ᐅ Bungalow – Two floors with a large footprint / three floors with a smaller footprint?
Created on: 1 Mar 2016 12:42
D
Darkwarrior
Hello everyone,
I wanted to ask in the forum if anyone has experience in a situation similar to mine or if you have any ideas or suggestions.
We are currently facing the following situation: We live in a single-family house (bungalow style) and want to build an extension for our parents on the neighboring plot (which we already own and is designated as building land). To keep a consistent overall appearance for the entire property, only the bungalow style really makes sense here – a pitched roof would look odd since the large building would then have two different roof types.
Our house is located on a hillside, so it has only one ground floor and a basement. On the street and hillside side, the basement is underground (no windows – cellar rooms), while on the other side, there are normal living spaces in the basement.
The extension is supposed to be built parallel to this, and we are currently in a very early planning stage, meaning we are brainstorming what could theoretically be done, so we can later check the feasibility.
Here is what we are thinking so far:
We could give the extension a floor plan of 10 x 13 meters (33 x 43 feet) which would result in about 130m² (1,399 sq ft) of living space on the ground floor regardless of wall thickness. The basement would include several cellar rooms and also living space on the hillside side – altogether, the total living area would be around 180m² to 190m² (1,938 to 2,045 sq ft).
This floor plan is quite large, so I assume that a flat roof of this size would be very expensive, and the basement would also be quite big. Therefore, I considered the following alternative:
Build with a smaller footprint, for example 10 x 8 meters (33 x 26 feet), but add an upper floor on top. Then, the ground floor and first floor combined would offer about 160m² (1,722 sq ft) of living space (again, simplified without walls), and the basement would be about 40m² (430 sq ft) – so all in all, you would roughly still end up just under 200m² (2,153 sq ft). However, the basement would be smaller and the flat roof area much smaller as well (80m² (861 sq ft) roof instead of 130m² (1,399 sq ft)).
Of course, we will discuss all our ideas with an architect in the coming months, but I’m already interested in a rough idea of the cost implications. While this adds a small upper floor, I believe there may be significant savings in the basement and roof.
With this in mind, my question: What are your thoughts on this? I would greatly appreciate sharing experiences!
PS: Construction costs are hard to estimate, but currently, we are planning roughly 275,000 (just for the build, not including land) based on 1,400 to 1,500 euros per square meter (about $1,580 to $1,700 per sq yd) for standard, non-luxury finishes. We might also do some small tasks ourselves as self-work. I would also welcome comments if anyone thinks this estimate is completely off base.
I wanted to ask in the forum if anyone has experience in a situation similar to mine or if you have any ideas or suggestions.
We are currently facing the following situation: We live in a single-family house (bungalow style) and want to build an extension for our parents on the neighboring plot (which we already own and is designated as building land). To keep a consistent overall appearance for the entire property, only the bungalow style really makes sense here – a pitched roof would look odd since the large building would then have two different roof types.
Our house is located on a hillside, so it has only one ground floor and a basement. On the street and hillside side, the basement is underground (no windows – cellar rooms), while on the other side, there are normal living spaces in the basement.
The extension is supposed to be built parallel to this, and we are currently in a very early planning stage, meaning we are brainstorming what could theoretically be done, so we can later check the feasibility.
Here is what we are thinking so far:
We could give the extension a floor plan of 10 x 13 meters (33 x 43 feet) which would result in about 130m² (1,399 sq ft) of living space on the ground floor regardless of wall thickness. The basement would include several cellar rooms and also living space on the hillside side – altogether, the total living area would be around 180m² to 190m² (1,938 to 2,045 sq ft).
