Expanding house for more sq ft? Tips?

[picture_shooter]

Hey guys,
I come to ask if anyone here owns an older home and done any expanding to the sq ft of your homes?
Recently my dad passed and low be hold, my mother really has nothing to collect as all she get is his Social-Security. The military retirement goes away and all my mother has in their 1982 home.

With that being said, my mother (which is elder and cannot work) has asked if we could break our current rent-lease and move in with her and make sure that her home will not go in default, BUT also to be closer to her as she is very lonely by herself and she actually lives about 20 miles away from us.

Getting a little personal, all the SS pays for is the mortgage. She has money saved, but soon I am sure it'll run out.
I do honestly want to help her all that I can. Also to know that her home is very close of being paid off.

The town where she lives and my commute to work everyday is the same distance from where I am at now, so no harm done there. :T

My only concern is the size of her home for our family to move in with her.
The house is only a 3bd, 1 living room and 2 bath home along with a 2-car garage. The total square foot per cad is little over 1330 sq ft (interior). This is for a total of 5-people living in it (3 adults and 2-children).

The property lot size is the GEM here. It is not your typical 50'x120' lot. This lot is 3 times that, wooded and corner lot (give and take 1/2 acre). Has no neighbors behind and it's a very, very quite neighborhood.

There is a good amount of equity that can be borrowed to update / upgrade the home to give more space.
With all this being said, I was wondering whom all here has done, complete, upgraded to expand your home living space?

Assuming that I go forward with this idea, I would have to build going towards the back of this house as I would like to add another Master-Bedroom, master bath, extend the kitchen and add a dedicated theater room.

This is a one-story home and I have never done or attempted to do something like this. As for adding new sq ft and pouring of the foundation. I would love to add an additional 1200 sq ft og living space to it going towards to back of the home as the front and sides of the home is 3-sided brick and the back is hardy plank siding, which would be much easier to work with.

*Remember this is a 1982 home and nothing has be up to date (yea, my parents are old fashion, lol).

Both wife and I are really up to date style folks and love a more modern to date interior styling. As I love the look of this home / ranch style (in the front). I do not want to mess with the front side or expanding it that way.

So my question is, any idea what something like this would cost if we got a contractor to proceed forward with our planned goal if we were to move in w/ mom's?

Should I get with a local architect and have them go over the original home floor plan to see what could be done?
As you see, I have no idea what the steps of doing something like this:unbelievable::doh:
Thanks for any input as I have no idea where to start

Thanks

 

[TLS Guy]

Hey guys,
I come to ask if anyone here owns an older home and done any expanding to the sq ft of your homes?
Recently my dad passed and low be hold, my mother really has nothing to collect as all she get is his Social-Security. The military retirement goes away and all my mother has in their 1982 home.

With that being said, my mother (which is elder and cannot work) has asked if we could break our current rent-lease and move in with her and make sure that her home will not go in default, BUT also to be closer to her as she is very lonely by herself and she actually lives about 20 miles away from us.

Getting a little personal, all the SS pays for is the mortgage. She has money saved, but soon I am sure it'll run out.
I do honestly want to help her all that I can. Also to know that her home is very close of being paid off.

The town where she lives and my commute to work everyday is the same distance from where I am at now, so no harm done there. :T

My only concern is the size of her home for our family to move in with her.
The house is only a 3bd, 1 living room and 2 bath home along with a 2-car garage. The total square foot per cad is little over 1330 sq ft (interior). This is for a total of 5-people living in it (3 adults and 2-children).

The property lot size is the GEM here. It is not your typical 50'x120' lot. This lot is 3 times that, wooded and corner lot (give and take 1/2 acre). Has no neighbors behind and it's a very, very quite neighborhood.

There is a good amount of equity that can be borrowed to update / upgrade the home to give more space.
With all this being said, I was wondering whom all here has done, complete, upgraded to expand your home living space?

Assuming that I go forward with this idea, I would have to build going towards the back of this house as I would like to add another Master-Bedroom, master bath, extend the kitchen and add a dedicated theater room.

