Adding a Second Story to a Home in Fort Lauderdale

[Errol Sadler]

Hi BP community,

I’ve successfully added a second story to a home in Atlanta and am now exploring whether this is feasible in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

I’m curious to know if anyone has experience with this in the area. Are there specific zoning or structural challenges in Florida I should be aware of? If it’s possible, I’d love to connect with someone who has done it or knows the ins and outs of the process. Any recommendations or insights would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Errol S.

[Chris Seveney]

Quote from @Errol Sadler:

Hi BP community,

I’ve successfully added a second story to a home in Atlanta and am now exploring whether this is feasible in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

I’m curious to know if anyone has experience with this in the area. Are there specific zoning or structural challenges in Florida I should be aware of? If it’s possible, I’d love to connect with someone who has done it or knows the ins and outs of the process. Any recommendations or insights would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Errol S.

 First thing to consider is what was the original foundation design and can it hold a second story to a home. The other thing to consider is the age and if you add a second floor will the entire structure need to be brought up to code for hurricane and wind.

I live in a neighborhood where the homes are older (not in florida) and the foundations are hollow core CMU and adding a second floor would not be feasible due to soil bearing. For us we knew this and knocked down our home to build new, unfortunately for one of the "flippers" up the street, they did not realize this and cost them a pretty penny...

[Brandon Middleton]

Hey Errol, 

Im open to getting on the phone with you to give you some perspective of this type of construction and what you should expect if you decide to move forward. I second some of the thoughts from Chris about the foundation. The load calculation made for the existing foundation were not factored into the initial design. If it is block construction the engineers will make you beef up the slab and add piles to support the new weight of the second floor. Also another thing to consider are most municipalities will significantly increase your taxes if you pop the top of the house. Also another consideration will be the 50% FEMA rule. If the construction is 50% of the existing building value they will make you raise the house to current FEMA requirements. There is a lot other consider here and quiet often its not worth it unless you have a large lot or plan to be there for another 10yrs - 15yrs. Hopefully this helps.

[Zachary Deal]

Definitely recommend reaching out to the city first to confirm what permitting would be needed for added square footage. Also, one thing to consider is if there are other two story homes near by? One thing you want to avoid is making the asset to unique that it is difficult for an appraiser to comp out. This could make it challenging for an appraiser to value and therefore difficult to get a loan against the property (or sell to someone using a mortgage to purchase).

[Alecia Loveless]

@Errol Sadler Check out the cost to do this in the Florida market. Where I live for the cost of doing so it is cheaper to buy new multi family 2-4 units and then earn 3X-4X the rents for the same cost.