How/What to remodel for the best ROI?

[rhapsody]

In a couple of days I will become a first-time homeowner in Mira Mesa! I’m excited but so terrified at the same time. I’m ready to take on the challenge 🙂

My house is a 2 bed / 2 bath in a ~1600 sq ft house. I plan to live in the house and rent out the other room to help with my mortgage. I’m reaching out to the Piggington community to run 2 remodel options by you.

1. Convert 2 bed / 2 bath into 4 bed / 2 bath. In essence, split the rooms back into its original 4 bed configuration with ~100 sq ft rooms. I wonder whether it makes sense to convert big rooms back into the smaller rooms. I think I can get $700 rent per room per month (3 bedrooms = $2100 per month).

2. Keep the current rooms as it is. Sacrifice part of the family room (total 400 sq ft) which already has an outside door to the side of the house and a sliding patio door leading to the backyard to become an attached 1 bed / 1 bath. How much would it cost to build a bathroom (shower+toilet+sink) and a dry wall to separate it from the rest of the house without adding extra sq ft? Maybe keep a door between this area with the main house. One important note is that the house has slab foundation. ($1000 for the attached 1 bed / 1 bath and $800 for the main house guest bedroom).

Looking forward to your guidance!!

[no_such_reality]

First congratulations.

Third option, if the 2/2 remodel has been done well, can you get a better rent and more importantly, better live in tenant with the larger room, semi-private bath. ( I’m assuming the 2nd bath is common area/ 2nd bedroom.

Hard to say without seeing the house, I’ve seen a lot of older ranch style homes that had 4/2 configs in around 1500/1600. Some where really nice and other felt horridly cramped. A lot depends on how open the rest of the plan is and how much space was wasted on hallway and common room tramsitions.

As for the 4/2 with three roomies, might feel a little dorm roomie with that many sharing a bath.

Speaking of which, what is your target market for the tenant/roomies?

Not a fan of your #2 option sounds piecemeal which will detract from resale and good tenants. I’d stick with the as is if down well, or revert to original 4 bedroom config if it can be done well.

[gzz]

Are rents really that high that people would pay $700/mo for a very small bedroom and shared bathroom in Mira Mesa? Probably not I’d guess, I know there are still 2/1 places by the beach for $1400, and then the kitchen is only shared between 2 people.

Did you save all that money so you could live in house with a kitchen shared with 3 adults and a bathroom shared with a stranger?

Get one roommate. The quality of your one roommate who has his own bathroom is also going to be higher, with less stress for you, than trying to have three of them there.

The single highest return on investment on home renovations is supposedly replacing an ugly front door with a nice new one. Is your front door already newer and nice?

[gzz]

“How much would it cost to build a bathroom (shower+toilet+sink) and a dry wall to separate it from the rest of the house without adding extra sq ft?”

Purchase and installation of a *cheap* shower, toilet and sink is about $1500 and drywall and electrical around it another $1500. Not expensive at all.

The bigger issues are getting the water and sewer pipes there without running them through living spaces, and getting the city permits for everything.

Maybe you should start with some less ambitious projects like repainting the outside of the house, replacing gutters and installing a rain barrel, and making the landscaping beautiful.

[Author]

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