This is a one-story home and I have never done or attempted to do something like this. As for adding new sq ft and pouring of the foundation. I would love to add an additional 1200 sq ft og living space to it going towards to back of the home as the front and sides of the home is 3-sided brick and the back is hardy plank siding, which would be much easier to work with.

*Remember this is a 1982 home and nothing has be up to date (yea, my parents are old fashion, lol).

Both wife and I are really up to date style folks and love a more modern to date interior styling. As I love the look of this home / ranch style (in the front). I do not want to mess with the front side or expanding it that way.

So my question is, any idea what something like this would cost if we got a contractor to proceed forward with our planned goal if we were to move in w/ mom's?

Should I get with a local architect and have them go over the original home floor plan to see what could be done?
As you see, I have no idea what the steps of doing something like this:unbelievable::doh:
Thanks for any input as I have no idea where to start

Thanks

You will need professional help, if you have never done this before.

The cost to build $1200 sq ft will be about $130,000 finished. However the cost of adding to existing construction will be higher. Since I have no idea where the utilities come in and other issues, you probably need to add another $30,000 to $60,000 depending on your situation.

Adding space is seldom cost effective, but done because you like the area/situation.

Generally it is cheaper to sell and buy a bigger place.

 

[XEagleDriver]

Some ideas

Recently my dad passed and low be hold, my mother really has nothing to collect as all she get is his Social-Security. The military retirement goes away and all my mother has in their 1982 home.

With that being said, my mother (which is elder and cannot work) has asked if we could break our current rent-lease and move in with her and make sure that her home will not go in default, BUT also to be closer to her as she is very lonely by herself and she actually lives about 20 miles away from us.

Getting a little personal, all the SS pays for is the mortgage. She has money saved, but soon I am sure it'll run out.
I do honestly want to help her all that I can. Also to know that her home is very close of being paid off.

My only concern is the size of her home for our family to move in with her.
The house is only a 3bd, 1 living room and 2 bath home along with a 2-car garage. The total square foot per cad is little over 1330 sq ft (interior). This is for a total of 5-people living in it (3 adults and 2-children).

The property lot size is the GEM here. It is not your typical 50'x120' lot. This lot is 3 times that, wooded and corner lot (give and take 1/2 acre). Has no neighbors behind and it's a very, very quite neighborhood.

There is a good amount of equity that can be borrowed to update / upgrade the home to give more space.
With all this being said, I was wondering whom all here has done, complete, upgraded to expand your home living space?

Assuming that I go forward with this idea, I would have to build going towards the back of this house as I would like to add another Master-Bedroom, master bath, extend the kitchen and add a dedicated theater room.

This is a one-story home and I have never done or attempted to do something like this. As for adding new sq ft and pouring of the foundation. I would love to add an additional 1200 sq ft og living space to it going towards to back of the home as the front and sides of the home is 3-sided brick and the back is hardy plank siding, which would be much easier to work with.

*Remember this is a 1982 home and nothing has be up to date (yea, my parents are old fashion, lol).

Both wife and I are really up to date style folks and love a more modern to date interior styling. As I love the look of this home / ranch style (in the front). I do not want to mess with the front side or expanding it that way.

So my question is, any idea what something like this would cost if we got a contractor to proceed forward with our planned goal if we were to move in w/ mom's?

Should I get with a local architect and have them go over the original home floor plan to see what could be done?
As you see, I have no idea what the steps of doing something like this:unbelievable::doh:
Thanks for any input as I have no idea where to start

Shooter,

First off, my condolences for the passing of your father. Mine died in 2009 and it is no picnic.

This could be an outstanding solution if done right, but there are several pitfalls to watch out for.

Thoughts on your project in no particular order:

1) Ensure the wife and kids are completely on-board with the idea/move/arrangement before committing. Understand and account for the impact on them (new schools, old friends, having Grandma around a couple times a week vs every day, etc.)
- In my case, my Father-in-Law could live with us forever no problem, my own Mom, not so much.

