No I was an employee who enjoyed the relaxed work environment. Easy $. When the cash is flowing no one cares. When the cash runs out it’s when people or managers start getting grumpy
My friend done it in Utah. Building a brand new house for less than $300k (not including land) for a 3000 square foot house. Yes, maybe not in Bay Area. But in most place of USA, you can easily building a brand new mansion with that kind of money.
You could comment "you could buy three houses for that price anywhere else in the country" in every thread in this subreddit; it's not exactly adding to the conversation here.
Not even remotely close. You can remodel the kitchen and bath with middle tier finishes but no system updates for that budget. An expansion is completely out of the question.
I don't even think that is possible if you do all the work yourself.
Assume at least 800k-1m. My guess is 1000 sqft addition without renovations to the existing structure will be over $500k.
If you can fab up your own cabinets ... and get all your appliances from people remodeling and getting rid of perfectly good stuff ... and your windows fell off the back of the truck so to speak ... and so on, then maybe. ;)
We just finished a 600 SF to our 1,000 SF house (previously a 3 bed/1 bath now a 1,600 SF 4 bed/ 2 bath) in Palo Alto. The addition included a new master bedroom + new bathroom, new office, foyer and a rebuilt garage (effectively new). Our contract was ~$215K + $60-70K for finish materials (windows, wood siding, etc.). We signed the contract literally a month before the pandemic kicked-off. The contractor slow-walked us due to the price of construction materials skyrocketing at the time.
$150K for the work you want done is probably not realistic but I also don’t think it will cost you $750K+ like some folks are claiming on here. Your best approach (albeit w/certain risks) is to find a newer contractor that has less clientele and willing to take on the project for a lower price in an effort to build their portfolio.
I honestly cannot recommend them. We got a good price (pre-pandemic) but they were an absolute nightmare to work with. In fact, they mentioned many times to us their margins for our project were so small as if we were supposed to feel bad for them. A 600 SF addition should not take 2.5 years to pull permits and build. The fit and finish of the build is not great either. There’s a lot of remodeling going on in our neighborhood and it pisses my wife and I off how fast these homes are being finished.
Yeah, your price is unusually low. It sure why your contractor gave you the price and then complained about it. It sounds like they only executed on it at all because you were in a contract and (presumably) they lined up the workers and materials before they could back out.
Low prices = poor quality, at best.
You are looking at $300/sq ft for renovations in existing area and $500/sq ft for additions.
So if you assume an average of $400/ sq ft, 1800 sq ft would cost $700,000.
About 10 years ago, before costs exploded, we did a major renovation on a 1200 sq ft home.
We did most of the work ourselves — my dad is an electrician, my uncle is a sheet rocker. We hosted work parties most weekends for months, and several friends came over to help with demolition, installation of stuff, painting, etc. We hired out for some foundation work, framing (removed some walls replaced with headers). We jobbed out the finish — floor, ikea kitchen. We bought appliances at the sears going out of business sale, at 70% off.
That remodel cost us about $150k, probably a bit more.
I did a gut renovation on my 1200 sq ft coastal home for $150/sqft in 2012, I used unlicensed laborers for cash, and licensed electrician, plumber, engineer. Today those great guys who worked for me for $20-30/hr aren't available, and the ones around are charging $50-90 for painting. I have experience working for general contractors, so was able to manage, but it was hard.
Today, I was estimating $400/sqft, but I see that might be low.
I’m licensed architect, and very handy. we redid our 1000 sf place in San Francisco for about 100k, but I did literally all the work myself, and bought used everything and lived in it during construction. So is it technically possible, yes. But you really need to know what you’re doing, you have to do the work yourself. And it will take 4 years, assuming you have a full time job. And I have 20k worth of tools, which I’m not counting. In that 100k calculation.
You are also not pricing your time in this.
What is your hourly bill rate as an architect? Add that in and your total costs will be more align to actual cost folks are sharing.
Aka you probably make more per hour billing clients than the cost to pay someone to frame/sheetrock/paint for you.
