is my take.

Lets assume you live in McLean 22101

Let’s assume we are looking at the average house size of a home UNDER 2M (price per square foot goes DOWN the lager the home, a big home has diminishing returns)

This fictional home based on current listings is 2051 sqft and goes for $535/sq ft. I’m speaking of homes under 3500sq feet, because any larger the price per sqft starts to plunge.

You will see an uplift from the AVERAGE for a well updated home of 10%, this means your home potentially could be worth $588/sqft if you do a very nice quality renovation

Lets say your current home is REALLY beat up and is worth only $486/sqft

If being a prudent investor is your goal and you live in the beat up home, I think you could sp[twitter]end $210,227 and if you do a bang up job, at least break even before realtor fees. I would be leary of adding square footage as you start now working with diminishing returns.

Thank you. That's very interesting. So how about those ramblers and split levels? If count only the above grade area, their sqft will be almost halved... Is it a new appraisal rule?

I'm very interested in your estimate because I have a 3900 sqft above ground 1980s colonial in 22102 (there is another 1100 sqft of finished basement area). It's 8 foot ceiling on a half acre lot. I'm curious about how much $$ of renovation shall I put into this house that will make sense? I'm thinking about renovating the bathrooms, expanding deck, and landscaping etc.




If you tell me your zip code and FINISHED above ground square foot I can give you your exact formula.

Hello Appraiser PP, May I ask if your 3500sqft threshold is for above finished area only? Does ceiling height affect home price too? Thank you!

Yes...above grade only is counted. Cieling height does impact value, but that's blended into the price per sq ft. Of course that above analysis has one house in McLean that is throwing the ppsqft artificially high because there's a small tear down on a large subdividable lot in there. I'd need to also pull lot size to get a more accurate estimate. Also that analysis includes pimmit hills which also, believe it or not has a high ppsqft. Those homes are more "valuable than the larger homes.

The larger the home the worse off you are.

Thank you. That's very interesting. So how about those ramblers and split levels? If count only the above grade area, their sqft will be almost halved... Is it a new appraisal rule?

I'm very interested in your estimate because I have a 3900 sqft above ground 1980s colonial in 22102 (there is another 1100 sqft of finished basement area). It's 8 foot ceiling on a half acre lot. I'm curious about how much $$ of renovation shall I put into this house that will make sense? I'm thinking about renovating the bathrooms, expanding deck, and landscaping etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you want to look at this from a mathematical point of view, which I do because I’m an appraiser, here is my take.

Lets assume you live in McLean 22101

Let’s assume we are looking at the average house size of a home UNDER 2M (price per square foot goes DOWN the lager the home, a big home has diminishing returns)

This fictional home based on current listings is 2051 sqft and goes for $535/sq ft. I’m speaking of homes under 3500sq feet, because any larger the price per sqft starts to plunge.

You will see an uplift from the AVERAGE for a well updated home of 10%, this means your home potentially could be worth $588/sqft if you do a very nice quality renovation

Lets say your current home is REALLY beat up and is worth only $486/sqft

If being a prudent investor is your goal and you live in the beat up home, I think you could sp[twitter]end $210,227 and if you do a bang up job, at least break even before realtor fees. I would be leary of adding square footage as you start now working with diminishing returns.

Thank you. That's very interesting. So how about those ramblers and split levels? If count only the above grade area, their sqft will be almost halved... Is it a new appraisal rule?

I'm very interested in your estimate because I have a 3900 sqft above ground 1980s colonial in 22102 (there is another 1100 sqft of finished basement area). It's 8 foot ceiling on a half acre lot. I'm curious about how much $$ of renovation shall I put into this house that will make sense? I'm thinking about renovating the bathrooms, expanding deck, and landscaping etc.




If you tell me your zip code and FINISHED above ground square foot I can give you your exact formula.

Hello Appraiser PP, May I ask if your 3500sqft threshold is for above finished area only? Does ceiling height affect home price too? Thank you!

Yes...above grade only is counted. Cieling height does impact value, but that's blended into the price per sq ft. Of course that above analysis has one house in McLean that is throwing the ppsqft artificially high because there's a small tear down on a large subdividable lot in there. I'd need to also pull lot size to get a more accurate estimate. Also that analysis includes pimmit hills which also, believe it or not has a high ppsqft. Those homes are more "valuable than the larger homes.

The larger the home the worse off you are.

Thank you. That's very interesting. So how about those ramblers and split levels? If count only the above grade area, their sqft will be almost halved... Is it a new appraisal rule?

I'm very interested in your estimate because I have a 3900 sqft above ground 1980s colonial in 22102 (there is another 1100 sqft of finished basement area). It's 8 foot ceiling on a half acre lot. I'm curious about how much $$ of renovation shall I put into this house that will make sense? I'm thinking about renovating the bathrooms, expanding deck, and landscaping etc.

With that criteria, the average is $285sqft where you live. Obviously much impacts this…what kind of street you are on, the condition of the lot, the schools, upgrades, or major cosmetic or repair issues…ect.


Assuming your home is in the average (not low end), I would think with a nice renovation you could get $313sqft and would not spend over $110K

When we appraise we give “bonus” for stuff like a finished basement and such. The PPSQ starts out at a basic level and the 20K might be given for a screened in porch, 30K for a basement, 40K for a spectacular kitchen….ect. It works its way up from there.

[Anonymous]

^^oh and the reason why your ppsqft is so much lower is you gave me lot size and I pulled all homes. 25-1 which eliminated the large expensive lots which really drive value up. I also pulled out new builds.

[Anonymous]

Here’s my answer, having renovated five homes: if you love the house and neighborhood, spend the money but just not this year. Low rates mean everybody is house-crazy. Pros ansd contractors are booked up. I think 500K is reasonable. Don’t make it the best house on the block tho, and don’t do it if you’re just going to sell because the reno will suck the life out of you for a while.

[Anonymous]

Whenever you sell , a newer home is always valued more. I also hate stuff older than 90s because of low ceiling, baddlayouts etc. Things you can slap on in a reno. I would just sell and build a new home, the trouble to reno sucked big time , my mom ended up 1 year over and had to move out. In the end we would have been better off selling and building a new home.