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Room additions are a common request we get from our clients. The main reason being that many homeowners would rather add on to their home than jump through the hoops of buying a new home, selling their current home, and go through everything that has to take place in between. Unfortunately, adding on to an existing structure tends to be much more expensive than most people expect. Along with the hefty price tag, completing a room addition also requires a good amount of time, planning, designing, and construction. Even a room without additional plumbing still requires a foundation, adequate structural support, electrical lines, and a tie-in to the roofline. It’s essential that each of these components be done correctly and to code. However, if a you do your research and hire a professional design build firm (like Medford Design-Build) to complete the project, a room addition can be well worth the investment for your forever home.
Here are 4 great reasons to consider a room addition project:
1. Create Needed Space
Any home remodeling project is completed with three objectives in mind: to improve aesthetic appeal, to improve efficiency or functionality, and to create more usable space. When a room is added to the home, the number one benefit is the gaining extra space that the existing home is lacking. Whether your family is growing, you plan on hosting guests more often, you’re transitioning to a home office, or you just need more space for hobbies and leisure, a room addition can make an otherwise crowded home into the perfect size to meet your needs.
Increased storage space is another perk of completing a room addition. Extra closets can be included in the design, as well as features like built-in cabinetry or bookshelves. Acquiring needed space will not only make your home feel less crowded, but the added storage space will help it feel more organized.
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2. Increase Home Value after 10 Years
As a long-term investment, a room addition will increase the market value of your home, but only under the right circumstances. If you’re planning on selling your home after 10 years, the appreciation of the home will usually make up for the negative and can sometimes profit you extra. However, if you’re wanting to sell sooner than 10 years of building the addition, you likely will not get the return for the amount you paid, making a room addition a poor short-term investment. Let’s say you spend $100,000 adding a room to your home, and then turn around and try to sell within 5-7 years. Most likely, you’ll only get about $75,000 added to your home value. On the other hand, if you wait 10 years to sell, you could break even and get the $100,000 back. Twenty plus years later, you could get up to $125,000, and so on. This is why it’s important make sure your addition is constructed with high quality and is built to match the architecture of your home; it needs to look like it’s always been there. Taking shortcuts like lowering the roof or simplifying the design to save a few thousand dollars is only going to hurt the value in the long run. It’s also important to consider other factors that can affect ROI when you go to sell, such as the demographics of your neighborhood, the economy, the state of the housing market, and the practicality of the addition.
If selling in the future is a definite for you, including smart design features in your room addition can help make it more appealing to buyers when the time comes. For example, if the room has a closet, it can be considered an additional bedroom, which is always a perk to home buyers. Features like large windows, French doors, LED lighting and ceiling fans are all smart choices that could make the room a strong selling point later on.
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3. Escape the Hassle of Moving
As mentioned, the first option that is usually considered when a home doesn’t quite fit your family’s needs is to look for a new house to buy. Unfortunately, that is not always an easy task. The housing market in North Texas is booming right now, making it a seller’s market. Homes are listed for sale and quickly receive multiple above-asking-price offers within a day or two. This is great news if you’re selling, but it can make finding and buying a new home a time consuming, stressful, and costly process. If you are able to get the ideal home under contract, you then have to go through the hassle of packing up and moving, transferring your electricity and cable, updating your address on all of your accounts, become familiar with your new location and surroundings, and often times, transfer your children into new schools. Also, it is realistic to say that most older homes on the market will require some level of remodeling – whether it is a full-gut bathroom remodel or minor updates like new flooring and paint. When you look at everything that is involved, moving is a big ordeal that many homeowners would prefer to avoid. Remodeling or adding on to your existing home might seem expensive when you get bids, but it can often be more affordable and a much easier process than selling your home and moving to a new one.
4. Improve Aesthetic Appeal
Adding a room on to your home can make create a new look and improve the home’s aesthetic. Imagine incorporating a bright, spacious sunroom extending from your living area, creating an open floor plan and flooding your home with beautiful natural light. Many newer homes are built in “cookie-cutter” subdivisions with very small rooms – even the master suite might be the size of a guest bedroom and hall bath. Adding on square footage can make all the difference in the look and feel of the home and also allow for other amenities that might not work otherwise, such as a walk-in closet or a free-standing bathtub. Incorporating a room addition on to your home is a great way to set it apart from the others and make it uniquely yours!
Completing a room addition has several benefits that can make it a great option for your home. If you need more space or are looking for ways to make your home work for your family, our designers would be happy to help! Contact us for more information!
Warm Regards,
The Medford Design-Build Team