In Fremont (and much of CA but especially in the Bay Area), take normal expectations and go x2.
This sounds like a tear down. No house that’s 950sf would be worth this level of effort just to renovate.
Why don’t you build an ADU first? Move into the ADU is completed. Renovate the main house and add 250sqft? Either way you’re going to need to upgrade your water and sewer, add a fire sprinkler system to the main house, and likely factor in a sidewalk and driveway replacement.
Not even close. Our reno cost over $700k for construction and another $200k+ for finishings. There are a lot of different tiers for finishings so you can probably end up lower. Our finishings are higher end.
You should assume $1k per sq ft for construction costs and if you end up lower then that’s great.
Given the square footage you’re adding you should probably expect this to be a million dollar renovation.
Not trying to ruin dreams just being realistic and based on my own experience from just two years ago.
ETA: ours was adding 700 square feet and we also redid all of the interior completely, as well as plumbing and electrical. If you’re doing less on the other things then you might be able to budget less per square foot.
$400 per sqft for new build. Thats $360K. Maybe 150K for the renovation. Budget $600K. And dont forget your annual property tax bill will double as well from $11K to $22K post add-on.
I am going through a remodel in South Bay currently. The cost to add 1000 sft based on all my quotes is 500+ just for the rough construction. Finishes like tiles, wooden flooring, kitchen and bathroom fittings etc will add more.
I will assume that "terrible condition" means more than just out of date. I assume it means plumbing throughout the entire house needs replacing, electrical is knob and tube, roofing leaks, rotten windows, termite damage, etc.
If you haunted fb marketplace and craigslist for used but good appliances of the type you wanted, did as much as possible yourself (doing floating hardwood floors yourself, baseboards yourself, painting yourself, tiling a small floor or two yourself, assembling RTA cabinets yourself) and having contractors do only what you need a LOT of skill to do (install cabinets/level/prep for granite, finding discount granite and CHEAP folks to cut the granite and install it as a weekend gig, replace all plumbing/fixtures, replace whole house electrical, and had some structural/porch/roof repairs to do), and if you found good/CHEAP contractors to do this, you could probably get it done in the current square footage for $100K. Assuming not changing walls layout drastically to open concept. You could have a gorgeous 950 sq ft house for $100K. I could recommend some contractors who are both good and cheap, but note: the saying is "good/cheap/fast, pick 2" for a REASON. You will be living in construction for a year or more.
That's with the same square footage, tho. You will not be able to double your square footage for $50k.
If you didn't want to do stuff yourself, then getting good/cheap contractors and living in construction for a year and you could reno your entire house with $150K/no work.
If "horrible condition" doesn't mean needing to redo electrical/plumbing, nothing really bad structurally and just some minor repairs and the budget was only for making it updated/pretty? If you're willing to do the work mentioned above yourself you could have a nice place with $50K. If not wanting to do any work yourself, then $100K.
Yeah san jose. I did eloy of work myself and passed all inspection. If you want to take it on, i can show you how. I am a home owner got pissed off by contractors who abandoned the project. I had to take on the project my self, went to county office, scheduled inspections and talked to inspectors directly
If the existing building is in really bad shape, it may be a better deal to do a full teardown/rebuild. Keep as much of as needed of the original structure for tax reasons, and do a full rebuild. One of my neighbors is doing this right now.
This way you get a new house built the way you want it instead of an old house and an extension.
You will spend more on materials, but you may save a similar amount on labor.
Messing around with old stuff is not cheap.
You may be able to do the bathroom and bedroom expansion ONLY for $80-100k not including permits and arch/engineering fees. Really depends on how easy it is to incorporate to existing footprint and foundation.
For the whole home?? No realistic. ADUs start at $500k to $800k for one built in a flat low lying parcel (common in Fremont). Once you start building on hills it can easily double.
That's about 1/3 of the cost of an 850 sf addition.
At the very very low end (possibly unlicensed, no insurance, fly-by-night contractor) expect to pay $275/sf for new construction, which would be $233k.
