I need some reality checks.
My only child now makes more than my wife and I ever did together. She married a year ago, they are planning kids and just made an offer on a house in an area that is unaffordable to us. They desperately want us to move close to them in the DC area. Our house in the Kansas City area will net us about $250K and that doesn't buy spit in Fairfax County. The problem isn't the buildings, it's the land. Lots can be a half a million.
So we are faced with a dilemma. We can life farther out where our money buys more.... or.... I had this idea which I have not broached with them.
The house they made an offer on is on a 1 acre lot. My daughter thinks it would be a good idea for them to just give us a piece of that and let us build. I think it would mess up the property. After all, a lot of the value in the house is in the land.
I noticed that they have kind of a crappy detached garage. I'm thinking that we could take our money, tear down that garage and put in a carriage house. The main house is 150 years old so a carriage house might go over ok with the "Historical Architectural Review Board" in Falls Church.
If I were to do this, there would be a 3 car garage below and our living quarters above. I'm thinking something like this:
http://www.thehouseplanshop.com/053g-0018.php
But then my idea is to also put in a basement. We could use something like Spancrete pre-cast forms.
So, I know I'm crazy. Am I stupid too? There would be some huge upsides:
-- Living close to my kid and grandkids
-- a 1200 sq ft shop
-- great area. We consider it a big upgrade.
-- Enhances the main property value
-- Doesn't subtract substantially from the lot
-- Living close to my kid and grandkids
A downside is that we would be giving up square feet. Our current house is about 2500 sq feet but we have long known that we really don't use a lot of it. We aren't formal living and dining people. The living room is an office an the dining room has the Bowflex. We still have one guest bedroom but the others are an office for me and a storage room for some antiques.
We think we can live just fine in about a thousand square feet.
I know there are plenty of hurdles:
-- The social risks of moving onto the same property as your kid.
-- How do you sever the relationship and move?
-- Getting past architectural review
-- Zoning
All those aside, is this doable? How much more money would I have to kick in? The house plan site estimates that I can build the carriage house on a slab for 150-200K. The basement is the big unknown.
What would it cost to excavate a basement and put a garage floor over it compared to a slab?
Thanks to all,
Roger