2) Have a sit down with your Mom, wife and a lawyer to outline a written legal agreement on how the finances will work;
- Who pays the project costs?
- Who pays the overruns (it will cost more than the plan!!)?
- How will living expenses be divided?
- What are your legal rights (a tenant, a co-owner?)?
- What is the plan if Mom needs money for medical expenses in the out years (sell her only major financial asset which is now your families home)?
- What is the inheritance plan vis-a-vis any brothers/sisters (you don't want your family "evicted" when Mom passes)?
- Family and money without an agreed upon plan, codified in a signed written agreement is a set up for trouble down the road. (Daughter graduates from law school in a week, I've been listening )

3) Between your Mom, wife, and yourself; you will need to decide if y'all want one common living space, or more like two separate living spaces connected together in one structure by a breezeway or similar architectural device.
- Two spaces may provide more privacy and sanity space for both you and Mom

4) Strongly consider putting the addition on a separate HVAC zone (i.e. two zones: 1 for original house and 2nd for the addition) to allow for different preferences on temperature.
- Older folks are more heat/cold sensitive and your family may get very annoyed if forced to live at Grandma's settings.
- Probably more cost effective to do 2-zones anyway.

5) Get permits for everything -- it is one of the few consumer protections you have with construction additions. Any contractor who does not want to "bother" with getting them is waving a BIG red flag! (Run, Luke Run)

6) A project of this magnitude needs an architect and probably an interior designer to help design the right living space.

7) Interview several contractors when the time comes; check references, verify licenses.
- Pretty easy to get scammed if not very careful.

8) Don't accept a payment schedule which places most of the risk on you.

I am sure I have only scratched the surface, sorry for any rambling.

Post or PM a floorplan of the original structure if you would like more ideas.

Best of Luck,
XEagleDriver

 

[Kai]

Whew interesting times.
Is the house being deeded to you?
As has just been asked...are you just a tenant?...if so I'd not put a penny in it.
Have you considered your mother selling the house and moving closer to you perhaps into an elder housing community?
If you just move in and the house is not yours what happens if/when you mother passes or is no longer able to care for herself and needs professional services? Do you have to move?

 

[picture_shooter]

XeagleDriver –

Thank you for your input. “We” do greatly appreciate it for sure!!

Our plan imho is very simple and my mom is simple. Basically I would want my mother to live free off us. Kind of like treating my mom as one of my kids and just to be there and care for her. I do not want to charge her for rent, as my main objective before this was to build a home to fit our family including my mother before she brought up this suggestion.

I have no idea what it would cost or actually to start. I did go to BBB website and found a local contractor that is “A” rated by BBB and I have them scheduled to come out and see if there is potential to go forward. The guy did suggestion that we’ll need to hire an architect to help design and draw up plans and this again, I have no idea if it is worth doing so.

Sometimes I just wonder if we should just PLOW down the whole dang house and have home builder come out and put one of their homes on it.
I am not rich and just a middle income family trying to increase my 401k (lol).
From what I hear, to add maybe 1000 sq ft towards the back of the home along w/ new foundation it can / will exceed up to $100k
Heck if that is the case, I may as well PLOW the current home down, go with a builder like Wilshire Homes and get a 2200+ sq ft home for 180K. lol!!
I guess we will see what this contractor says this Saturday.

Thanks all

Oh, as for the home, my mom is not going to sock it to me if I was to build. She always done everything for our family and she’s a very family / traditional lady that wants us to be there with her. She misses my dad, which they been married for over 38 yrs and all my dad did was bust his rear-tail to support us. In return, I promised my Pop’s I will take care of MOMMA and of course he told me to do so, btw (as a reminder). So I got to do what is right

 

[its phillip]

Good luck with whatever you do. In my opinion it would make much more sense to just build/buy a new home large enough for all...but I dunno how much it would cost to demolish and cart away the old one.

 

[TLS Guy]

XeagleDriver –

Thank you for your input. “We” do greatly appreciate it for sure!!

Our plan imho is very simple and my mom is simple. Basically I would want my mother to live free off us. Kind of like treating my mom as one of my kids and just to be there and care for her. I do not want to charge her for rent, as my main objective before this was to build a home to fit our family including my mother before she brought up this suggestion.