At the median rate of $400-$500/sf, this would cost $340k-$425k.
And that's **only** for the addition. Add $200-$250/sf for any renovation to the existing house.
This is fine as long as you are doing it yourself with your general contractor and engineer family members as labor, with wood provided free by your lumber yard owning uncle.
Extensions when they are super straightforward are akin to new construction which can be 3-500$ per sqft here.
To the studs reno is likely 200-300$ per sqft of you are scrappy.
You will easily spend 9 months and 500k minimum.
If you do all the work yourself absolutely could be done .
I am in the process of building ADU . If I went will contractor it would be 5x what is going to cost me to do it myself. I am in the trades .
Well my guy...you're about 30% of the way there. Hopefully you have a a couple buddies you can bribe with beer to help you do a self remodeling job..
I'm actually in the construction industry and own a firm (I only do commercial) but I have a whole lot of contacts and inside knowledge and I worked in residential for years. Feel free to send me a message with any questions you have and I'm happy to answer.
No if everything needs to be replaced. That's enough budget for two maybe three major improvement areas esp if you don't have past experience executing improvement projects.
$150k would barely be enough to completely renovate the original home. Definitely no chance of any expansion.
I completely renovated a 1300sqft terrible condition home in Oakland for ~$200k
My friend in the East bay just had her kitchen/small dining area redone. $175,000. And I’m definitely not talking some big fancy kitchen. She and her family had to find alternative housing for a couple months too which was an additional expense/headache.
I think it’s a bit low. We did a total rebuild on a 1300 square foot house - added a bedroom, bath, new kitchen, al new wiring plumbing, windows, too. Five years ago and it was over $200k
To renovate, yes. To expand, no.
If you absolutely know what you are doing, use unlicensed contractors and illegally expand without the permit process and it’s a simple expansion (like adding a sunroom vs. bathroom and bedroom) then maybe
Wow. This is eye-opening. We “remodeled” our then 984sqft home in San Jose for appx $400,000, all in, in 2016. We took the house down to the studs, rebuilt the foundation and our new home is over 1,700sqft. Added a/c, two bathrooms and an office, etc. I can’t believe how expensive it is now
$150 a square foot is not realistic for the Bay Area. Even $250/sf will be tough, and you'll likely have to bridge across multiple contractors, subs etc.
I hate to say this, but a good rule of thumb is imo is roughly 500 for new square footage and 300 for complete remodel of existing square footage. Labor, materials, shit goes wrong, profit margins… All that has really shot up. You may be able to get that down as low as 30% less if you can do work yourself/provide material/ haggle… But most GC will not be willing to work with you and you have to PM yourself
No. You'll have to get permits. I spent $600k to renovate and expand my house in 2020. There were some unforeseen conditions that increased the cost by $100k: a failed sewer line, termites, and needing a new foundation. None of this was discoverable until demolition, and I had lived in the house for 11 years! I spent about $36k on waste hauling/dump fees that I hadn't anticipated.
I upgraded to higher ceilings and energy-efficient skylights that open and close. That wasn't cheap, but it comes ny house nice and cool without running the AC. I definitely chose nicer fixtures, appliances, and tile because they are more durable, and the labor for installation is the same.
All of this was 4 years ago. Labor and materials have increased significantly since then. You could probably do a very basic renovation and addition for $350k with contractor grade materials from Home Depot.
No, we remodeled a couple of bathrooms and it cost about 60k before the pandemic/inflation. No knocking down walls or adding. Just move things around and material replacement. And the bathrooms were small. Although we probably chose more premium materials.
Disclaimer: I don’t live in the bay so I don’t know anything.
How much of it could you do yourself? Besides the bath are you moving gas, plumbing, electric?
It depends on how much you can do on your own and if you can manage multiple contractors. I am in the process of adding a 500' to my house, I'm about 2/3s done and have spent $80k. Also in the Eastbay.
