Is that worth investing money?

[Magdalena Elliott]

Hi, I am new to Bigger Pockets and would love to hear your opinion.

I am a house owner in a great area of Washington DC.

I bought my row house with now my ex-husband in 2008. The house grew in value because of a prime DC location. Last fall I bought out my ex out of the house with a new much higher mortgage including cash for renovation on the basement.

I needed basement rental income to pay for the new mortgage. After that I also planned on renting the main house and buy a new place for flipping or a duplex where I could rent out the other place.

What am I struggling with is investing into my house worth all that hassle and am I putting myself into a financial disaster?

I knew that I had to underpin the basement to create a Single Dwelling Unit because of the height restrictions. I am an architect and with a help of a friend who stamped my drawings we submitted for permit. Permit comments increased cost of my construction from around $85,000 to $120,000 (because of the structural requirements). In the process of all that my contractor demo’d the basement and started doing some other things, so I already invested some chunk of money.

With the new price increase I will need to find another $40-50.000 for the renovation. Looking at my house as a long-term investment, should I put myself in all that hassle or should I bite on already spent money and sell the house and invest into something new?

I am wondering what experienced people would do, as I want to start on the journey with rental properties and maybe some flipping.

Really appreciate anyone’s input.

Magdalena