Basement finishing ROI

[Yon Bell]

I am wondering whether I should finish the basement; I can do it very cheaply myself, but the cost of adding an egress window is worrying me.

1. If I do most of the work myself, how much should adding an egress cost?

2. by finishing the basement, I will have more sqft. Are they valued the same way as above-grade space? Is there a rule-of-thumb discount for the value of this extra space?