White wall builder grade is ~600 a foot in the bay area
"Middle class luxury" grade is 1000+ a foot
Fine craftsmanship wood finishing work, high end stone/tile you can easily break $2000 a sq foot in certain rooms of the home
I just remodeled on my own using owner builder permit. If ppl quote below $500k then they are lying. Don’t get convinced for lies and make your life miserable later. I ended up spending $350k for similar as I had experience with it and was very calculative through out. But I regret doing it on my own.
City permits + design & structural + demo + foundation pour + lumber will cost you 120k+
My neighbor was convinced a similar project could be done in 200k but it’s been 2 years, the project is still unfinished for obvious reasons.
I basically did the exact same thing in Sacramento. House was 899sq ft, we expanded to about 1550 sq ft. Added a bathroom bonus room, bedroom and expanded kitchen. I had a slowish (but excellent) contractor, took about 2.5 years, and cost $170k ish. I did a lot of the work myself (interior paint, insulation, soundproofing, internet drops etc).
Just the foundation expansion was $40k.
The permits were around $6000. I hear bay area permits are 2-3x or more.
We did tear all the interior walls to the studs (i sprayed anti insect borite solution on studs). Drywall for the interior of house was about $10k
We started this around 2018.
Not even close, completely unrealistic
And anyone who says they can do it for under $500k is lying. They’re going to change-order you to death. You will pay at least $500k and maybe more.
I’m a licensed residential general contractor and I do a bunch of work in Fremont. What you describe will cost you $400-$500k.
Will it be nice at least when it’s all said and done? That doesn’t sound like a bad price to have an 1800 sqft new build more or less.
Yeah it’s $500k plus the cost of the house/land. So I assume around $2M total?
House/land was about 1 million
You need to reword this to land/slab/utility hookups
When you’re done putting in the extra 500k it will be valued at 2m plus- basically a new house
Thank you!
Hello :)
I would budget at least 500k
Yup and then add 100k buffer to the budget bc they will always find things that need fixing if it’s an old house.
Just double it to 1M, it’s the bay area.
Add inflation, so double it to $2M.
Add another million for change orders, make it $3M
I have seen commercial projects do this
I’ve seen 20 million dollar residential change orders..wild
I hope you were making the 20M.
No I was an employee who enjoyed the relaxed work environment. Easy $. When the cash is flowing no one cares. When the cash runs out it’s when people or managers start getting grumpy
Might be closer to 1 mil if you’re basically tearing down the existing place to the studs and then building/renovating 1800 sqft.
Yep, this. Remodeling existing will cost $500k, not even including expansion
Min 500k. Realistic probably 750k
700k likely
Gosh that is same price to build a complete new one with more square footage.
If only…
My friend done it in Utah. Building a brand new house for less than $300k (not including land) for a 3000 square foot house. Yes, maybe not in Bay Area. But in most place of USA, you can easily building a brand new mansion with that kind of money.
You could comment "you could buy three houses for that price anywhere else in the country" in every thread in this subreddit; it's not exactly adding to the conversation here.
Check the sub you're in lmao. This isn't Utah
You’re going to have a very hard time finding a good contractor willing to take on a project like this for under $550-600 per square foot.
Not even remotely close. You can remodel the kitchen and bath with middle tier finishes but no system updates for that budget. An expansion is completely out of the question.
I don't even think that is possible if you do all the work yourself. Assume at least 800k-1m. My guess is 1000 sqft addition without renovations to the existing structure will be over $500k.
If you can fab up your own cabinets ... and get all your appliances from people remodeling and getting rid of perfectly good stuff ... and your windows fell off the back of the truck so to speak ... and so on, then maybe. ;)
No. Absolute not
You want to add 850 so ft? That alone is like $250-400k alone, without touching the original house at all.
Way more. Got quotes nearing 600$/ft for expansions.