I have no idea what it would cost or actually to start. I did go to BBB website and found a local contractor that is “A” rated by BBB and I have them scheduled to come out and see if there is potential to go forward. The guy did suggestion that we’ll need to hire an architect to help design and draw up plans and this again, I have no idea if it is worth doing so.

Sometimes I just wonder if we should just PLOW down the whole dang house and have home builder come out and put one of their homes on it.
I am not rich and just a middle income family trying to increase my 401k (lol).
From what I hear, to add maybe 1000 sq ft towards the back of the home along w/ new foundation it can / will exceed up to $100k
Heck if that is the case, I may as well PLOW the current home down, go with a builder like Wilshire Homes and get a 2200+ sq ft home for 180K. lol!!
I guess we will see what this contractor says this Saturday.

Thanks all

Oh, as for the home, my mom is not going to sock it to me if I was to build. She always done everything for our family and she’s a very family / traditional lady that wants us to be there with her. She misses my dad, which they been married for over 38 yrs and all my dad did was bust his rear-tail to support us. In return, I promised my Pop’s I will take care of MOMMA and of course he told me to do so, btw (as a reminder). So I got to do what is right

Demo cost will be higher than you think.

In this market you really want to avoid new construction. Prices are still correcting and and will drop lower. You are much better off buying an existing home and selling your mother's from a financial standpoint.

New construction can not compete with existing construction in most markets.

If you add to your mothers home and or knock it over, then you had better be certain you will live in it for a long time. Real estate is not a liquid asset at all. If you think you might have to move for a job, or your job security is not cast iron then rent.

In the current market your house will start loosing money as soon as you move in. The Condo we bought in Eagan MN has lost $40,000 since I bought it less than three years ago. So that is loosing value at nearly $1200 per month.

My lake home dropped in value $79,000 in 2010 alone. That is around $6,500 per month.

So real estate is a bad investment.

For the next few months interest rates will be very low. I expect them to start to rise fast during the latter part of the year.

So you can see why the banks are not very enthusiastic about writing home loans at the moment. Because of the severe deflation in home prices, the banks obviously want large down payments, so people are not inclined to walk away from a mortgage, which they have been doing in huge numbers.

So although you need adequate housing all of this makes it very difficult, especially when opinions on how much more correction there will be is all over the map. Personally I think it will be at least another 20% correction and might go as high as another 30%.

The other problem is, that as Warren Buffet is always warning, you can not predict a bottom on any market, and that includes housing. You can only recognize a bottom in retrospect.

I think the bottom in the housing market will be prolonged however.

Bottom line: - if you can sell your mother's house and rent for the time being you will probably be further ahead.

The next best would be buying a home out of foreclosure (about 60% of all sales now). However make sure you buy it really cheep and properly estimate cost to refurbish. You have to be patient, it generally takes about 6 months to complete a foreclosure sale.

I think in a few years close to half or most will be renters. An Eastern private equity company just bought $70,000,000 of condos in the Twin Cities. They are banking on the bet, there will be lots of demand for rental units in the years to come.

 

[picture_shooter]

Hi TLS -

Thank you for the prompt and informative information.
I am not sure if you know, but I am located in Austin, TX. Which honestly the market here is not in hurt and anything that is even consists of short-sale / foreclosure in all honesty is picked up extremely quick

Unlike the saturated market in Mid-West, we down in the South are not effected as much and a whole as an economy.
But I could be wrong, but from what I shopped when I almost closed on a recent home purchase, there were no problems for someone else to pick up the lot I almost purchased

Today, I did get one contractor in. I told him what I wanted and what I was willing to spend (high cap price). He took some measurements and the next appointment he wanted was to get his architect to come out and get a design, but then said it will be a $500 visit. I shook his hand and told him I will keep them in mind.
I will not for one be taken on money upfront for no idea if what I desired to be done can be done at my price. Regardless if they bring in their mighty fine architect for a fee. I don't want to deal with practices like that.

