Basement With Low Ceilings

[Justin Zautner]

I purchased the house I've been renting for the last 7 years at a discount. It's a small 3/1 late 1950's ranch. We plan on upgrading and then cash out refi or using a Heloc to start our investing journey. We plan on staying in this house for a while due to the size of our fenced in back yard and location. We just finished upgrading the bathroom and want to move onto the basement and then kitchen. However, the basement floor to the support beams is only 6'3". I'm going to guess no matter what I do (other than underpinning) this cannot be counted as a livable space. I have a family member that does egress window installation and said the family discount is $1000 for the day plus materials for as many windows as I want, plus I have to help. So my question is, if I can get the basement finished at a discount with two egress windows, but not counted as living space, can I expect any ROI? Question two, can I install a half bath?

FYI I plan on leaving the basement open and using it as a rec room / kids play area.

[Jon Reed]

If you want to do this just so you enjoy your home more then go for it! But, there is no ROI on this investment since you need at least 7' ceiling for it to be living space. When you go to get a HELOC on it or cash-out-refi the appraiser will not count that as finished square footage.