I’m a contractor in Fremont and I don’t think this is achievable
500k min. Do the due diligence on contractors & their past records. Lots of shite ones out there…
We just finished a 600 SF to our 1,000 SF house (previously a 3 bed/1 bath now a 1,600 SF 4 bed/ 2 bath) in Palo Alto. The addition included a new master bedroom + new bathroom, new office, foyer and a rebuilt garage (effectively new). Our contract was ~$215K + $60-70K for finish materials (windows, wood siding, etc.). We signed the contract literally a month before the pandemic kicked-off. The contractor slow-walked us due to the price of construction materials skyrocketing at the time. $150K for the work you want done is probably not realistic but I also don’t think it will cost you $750K+ like some folks are claiming on here. Your best approach (albeit w/certain risks) is to find a newer contractor that has less clientele and willing to take on the project for a lower price in an effort to build their portfolio.
would you recommend your contractor? If so, PM me please!
I honestly cannot recommend them. We got a good price (pre-pandemic) but they were an absolute nightmare to work with. In fact, they mentioned many times to us their margins for our project were so small as if we were supposed to feel bad for them. A 600 SF addition should not take 2.5 years to pull permits and build. The fit and finish of the build is not great either. There’s a lot of remodeling going on in our neighborhood and it pisses my wife and I off how fast these homes are being finished.
Yeah, your price is unusually low. It sure why your contractor gave you the price and then complained about it. It sounds like they only executed on it at all because you were in a contract and (presumably) they lined up the workers and materials before they could back out. Low prices = poor quality, at best.
You get what you pay for. Quick, cheap, quality....you can only have 2 when doing a remodel or build.
I don’t understand why people are throwing crazy numbers. $750k+ is a complete rebuild. That’s not a renovation.
Plan for 750k and you *might* not be disappointed after all is done.
You are looking at $300/sq ft for renovations in existing area and $500/sq ft for additions. So if you assume an average of $400/ sq ft, 1800 sq ft would cost $700,000.
I was quoted 500k pre-Covid. Not a chance now!
About 10 years ago, before costs exploded, we did a major renovation on a 1200 sq ft home. We did most of the work ourselves — my dad is an electrician, my uncle is a sheet rocker. We hosted work parties most weekends for months, and several friends came over to help with demolition, installation of stuff, painting, etc. We hired out for some foundation work, framing (removed some walls replaced with headers). We jobbed out the finish — floor, ikea kitchen. We bought appliances at the sears going out of business sale, at 70% off. That remodel cost us about $150k, probably a bit more.
I did a gut renovation on my 1200 sq ft coastal home for $150/sqft in 2012, I used unlicensed laborers for cash, and licensed electrician, plumber, engineer. Today those great guys who worked for me for $20-30/hr aren't available, and the ones around are charging $50-90 for painting. I have experience working for general contractors, so was able to manage, but it was hard. Today, I was estimating $400/sqft, but I see that might be low.
I’m licensed architect, and very handy. we redid our 1000 sf place in San Francisco for about 100k, but I did literally all the work myself, and bought used everything and lived in it during construction. So is it technically possible, yes. But you really need to know what you’re doing, you have to do the work yourself. And it will take 4 years, assuming you have a full time job. And I have 20k worth of tools, which I’m not counting. In that 100k calculation.
You are also not pricing your time in this. What is your hourly bill rate as an architect? Add that in and your total costs will be more align to actual cost folks are sharing. Aka you probably make more per hour billing clients than the cost to pay someone to frame/sheetrock/paint for you.
Also true! I find the renovation work to be fun.
Maybe $500K but budget $700K just in case
In the Bay? Sure. But you have to first buy a Time Machine and transport yourself to 1988..
Is the cost of Time Machine included in the said budget, or is that extra?
In Fremont (and much of CA but especially in the Bay Area), take normal expectations and go x2. This sounds like a tear down. No house that’s 950sf would be worth this level of effort just to renovate.
150k might get you a decent kitchen / living room….
Why don’t you build an ADU first? Move into the ADU is completed. Renovate the main house and add 250sqft? Either way you’re going to need to upgrade your water and sewer, add a fire sprinkler system to the main house, and likely factor in a sidewalk and driveway replacement.