This floor plan is quite large, so I assume that a flat roof of this size would be very expensive, and the basement would also be quite big. Therefore, I considered the following alternative:
Build with a smaller footprint, for example 10 x 8 meters (33 x 26 feet), but add an upper floor on top. Then, the ground floor and first floor combined would offer about 160m² (1,722 sq ft) of living space (again, simplified without walls), and the basement would be about 40m² (430 sq ft) – so all in all, you would roughly still end up just under 200m² (2,153 sq ft). However, the basement would be smaller and the flat roof area much smaller as well (80m² (861 sq ft) roof instead of 130m² (1,399 sq ft)).
Of course, we will discuss all our ideas with an architect in the coming months, but I’m already interested in a rough idea of the cost implications. While this adds a small upper floor, I believe there may be significant savings in the basement and roof.
With this in mind, my question: What are your thoughts on this? I would greatly appreciate sharing experiences!
PS: Construction costs are hard to estimate, but currently, we are planning roughly 275,000 (just for the build, not including land) based on 1,400 to 1,500 euros per square meter (about $1,580 to $1,700 per sq yd) for standard, non-luxury finishes. We might also do some small tasks ourselves as self-work. I would also welcome comments if anyone thinks this estimate is completely off base.
What I wonder is whether you can still finance the €275,000 if the construction cost estimate is roughly accurate. I’m not familiar enough with that myself.
Is your bungalow already paid off? Do your parents then pay you rent or do they pay off the house directly?
What happens if they are no longer around—would it still be affordable?
There are many points, but all should be taken into account...
Best regards
Is your bungalow already paid off? Do your parents then pay you rent or do they pay off the house directly?
What happens if they are no longer around—would it still be affordable?
There are many points, but all should be taken into account...
Best regards
D
Darkwarrior1 Mar 2016 23:01The parents are selling their house and contributing the proceeds to the new build, so we will probably only need a 100,000 loan from the bank. Our income situation is stable due to dual employment as a senior executive in finance and freelance work – therefore, financial planning and risk capacity are assured.
D
Darkwarrior1 Mar 2016 23:12This is why we actually want to proceed now. We expect to get a fairly good selling price for the old house at the current interest rate level, and thanks to the large equity contribution from the parents, we can arrange a mortgage that, in the best case, will have an interest rate of around 1.2% for 10 years. We will have to see how things develop over the summer. Due to the aggressive ECB policies and market uncertainty, which are currently driving interest rates even lower, we believe this is a very good time for refinancing.
I’m starting to think that these low interest rates might be the "new normal," but of course, no one knows if it might be different again in three years…
I’m starting to think that these low interest rates might be the "new normal," but of course, no one knows if it might be different again in three years…
Yes, I think acting now is not a bad idea. I personally also believe that interest rates will change little or even decrease over the next 4 to 5 years. But you never know, so here is my personal advice:
- Build new immediately (new financing)
- For refinancing an existing loan, either choose the maximum term right away or fix the rate for 5 years, then renegotiate until the end of the loan. As I said, I don’t expect interest rates to rise significantly, but they might fall again. However, this is speculation and should always be considered on an individual basis.
Best regards
- Build new immediately (new financing)
- For refinancing an existing loan, either choose the maximum term right away or fix the rate for 5 years, then renegotiate until the end of the loan. As I said, I don’t expect interest rates to rise significantly, but they might fall again. However, this is speculation and should always be considered on an individual basis.
Best regards
P
Peanuts744 Mar 2016 12:18I think it's quite risky to "neglect" the walls.
Our house has a footprint (including walls) of about 90m² (970 ft²), and with an open floor plan, we still only have around 70m² (753 ft²) of usable living space on the ground floor. The rest is taken up by the staircase and walls (36.5 cm / 14 inches outside, 17.5 cm / 7 inches inside).
Just to give you an idea: you can easily subtract about 20%.
Our house has a footprint (including walls) of about 90m² (970 ft²), and with an open floor plan, we still only have around 70m² (753 ft²) of usable living space on the ground floor. The rest is taken up by the staircase and walls (36.5 cm / 14 inches outside, 17.5 cm / 7 inches inside).
Just to give you an idea: you can easily subtract about 20%.