Everyone wants to live in a convenient and cozy place. Enlarging a living space can be the solution. It crosses many homeowners’ minds for different reasons: having a baby soon, looking after a family member, or simply wanting a more convenient space.

The last reason was the exact case for our client Mariah, a homeowner in San Francisco, who decided to build an addition about a year ago.

Getting a mortgage for a bigger home or buying any other real estate was pretty costly. Today’s 30-year fixed mortgage rates in California alone reach 5.9% with an APR of 6.115%. Plus, she wanted to stay in the same neighbourhood, so she decided to make a home addition herself.

What Was the Reason for Enlarging a Space?

After working from home in a living room for several years as a graphic designer, Mariah realized she needed an additional space. Constantly working in a living room made it anything but “living.” She hated the fact that it didn’t feel like a living room. It had everything to do with work: papers, books, stickers and notebooks all over the room, and a big laptop that didn’t have its own place.

The Steps of Getting the Job Done

Mariah admitted that once she set her heart to it, there was no way back. Especially now that it was something she’s been wanting to do for a long time.

1. Starting From Scratch

Any further planning for home additions and renovations begins at this stage. Mariah was a newbie at making a new room on her own, like many of us would. She admits: “At this stage, I asked myself, ‘What do I need it for?” And that was a very important step that served as a “foundation” for me”.

She knew she wanted her own workspace that would make the other rooms less ‘work-related’:

• to have a desk to work on with a laptop (and an additional monitor in the future);
• to have a shelf to place books and organizers with work papers;
• to have a place to put a home printer she uses for work;
• to have an organizer for SD cards and other storage devices.

2. Research Stage

This step involves thorough planning and research to create a budget. “Who will do the job?” and “How much will it cost?” were the key questions.

“I knew I wanted to create a 150-square-foot office extension and turn my living room into an actual living room again. But I still understood I had to find experts in the home-building sphere and actually get permission to proceed. I was totally ready for that,” Mariah said.

She wanted to see whether she could make her own sketch and have it approved. However, at the building department, she was told that she needed a professional to do that. To make the calculations, take the necessary measurements, and see how it all complies with building regulations.

The Federal Trade Commission Consumer Advice warns homeowners to carefully check the agreements with constructors. The financing options should be reviewed before starting the construction works and major improvements.

Mariah carried on with her research and found an architect’s profile she liked. “I had to consider my budget for some additional fees, like the cost of consultation, design sketches, and actual drawings for a future place,” she states. After thorough research of service pricing, she finally got in touch with an architect she’d like to continue with.

Eventually, for her 10×15 extension, she was charged $1,200 for an architect’s plan.

3. Getting Permission

“That was my first time going through such a home addition. I heard that you have to get permission to continue, but I didn’t know it was important,” Mariah confesses.

This stage is more of a regulatory matter. It is pivotal to get permission from the authorities who check whether your plan complies with building regulations and codes. In a nutshell, it allows you to legally extend your home. For example, if you live in a house and want to make a home extension, you may not exceed 3–4 metres in some cases.

After all, it depends on the situation and the building you live in. So, whether you live in an apartment or in a house, check if you actually need it to continue. Make sure you have a budget for that as well.

It cost Mariah around $1,085. The price included:

Was the Work Eventually Completed?

“I knew I didn’t want to stop the work or prolong it again. I knew that if it got delayed again, it would cost me even more. I just needed $400 to finish my plan”, Mariah reflects.

She thought of several ways of addressing the issue. “I decided to turn to home upgrade financing and take out a $400 loan to finish my 150 square-foot home addition.

I like how it all worked out at the end. The maximum I could obtain was $1,000, but I didn’t need that much. But it’s good to know that if something unexpected happens, I can turn to a loan. It’s a very good opportunity to stabilize your financial situation without actually damaging your credit score. Just know whether you can pay it back on time as I did,” Mariah concludes.

When we discussed the steps to take before the actual work, we noted one thing. After construction is complete, an inspector will check whether the final work complies with the permission. It happened in Mariah’s case as well.

Once the $12,375 work was completed, Mariah discovered that her home’s assessed value didn’t reflect the improvement right away. Property checks occur at specific times, depending on the area of living. After some checks, it turned out the home extension cost was likely to reach $21,500 in value. However, this data wouldn’t appear in county records over time until the next home assessment.