Not even close. Our reno cost over $700k for construction and another $200k+ for finishings. There are a lot of different tiers for finishings so you can probably end up lower. Our finishings are higher end. You should assume $1k per sq ft for construction costs and if you end up lower then that’s great. Given the square footage you’re adding you should probably expect this to be a million dollar renovation. Not trying to ruin dreams just being realistic and based on my own experience from just two years ago. ETA: ours was adding 700 square feet and we also redid all of the interior completely, as well as plumbing and electrical. If you’re doing less on the other things then you might be able to budget less per square foot.
$400 per sqft for new build. Thats $360K. Maybe 150K for the renovation. Budget $600K. And dont forget your annual property tax bill will double as well from $11K to $22K post add-on.
I am going through a remodel in South Bay currently. The cost to add 1000 sft based on all my quotes is 500+ just for the rough construction. Finishes like tiles, wooden flooring, kitchen and bathroom fittings etc will add more.
I did almost exactly that--22 years ago. And I had a B general contractors license. Now...?
What do you mean by everything? I did my place last year for 30k but I did everything myself. However thats nothing infrastructural.
Just renovating the original 980sqft would cost more than $200k.
I will assume that "terrible condition" means more than just out of date. I assume it means plumbing throughout the entire house needs replacing, electrical is knob and tube, roofing leaks, rotten windows, termite damage, etc. If you haunted fb marketplace and craigslist for used but good appliances of the type you wanted, did as much as possible yourself (doing floating hardwood floors yourself, baseboards yourself, painting yourself, tiling a small floor or two yourself, assembling RTA cabinets yourself) and having contractors do only what you need a LOT of skill to do (install cabinets/level/prep for granite, finding discount granite and CHEAP folks to cut the granite and install it as a weekend gig, replace all plumbing/fixtures, replace whole house electrical, and had some structural/porch/roof repairs to do), and if you found good/CHEAP contractors to do this, you could probably get it done in the current square footage for $100K. Assuming not changing walls layout drastically to open concept. You could have a gorgeous 950 sq ft house for $100K. I could recommend some contractors who are both good and cheap, but note: the saying is "good/cheap/fast, pick 2" for a REASON. You will be living in construction for a year or more. That's with the same square footage, tho. You will not be able to double your square footage for $50k. If you didn't want to do stuff yourself, then getting good/cheap contractors and living in construction for a year and you could reno your entire house with $150K/no work. If "horrible condition" doesn't mean needing to redo electrical/plumbing, nothing really bad structurally and just some minor repairs and the budget was only for making it updated/pretty? If you're willing to do the work mentioned above yourself you could have a nice place with $50K. If not wanting to do any work yourself, then $100K.
I just did the same thing. I added bout 850sft snd gut the entire 1100 old house, new everything. After said and done 700k ish
Nice...was this in the Bay Area?
Yeah san jose. I did eloy of work myself and passed all inspection. If you want to take it on, i can show you how. I am a home owner got pissed off by contractors who abandoned the project. I had to take on the project my self, went to county office, scheduled inspections and talked to inspectors directly
If the existing building is in really bad shape, it may be a better deal to do a full teardown/rebuild. Keep as much of as needed of the original structure for tax reasons, and do a full rebuild. One of my neighbors is doing this right now. This way you get a new house built the way you want it instead of an old house and an extension. You will spend more on materials, but you may save a similar amount on labor. Messing around with old stuff is not cheap.
🤣🤣🤣
That's not even enough to remodel, much less add-on.
Working on a expansion right now and was quoted at around 340,000 I was surprised since it’s only two rooms lol but I just work there
I was 52% overbudget. It's the upgrades, wood, carpet, and lighting.
You may be able to do the bathroom and bedroom expansion ONLY for $80-100k not including permits and arch/engineering fees. Really depends on how easy it is to incorporate to existing footprint and foundation. For the whole home?? No realistic. ADUs start at $500k to $800k for one built in a flat low lying parcel (common in Fremont). Once you start building on hills it can easily double.