I have two more contractors coming out this week and I told them if they cannot / feel they could deliver, I don't want their business. So they accepted and we'll see what's up.

All I know is I got a max equity amount and am basically willing to pay the contractors. If they can / will accept, then I will proceed.

If none of it is a go, I did ask my mom to consider leasing out her home and she live with us for the rest of our lease and by next JULY when I can buy, I will be getting what I want for my future home purchase. The home I am in now is a lease and its 3-bd rooms, but has two living rooms and is plenty of room for my mother the crash with us and she gets income from the leasers from her property if she does accept.

I really do not want her to sell the home as I look at maybe a future investment to rent it out (if this is the case). In today market, If we were to sell it, she would get back what she bought it for back in 2000. No way am I wanting to do that as this home is almost paid off.
So we'll see what happens next to decide if we shall expand the home, or have momma live with us until I decide to buy our next bigger house.

Thanks again.

 

[TLS Guy]

Hi TLS -

Thank you for the prompt and informative information.
I am not sure if you know, but I am located in Austin, TX. Which honestly the market here is not in hurt and anything that is even consists of short-sale / foreclosure in all honesty is picked up extremely quick

Unlike the saturated market in Mid-West, we down in the South are not effected as much and a whole as an economy.
But I could be wrong, but from what I shopped when I almost closed on a recent home purchase, there were no problems for someone else to pick up the lot I almost purchased

Today, I did get one contractor in. I told him what I wanted and what I was willing to spend (high cap price). He took some measurements and the next appointment he wanted was to get his architect to come out and get a design, but then said it will be a $500 visit. I shook his hand and told him I will keep them in mind.
I will not for one be taken on money upfront for no idea if what I desired to be done can be done at my price. Regardless if they bring in their mighty fine architect for a fee. I don't want to deal with practices like that.

I have two more contractors coming out this week and I told them if they cannot / feel they could deliver, I don't want their business. So they accepted and we'll see what's up.

All I know is I got a max equity amount and am basically willing to pay the contractors. If they can / will accept, then I will proceed.

If none of it is a go, I did ask my mom to consider leasing out her home and she live with us for the rest of our lease and by next JULY when I can buy, I will be getting what I want for my future home purchase. The home I am in now is a lease and its 3-bd rooms, but has two living rooms and is plenty of room for my mother the crash with us and she gets income from the leasers from her property if she does accept.

I really do not want her to sell the home as I look at maybe a future investment to rent it out (if this is the case). In today market, If we were to sell it, she would get back what she bought it for back in 2000. No way am I wanting to do that as this home is almost paid off.
So we'll see what happens next to decide if we shall expand the home, or have momma live with us until I decide to buy our next bigger house.

Thanks again.

Its a very good idea to rent your mother's home.

Texas is one of the few slightly brighter spots, but I don't know if it will stay immune. You obviously have had a correction, as your prices are at 2000 levels according to you. We are at 2002/2001 levels hers and falling.

If you do do a remodel and extension you will need an architect. Don't let a builder get going without one.

The contractor does not employ the architect, and the architect has to be paid.

If you do an extension, the architect has to be employed and paid before the work can be bid.

My daughter is an architect and an interior designer. However everybody seems to think architects should work for free, so she has changed careers.

So that was waste of my money. That is an expensive university program.

All another indication we are headed for the third world.

Before you leap, you might consider this.

This correspondent's thoughtfull post is I feel right on target.

gussiefink
04/23/2011 10:51 PM
Recommended by
128 people

There is an economic imbalance in the world. The US and most of the western nations are net debtors and the Chinese and other export led nations are net creditors. This imbalance is reflected in huge, principally Chinese, foreign exchange reserves, largely held in dollars.

What happens to those foreign exchange reserves if the dollar becomes worthless? They become worthless as well. In other words a decade of work and wealth accumulation by the Chinese disappears. It is not dissimilar to a contractor who works on a rich man's house, and accepts his post dated cheques as payment, on the basis that he is working for a rich man. When the contractor comes to cash the cheques and finds that they are dishonoured, he discovers that he has spent the past decade working for nothing.

