All Forum Posts by: Vipin S.

Not sure. I did upload good quality images. 

Hello,

I currently have a 3 bedroom, 2 full bath and an attached 2 car garage single story home in the city of Santa Clara, CA.

I am planning to remodel my home and convert to 5 beds, 4 full baths by adding a new master suite in the backyard and converting the 2 car garage into another master suite (JADU). I have checked with the city about JADU related parking requirements, so that is not a concern. 

I worked with a designer/architect to come up with two ways of accomplish the goal. I have attached three files - Plan1, Plan2 and Existing Plan.

Plan 1

This plan re-arranges the existing hall-way to provide access to the new master suite in the backyard. 

Plan 2

This plan keeps the same hall-way but creates an entry way through an existing bedroom which we use purely as an office room. The advantage of this plan is that it doesn't touch insides of the existing structure at all (and hence comes with cost benefits). However, access to the new master suite is done through the office room which is perfectly fine for our lifestyle. 

The question I have is this - 

I have checked with contractors for ballpark estimates. Plan 1 is about $420,000 to $540,000 and Plan 2 is about $280,000-$350,000. So Plan 1 is about $160,000 more expensive on the midpoint of these ranges. 

I am trying to evaluate if $160,000 is a good investment? Some aspects I am considering are:

- Plan 1 provides complete privacy for all 5 bedrooms while Plan 2 has entryway into new master suite from the office suite. This is fine for our use case, but we are not sure of the market value from the perspective of other buyers. 

- Plan 2 allows us to stay in the house while construction proceeds, Plan 1 we will have to move out for up to a year.

- Plan 2 is $160,000 cheaper. 

- Plan 1 overall looks like a better plan

What plan would you prefer assuming we end up staying in the house for the long term and only think about selling much later on.

I appreciate all your inputs!
Thanks,

Vipin

Thanks Jordan. I will take a look at Leander as well.

Hello, 

We have been thinking of moving to the Austin area from Bay Area California but we aren't ready yet to move out. We thought of buying a place in Austin suburbs and renting it out initially and later on (5+ years) perhaps move and live in as well. A few aspects of our search:

Single family home with 7500 SQFT+ lot size, excellent public schools, suburb life stye, newish homes, good rental prospects, a budget of max $700K.

I understand the market is pipping hot right now so not sure what the winning strategy would be but we are open to all-cash buying opportunities if that helps in any way. We are concerned about property taxes so need to find something that won't blow up the property tax bill assuming house prices continue to rise 20-25% per year for next 5 years. 

What areas should we look at? What do you think of Cedar Park, Lakeway. 

Let me know if I am missing key pieces of information.

Thanks!

Hello,

I live in in the city of Santa Clara (in Santa Clara County) in California. Here are some home facts before I ask the question:

• - Current market value from Zillow: $1.5M
• - Number of bedrooms: 3
• - Number of full baths: 2
• - Living space: 1425 SQFT
• - Lot size: 5742 SQFT
• - Lot dimensions: 58x99
• - Number of stories: One
• - Built: 1955
• - Zoning: R1-6L
• - Floor area ratio: 40%

I would like to add more living space and convert 3beds, 2baths to 5beds, 4baths structure. There are few options available; in both options I would like to maximize the living space so that I get the best overall market value of the home.

• - Expand into backyard
• -- Pros
• --- Cheaper to build
• --- Continue to live-in while addition is progressing
• -- Cons
• --- Less backyard space
• --- Likely won't be able to maximize SQFT living space due to zoning constraints for same floor construction.
• - Add second floor
• -- Pros
• --- More backyard space
• -- Cons
• --- Expensive to build
• --- Likely need to move out for a few months while the addition is progressing

What is the right strategy here? Is the extra cost of building up right call for the return on investment? What do renters/buyers typically prefer? Building on same floor would likely limit the maximum living space and hence overall house value. 

I am hoping to hear from a realtor or experts in the business to understand the pros and cons of the two options. 

Thanks!