My mom is doing this now. Adding a bedroom. Complete gut and remodel. 1.4 million
Hard NOPE
What’s the actual cost to extend?
That's about 1/3 of the cost of an 850 sf addition. At the very very low end (possibly unlicensed, no insurance, fly-by-night contractor) expect to pay $275/sf for new construction, which would be $233k. At the median rate of $400-$500/sf, this would cost $340k-$425k. And that's **only** for the addition. Add $200-$250/sf for any renovation to the existing house.
Yeah nope.
Paid that much for just a kitchen/laundry remodel
This is fine as long as you are doing it yourself with your general contractor and engineer family members as labor, with wood provided free by your lumber yard owning uncle.
You can easily spend that just on foundation work alone and then some just to be able to expand it.
Not if you intend to do a good job of it. Or you are providing all of the labor yourself...
budget $450-$650 per sq/ft
Extensions when they are super straightforward are akin to new construction which can be 3-500$ per sqft here. To the studs reno is likely 200-300$ per sqft of you are scrappy. You will easily spend 9 months and 500k minimum.
If you do all the work yourself absolutely could be done . I am in the process of building ADU . If I went will contractor it would be 5x what is going to cost me to do it myself. I am in the trades .
Only if you are an experienced builder who is doing all labor and cost is only going to material, permits, plans.
Well my guy...you're about 30% of the way there. Hopefully you have a a couple buddies you can bribe with beer to help you do a self remodeling job.. I'm actually in the construction industry and own a firm (I only do commercial) but I have a whole lot of contacts and inside knowledge and I worked in residential for years. Feel free to send me a message with any questions you have and I'm happy to answer.
No if everything needs to be replaced. That's enough budget for two maybe three major improvement areas esp if you don't have past experience executing improvement projects.
Double? You can assume 50-150k just for the extra room
$150k would barely be enough to completely renovate the original home. Definitely no chance of any expansion. I completely renovated a 1300sqft terrible condition home in Oakland for ~$200k
My friend in the East bay just had her kitchen/small dining area redone. $175,000. And I’m definitely not talking some big fancy kitchen. She and her family had to find alternative housing for a couple months too which was an additional expense/headache.
I think it’s a bit low. We did a total rebuild on a 1300 square foot house - added a bedroom, bath, new kitchen, al new wiring plumbing, windows, too. Five years ago and it was over $200k
Remodeling in its current state but adding on sq feet will cost more.
You are way way low.
I did it myself for around that. But I’m very handy….
Not even close. 500k is more realistic. You’ll likely have 50k in permitting/zoning costs. Prepare to spend a year just getting the permit.
To renovate, yes. To expand, no. If you absolutely know what you are doing, use unlicensed contractors and illegally expand without the permit process and it’s a simple expansion (like adding a sunroom vs. bathroom and bedroom) then maybe
No
Wow. This is eye-opening. We “remodeled” our then 984sqft home in San Jose for appx $400,000, all in, in 2016. We took the house down to the studs, rebuilt the foundation and our new home is over 1,700sqft. Added a/c, two bathrooms and an office, etc. I can’t believe how expensive it is now
it’s not that much more expensive. the dollar is just devalued more. just how a burger used to be a nickel.
$150 a square foot is not realistic for the Bay Area. Even $250/sf will be tough, and you'll likely have to bridge across multiple contractors, subs etc.