So what are the Chinese to do? The can attempt to convert some of their dollar reserves into commodities, oil, copper, gold, silver etc. But if they follow that strategy too aggressively, they will push up the price of those commodities, which is already happening, and so fuel their domestic inflation. They can attempt to diversify into other currencies, particularly Euros, but that is merely a case of out of the frying pan, into the fire. If they stop buying US Treasuries, they hasten the demise of the dollar, and in turn hasten the time when their own reserves become worthless.

Even if the US were to suddenly become virtuous and address its deficit spending in a serious way, which seems highly unlikely, then the Chinese would find that the principle market for their exports would evaporate, and with it the employment hopes of millions of Chinese citizens. The Chinese have no interest in that happening, so they have no option but to continue to play the game, attempting to prop up the debtor nations as best they can, buying Greek or Spanish debt here, or US Treasuries there.

The Chinese's best policy option would be to take equity stakes in US and European corporations which would not have a direct inflationary effect, but this may be politically difficult - the speed of the dollar's demise means that they have only a limited time frame in which to operate.

In my opinion, the most likely scenario is that the Federal Reserve will continue to print, and the dollar will trend to zero. Dollar priced commodities will inexorably rise in price, triggering massive inflation in the US and when all confidence is lost in the dollar, hyperinflation. At that point, a decade of wealth creation, represented by Chinese and other creditor nations’ dollar reserves will be extinguished, and the depression, which had been temporarily postponed by bailouts and Quantitative Easing will follow.

We are in very uncertain times to say the least.

 

[highfigh]

Hey guys,
I come to ask if anyone here owns an older home and done any expanding to the sq ft of your homes?
Recently my dad passed and low be hold, my mother really has nothing to collect as all she get is his Social-Security. The military retirement goes away and all my mother has in their 1982 home.

With that being said, my mother (which is elder and cannot work) has asked if we could break our current rent-lease and move in with her and make sure that her home will not go in default, BUT also to be closer to her as she is very lonely by herself and she actually lives about 20 miles away from us.

Getting a little personal, all the SS pays for is the mortgage. She has money saved, but soon I am sure it'll run out.
I do honestly want to help her all that I can. Also to know that her home is very close of being paid off.

The town where she lives and my commute to work everyday is the same distance from where I am at now, so no harm done there. :T

My only concern is the size of her home for our family to move in with her.
The house is only a 3bd, 1 living room and 2 bath home along with a 2-car garage. The total square foot per cad is little over 1330 sq ft (interior). This is for a total of 5-people living in it (3 adults and 2-children).

The property lot size is the GEM here. It is not your typical 50'x120' lot. This lot is 3 times that, wooded and corner lot (give and take 1/2 acre). Has no neighbors behind and it's a very, very quite neighborhood.

There is a good amount of equity that can be borrowed to update / upgrade the home to give more space.
With all this being said, I was wondering whom all here has done, complete, upgraded to expand your home living space?

Assuming that I go forward with this idea, I would have to build going towards the back of this house as I would like to add another Master-Bedroom, master bath, extend the kitchen and add a dedicated theater room.

This is a one-story home and I have never done or attempted to do something like this. As for adding new sq ft and pouring of the foundation. I would love to add an additional 1200 sq ft og living space to it going towards to back of the home as the front and sides of the home is 3-sided brick and the back is hardy plank siding, which would be much easier to work with.

*Remember this is a 1982 home and nothing has be up to date (yea, my parents are old fashion, lol).

Both wife and I are really up to date style folks and love a more modern to date interior styling. As I love the look of this home / ranch style (in the front). I do not want to mess with the front side or expanding it that way.

So my question is, any idea what something like this would cost if we got a contractor to proceed forward with our planned goal if we were to move in w/ mom's?

