OP here. We bought the house in 2016 for 880k, but its on a busy-ish street. Neighbors paid 990k two years ago. We are in Bethesda (not close to downtown but not North Bethesda- Bethesda proper).

I am thinking we get more estimates. We don't want to spend more than $250k including cost overruns. A real estate agent thinks we could get $1.1-$1.2 with improvements for our house, because we've already updated the outside, and its about 3,400 sq ft. Think that is a reasonable estimate for what it would sell for with improvements,

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At that cost... sell and buy a newer house

+1

+2 Especially since it's just a kitchen reno and smallish pop-back (judging by the fact no new rooms are being added). Maaaaybe it's worth the hassle for $250k, if it keeps everyone in the same school, you love the neighborhood, etc. etc., but not $500.

This question is impossible to answer without more information. We have done 2 renovations of our house: 75k to build out our basement and 500k to update everything and add about 1000 square feet. In a couple of years will likely put in another 100k on a kitchen gut.
Our house is a close in 1940 colonial with great bones but we needed more space. We bought it for 1.2 million in 2008 and now, with the renovations and appreciation, it would probably sell for 2.5. We couldn’t have bought what we wanted for the amount of our renovation so it was worth it for us.

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.

+1. Sounds about right.

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

Not around the DMV. House prices are skyrocketing, you can’t get a close-in tear down for under 700k.

I’m going to go against the grain here and say do it. If you love your neighborhood, and you can’t easily move into something you like more, why not? You have 800k in “family savings?” Go ahead and spend a chunk and stay in the house for the next 20-30 years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to consider your current house value, what it would be post Reno, whether you could find a similar house for less if you moved, and how long you will be in the house. Your savings are low for this Reno budget, so you better have really good answers to those questions.

Who would use savings for this kind of reno? Just get a heloc.

No. Just get a new house. Jesus.

Anonymous wrote:You need to consider your current house value, what it would be post Reno, whether you could find a similar house for less if you moved, and how long you will be in the house. Your savings are low for this Reno budget, so you better have really good answers to those questions.

Who would use savings for this kind of reno? Just get a heloc.

You need to consider your current house value, what it would be post Reno, whether you could find a similar house for less if you moved, and how long you will be in the house. Your savings are low for this Reno budget, so you better have really good answers to those questions.

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.

This is one of the dumbest questions I've heard. He'll no. Just work within the existing footprint. Quite frankly contractors are so busy a d process outrageously inflated. This is not the time for a big reno.

What are houses selling for in your neighborhood with similar specs to your original and after your renovations

You can build a new house for 500k

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.

$500 for contractor work? Or $500 after all the extras, like new windows, appliances, furniture, flooring. $500 for just contractor work seems high.

Absolutely not. Are you building an entire new house?