How to Add an Addition to Your Home 

Methods for Adding a Home Addition with More Value & Lower cost 

"A Home addition isn't an expense, it is an investment"

                                                                 To get started:

                                                    1. You will need enough space between your home & your property lines. There is no sense even starting unless you are reasonably sure you will not encroach on your property lines. Either call the zoning department or ask any home addition contractor & they will fill you in quickly.

2. You will need to know how to design your home addition or have someone help you. It is not difficult but you may need some help. Most homeowners do a great job by themselves.

3. You will need to learn how you are going to finance your addition. Home equity loans can sometimes be enough. Sometimes the contractor can help you with great financing.

4. You will need to plan in detail exactly what you want to build.

5. You will need building plans & permits.

6. Either hire a general contractor to execute or help with the above pelliminaries & then build the addition.

  or

Build some of the addition & contract the rest of the work -A Do-itYourself addition.

7. You will need a Certificate of Occupancy & an Underwriters Certificate. Not difficult but necessary.

That is all the learning necessary to begin.

You will have access to everything you need to know on this web site.  Some of the information is free, some is not. Building a home addition can get pretty complicated to the uninitiated & I have tried to lay out everything that you should know before embarking on a project that will take several weeks (& a bunch of money) to complete. It's not difficlut but you really need some sort of a guide & some step by step direction to make it less expensive & add more value to your home.

You have a need

At least one of your rooms is too small, like a bedroom, kitchen or dining room. Perhaps one of the rooms is missing altogether, like a den, family room, home office or bathroom. You can say this about most houses. There is almost always something in your house that you want either added or made larger than it is now. Your kids are crowded, you & your husband could use another closet, a little peace & quiet in a home office would be nice. There is no end to what you want or need.

Some of you will need help

Many homeowners just don't know where to start. "Who do I call first, a contractor, the building department? "I wonder if I have enough rear yard or side yard clearance" How much is this thing going to cost? How big should I build the addition. Maybe a dormer would be better than going out. I wonder how much the payments would be?" These are just a few of the questions milling around your head & they all need answers.

Now that I am retired I can help you add a home addition, or extend an existing room. It will probably take a little more knowledge than you have now. I'll lay it all out for you & show you how it is done. You are going to find that you can build an addition for less money than you think.

I am not trying to sell you home additions. I did that for twenty five years. What I learned during that time is that most homeowners don't have a clue about how to buy a home addition. It is usually a one time thing & almost no one has any experience doing it.....except the contractor.

Make intelligent decisions

For 25 years I watched people making bad decisions buying a home addition only because there was no one to guide them through the remodeling process. I ran my own contracting business so I can tell you from experience that some contractors do not always have your best interests in mind when they are trying to sell you a room addition.The biggest problem homeowners have to overcome is complacency.

Buy it for less

Wouldn't you love to know that you bought your home addition for the lowest price available? That is what you will learn to do by reading any one of my ebooks. I will guide you through the
process step by step. There will be no contractor issues & probably none of those dreaded extras everyone wants to avoid. You will get an insider look at contractor secrets & see how the business works.

Add more value to your home

It will become very clear that you can make considerable savings & build a better looking home addition.

If you take the time to plan, design a home addition & choose a contractor carefully, you can reduce the costs considerably.
Take a look at my e-books that describe how to plan & design several types of room additions. I guarantee you savings of at least hundreds of dollars & probably much more. "If I were you" ebooks are a guide to a successful room addition on your home. I explain everything I have learned, to help homeowners buy a better addition at a lower cost.

See what goes on behind the scenes

I'll give you a peek inside the home addition contracting business & how to avoid costly design decisions. Read about how to get started with a new home addition. You will be glad you did.

If you want to do your home addition right, plus save a bunch of money, then my best advice is this: 
There are two basic ways to get an addition built onto your home. Either you have a general contractor do all the work from start to finish or, you can build some work & have individual contractors complete the rest of the construction.
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