Help me decide. when to simplify vs push the chips to bet?

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Why don't you divide the land, sell your house and build a new house on the acre you retain with all of the features you want??

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Feb 24, 2016 13:59:03 GMT -5 alwaysbeoptimizing said:

Feb 24, 2016 13:51:20 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Why don't you divide the land, sell your house and build a new house on the acre you retain with all of the features you want??

actually a fair question.  it's really hilly and there are trees, stream, slopes, and other environmental and site factors.

I COULD subdivide and then sell the existing house with it's 1.7 acres, and carve about 1/3 acre out to be my parcel.

would be interesting, as i could carve that off, sell the 1.7 acres for 1.2M or so, then build a new house on the remaining land.

We live on a hilly, wooded slope with a stream.  The whole development is like this, and it calls for some creative architecture, but every single house is unique  in that it has been designed for the physical attributes of the property.

Say you sell your house (minus your parcel) for $1.2 million.  You get the whole $1.2 million, but then you have the flexibility to do exactly what you want.  The workshop is probably a given, but from my very small experience in renovating, it ALWAYS costs more than what you expect.

My experience as when I was trying to do kitchen renovations.  We were constrained by things that wound up costing more to work around the constraints.  Changing those constraints would have cost even more.  

I suspect you'd get better value from making your home a premier property from the beginning vs trying to renovate one to that point.

[CCL]

Why not sell the lots first for the cash?

How long till retirement or potential move?

Of course, I'm sure you know, nothing is guaranteed, even real estate prices in upscale markets.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

I'd factor in which is the least hassle along with cost.  If you build a new house on land you already own, then you only have to come up with the building costs while living in your old house.  House gets finished, or as it is almost complete, put your lived in house on the market.  

With the sort of renovation you have planned for your house, you are likely going to have to move out of it.  So you need to factor those costs into the renovation too.

[moneyminded]

How much house do you need?    

[bean29]

There is another option, it may be more hassle for your family in the short run, but in the long run may yield the best outcome.

Tear your house down, divide lot into 3 parcels and build the house you want.

My parent's house used to be 2nd from corner. House on corner was sitting on 3 lots. I think we could have bought for $17,000. We of course considered repairs house needed but never considered tearing it down & selling 2 lots. Lady that bought house made out by tearing it down and selling 2 of 3 lots. Parents house now 4th from corner.

[tskeeter]

ABO, my concern with your plans are zoning issues.  I'd suspect that your property is zoned single family residential.  Putting a rental over the garage would require a zoning change or a variance.  Either one is usually time consuming and expensive to obtain.  Ditto to selling off part of the property.  Unless your property is already multiple parcels, I understand that it is often difficult to get approval to partition smaller parcels into multiple parcels.  I expect, especially difficult, if the new parcels would be smaller than the typical parcel in the area as it could be considered to adversely affect neighbor's property values.

[HoneyBBQ]

How much of your NW is tied up in real estate? I know it's a sweet deal right now, but what about if there's another sharp downturn?

If you create a massive premier estate - you cater to a smaller % of the population. Something to think about for resale.

How just adding on and keeping the huge lot fit in with your long term plans? Do you want that much land for the kids?

[moneyminded]

I wasn't trying to be sarcastic.  I really wanted to know how much house you needed.

[CCL]

If the area is in such high demand, why would it take 2 years to sell your house?

I wouldn't be so sure that the brokerage accounts will grow at 2xs real estate rate. Either one could go up or down. Jobs come and go, as well.

I'm not intending to discourage you, but just pointing out that nothing is guaranteed. Sometimes it does take money to make money. Personally, I'm not that much of a risk-taker lol.

How long have you lived there?

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

I apologize- I've been busy lately.  I'm taking a look at this-- it's a really interesting situation.  I'll read the thread and comment in a day or two.