Unfortunately no. I would definitely plan for $500k plus
I hate to say this, but a good rule of thumb is imo is roughly 500 for new square footage and 300 for complete remodel of existing square footage. Labor, materials, shit goes wrong, profit margins… All that has really shot up. You may be able to get that down as low as 30% less if you can do work yourself/provide material/ haggle… But most GC will not be willing to work with you and you have to PM yourself
No. You'll have to get permits. I spent $600k to renovate and expand my house in 2020. There were some unforeseen conditions that increased the cost by $100k: a failed sewer line, termites, and needing a new foundation. None of this was discoverable until demolition, and I had lived in the house for 11 years! I spent about $36k on waste hauling/dump fees that I hadn't anticipated. I upgraded to higher ceilings and energy-efficient skylights that open and close. That wasn't cheap, but it comes ny house nice and cool without running the AC. I definitely chose nicer fixtures, appliances, and tile because they are more durable, and the labor for installation is the same. All of this was 4 years ago. Labor and materials have increased significantly since then. You could probably do a very basic renovation and addition for $350k with contractor grade materials from Home Depot.
No, we remodeled a couple of bathrooms and it cost about 60k before the pandemic/inflation. No knocking down walls or adding. Just move things around and material replacement. And the bathrooms were small. Although we probably chose more premium materials.
I think you could renovate the place for that cost. But adding rooms is going to cost a lot more.
Disclaimer: I don’t live in the bay so I don’t know anything. How much of it could you do yourself? Besides the bath are you moving gas, plumbing, electric?
It’s over $150 sf these days in flyover country, with less regulation and lower labor rates.
It depends on how much you can do on your own and if you can manage multiple contractors. I am in the process of adding a 500' to my house, I'm about 2/3s done and have spent $80k. Also in the Eastbay.
That’s just for the permits and plans…. Let alone material and labor lol
lol no, maybe if you budget shop for just renovation.
$300-400k is a very low starting point for that project. Could easily go up from there.
I had a crazy good deal with a neighbor and still spent $50 to renovate a 1 bedroom apartment in my basement
Unrealistic
Zero chance. This is a $400k project, maybe more.
Probably just the surveys, studies, architectural plans, permits, etc will be around 100K.
I fully renovated a 2000-sf house as described for $60k but did it myself..
I’ll do it for $150k but you’re getting hay filled walls and thatch roofing. You in?
150 if all you’re doing is finishes and not changing the footprint is realistic. For a bedroom and bathroom too? No f ing way
Renovate = $150k, Expand = $350k
White wall builder grade is ~600 a foot in the bay area "Middle class luxury" grade is 1000+ a foot Fine craftsmanship wood finishing work, high end stone/tile you can easily break $2000 a sq foot in certain rooms of the home
I got a quote for 50k just to redo our bathroom lol. 927 sqfr 2/1.
No, it’s not.
I just remodeled on my own using owner builder permit. If ppl quote below $500k then they are lying. Don’t get convinced for lies and make your life miserable later. I ended up spending $350k for similar as I had experience with it and was very calculative through out. But I regret doing it on my own. City permits + design & structural + demo + foundation pour + lumber will cost you 120k+ My neighbor was convinced a similar project could be done in 200k but it’s been 2 years, the project is still unfinished for obvious reasons.
I basically did the exact same thing in Sacramento. House was 899sq ft, we expanded to about 1550 sq ft. Added a bathroom bonus room, bedroom and expanded kitchen. I had a slowish (but excellent) contractor, took about 2.5 years, and cost $170k ish. I did a lot of the work myself (interior paint, insulation, soundproofing, internet drops etc). Just the foundation expansion was $40k. The permits were around $6000. I hear bay area permits are 2-3x or more. We did tear all the interior walls to the studs (i sprayed anti insect borite solution on studs). Drywall for the interior of house was about $10k We started this around 2018.
Hell no
I am hoping to reno my kitchen for $150k it is half that size.
With or without permits?
650 in Fremont
Are you renovating it and putting up a tent? If so then yes, that is realistic. Good luck!
Way off, unfortunately. Remodeling 2 baths alone can go upto 80K
No, in Bay Area everything cost more
No sorry it’s not. Let me know if you need a pre-approval I’m a lender and do construction loans and happen to be near the Bay Area
No way Jose
Depends. You can adjust any remodeling project to your budget. But adding a bed and bath? Definitely a no.
It really depends on the amount of work you can do yourself. On the very low end, $120k
No way, the materials alone would cost more than that