The Cost of a Home Addition Dramatically
Varies depending upon Market Conditions and Location
By: Mark J. Donovan
Building a home addition is a great
way to add space to your home. The cost of home additions however can be very
expensive depending upon if you are building a home addition onto your existing
home or simply finishing an unfinished space such as a basement. Home addition
costs per square foot, when building an attached addition, are typically higher
than new home construction costs due to the fact that the home addition has to
tie into the existing home.
To calculate home addition costs you first need to determine the size, features
and materials desired in your home addition.
If you are building an attached home
addition, start by sketching out the footprint on the existing plot plan of the
property. Make sure to draw the home addition footprint to scale when appending
it onto the main footprint of the home. After sketching out the home addition
foot print check to make sure it is not encroaching into any setback areas,
leach fields, easements, or other items that may prevent it from being
constructed. At this stage you may want to check with your local building
inspector or homeowners association, if you have one, to see if your basic home
addition footprint meets all federal, state, local and homeowners association
requirements.
Once you’ve determined that the basic footprint for your home addition is
“legal”, you can then move on and begin to flesh out the specifics of your home
addition so that you can determine your overall home addition costs. You may
want to consider using a home design software package such as, Chief
Architect Home Designer Suite 10,
at this point. There are various home design software packages on the market
today that are inexpensive, fairly easy to use, and can produce the drawings and
other information you’ll need to successfully pull building permits.
Prior to actually going full throttle
on your home addition design plans you should also establish an overall budget.
Establishing a budget early on can help you to set limits on the features and
materials used in the home addition project.
As soon as you have a set of completed home addition design plans you may want
to meet with a local realtor to assess (1) the current value of your home and
then (2) the value of it after adding on the home addition. You can then compare
this market analysis with the actual cost of building the home addition to see
if it makes financial sense.
After developing your home addition design plans and determining your overall
home addition costs you can then move forward in obtaining contractor bids and
getting financing, if required. Make sure to get home addition contractor bids
from at least three contractors and make sure to check their references. My Home
Addition Bid Sheets are ideal for helping you through the contractor bidding
process and can save you a fortune in preventing common home construction
mistakes, including hiring the wrong home addition contractor.
Typically when establishing a home addition cost budget there is a cash
component and borrowing component. By generating a good set of home addition
construction plans and obtaining competitive bids, a bank will be able to
quickly assess whether or not to lend you money. Assuming your credit is of high
quality and your home addition makes market sense you should have no problem
getting construction lending.
With building plans, financing and the general contractor identified you can
then pursue your building permits.
It’s important to keep in mind that the cost of home
additions will vary widely with real estate market conditions, and the
local cost of material and labor. Home addition costs will also vary with
materials used and the particular home addition design. Contractor bids,
however, should not vary widely when bidding on the same project. Thus be
wary of the low ball or high ball quotes you may get. Each type could be
fraught with danger. Again, checking references is key to ensuring a
quality job at a fair price.
Photo by Mark Donovan
Also make sure to check references on
older and newer projects associated with each prospective home addition
contractor. This way you can understand their current work habits as well as
their quality of work.
For more help on building a home addition, see HomeAdditionPlus.com'sRoom
Addition Bid Sheet. TheRoom
Addition Bid Sheet
provides you with the knowledge on how to plan a home addition project,
and what to look for when hiring contractors for your new home construction. It
also includes a detailed cost breakdown table and spreadsheet for estimating
your own home addition building costs.
How to Finance your Home Construction Project -
can help provide funds for your new home improvement project if financing is
required.
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,
at this point. There are various home design software packages on the market
today that are inexpensive, fairly easy to use, and can produce the drawings and
other information you’ll need to successfully pull building permits. 