Should I get with a local architect and have them go over the original home floor plan to see what could be done?
As you see, I have no idea what the steps of doing something like this:unbelievable::doh:
Thanks for any input as I have no idea where to start

Thanks

Remodeling costs more/sq ft than building because of the "disassemble before starting" part. If you decide to go this route, make sure to decide what stays before starting because add-ons and changes when it's already in progress costs even more. Change orders are often $350 each, on top of the cost of the labor & materials. Don't think you can start small with the remodel and add on as you go without sending the cost sky high- this will take a lot longer and can double or even triple the total cost of the project. You'll also have to determine whether you'll stay in the house or move out during construction (moving out is actually not a bad idea, because they won't have to spend time cleaning up every day just so you can come home and that can take a couple of man hours/day, at whatever the prevailing wage is and at $35/hr, the $70/day could go to better uses).

If you know she has a good amount of equity in the home and can find something nearby that will fit your needs with everyone living in it, it may not be a bad idea to sell but without knowing your local housing market (if it's like many other places, it will take quite a while to sell unless the house is exceptionally nice), our opinions aren't worth as much as if they came from someone who does know. If you can find a foreclosed house that's larger, you may come out ahead.

 

[highfigh]

Its a very good idea to rent your mother's home.

Texas is one of the few slightly brighter spots, but I don't know if it will stay immune. You obviously have had a correction, as your prices are at 2000 levels according to you. We are at 2002/2001 levels hers and falling.

If you do do a remodel and extension you will need an architect. Don't let a builder get going without one.

The contractor does not employ the architect, and the architect has to be paid.

If you do an extension, the architect has to be employed and paid before the work can be bid.

My daughter is an architect and an interior designer. However everybody seems to think architects should work for free, so she has changed careers.

So that was waste of my money. That is an expensive university program.

All another indication we are headed for the third world.

Before you leap, you might consider this.

This correspondent's thoughtfull post is I feel right on target.

gussiefink
04/23/2011 10:51 PM
Recommended by
128 people


We are in very uncertain times to say the least.

Your daughter could have gone into commercial design, if she was interested in that area (and that segment of the construction industry hasn't dried up). I originally went to school for architecture and decided that I didn't want to do that when I heard how much they made at the time and what they need to endure, especially in residential design. I have friends who do industrial/commercial/government design projects and they're much happier. None of them would consider doing residential on a regular basis and don't even like them as side jobs. Being in my field and dealing with long, drawn-out residential remodels, I know exactly why they don't want to do them and it's making me want to set a lot of rules for how I get paid and when I should actually be doing my work.

Where is she located? I can call a friend who's with a really large firm and they're usually looking for good architects.
http://www.burnsmcd.com/portal/page/portal/Internet

 

[TLS Guy]

Your daughter could have gone into commercial design, if she was interested in that area (and that segment of the construction industry hasn't dried up). I originally went to school for architecture and decided that I didn't want to do that when I heard how much they made at the time and what they need to endure, especially in residential design. I have friends who do industrial/commercial/government design projects and they're much happier. None of them would consider doing residential on a regular basis and don't even like them as side jobs. Being in my field and dealing with long, drawn-out residential remodels, I know exactly why they don't want to do them and it's making me want to set a lot of rules for how I get paid and when I should actually be doing my work.

Where is she located? I can call a friend who's with a really large firm and they're usually looking for good architects.
http://www.burnsmcd.com/portal/page/portal/Internet

She is in the Twin Cities. She did very little residential work, almost all commercial. With the recession that all dried up and too many of her clients went belly up and she had some large unpaid accounts that put her and her partner out of business.

She has now landed a good job at Pixel Digital as there business development manageable. With this adventure she has rolled her business that helped firms negotiate the social media side of their businesses into Pixel Farm.

A pity she is a very good architect. She does not plan to go back to it.

She did our remodel here.

That is a few views of a couple of the spaces.

 

[picture_shooter]

Many thanks to the both of you for the thoughts, ideas and concerns.

As I went on ahead and decided that we'll just have an Estate sale on her items at the house and try to sell or lease the house instead. As much as I think of it, I really want to stay in the town I reside at.

I did learn a few things and thats is to purchase a home w/ all our needs (style / size).
I am really not a yard man or love having huge lot / property as the more I have, the more water and cutting I have to do.

Again, thank you greatly!!