The average home has everything you need to go about your daily life. It’s got a bedroom where you and your loved ones can sleep. A kitchen where you can prepare meals. And a bathroom where you can… well, you know.
But what about everything you want?
One of the great things about being a homeowner is being able to modify the existing structure to accommodate your personality and interests. Do you enjoy sitting with a hot cup of tea, watching the wind blow through the trees? You can put in a sunroom. Does your family enjoy outdoor activities such as boating, bicycling, or riding ATVs? You can make space for such vehicles by building a larger garage.
The list of home addition ideas available to you is limited only by your imagination. Well, that and your budget. Fortunately, Homeowner Funding makes it easy to make the renovations you want without breaking the bank. We may even be able to help you find grants and other funding resources that will allow you to finance home improvements without any cost to you.
If you’ve been thinking about building an addition on your property, reach out to Homeowner Funding now and let us help.
What is a Home Addition?
In technical terms, a home addition is any modification and revision to an existing area of a property to with the goal of making it more inhabitable or increasing space. This, in turn, usually raises the home’s resale value, which makes building an addition a great way of investing in a property you plan to sell later.
What Are Some Common Types of Home Additions?
Home additions come in many different shapes and sizes, and they can serve a wide variety of purposes. Below, you’ll find a short list of some of the most popular kinds of home additions today, but it’s worth keeping in mind that these are just a few examples. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box when planning your own home addition.
Common home additions include:
- An extended garage for storage of cars and other vehicles
- A sunroom for relaxing or even entertaining family and friends
- A dormer loft for additional living space or for guest stays
- A greenhouse for growing plants, flowers, fruits, or vegetables
- An exterior deck or porch for hosting outdoor get-togethers
3 Important Steps to Planning a Home Addition
1. Calculate Your Construction Budget
One of the first steps to planning a home addition should always be to settle on your budget. How much money you have at your disposal goes a long way towards determining what you can and cannot build.
Financing a home addition can be an expensive prospect, no matter what your monthly bank account statement looks like. It’s a good idea to consider alternative funding sources other than your own income. Government grants and home improvement loans are some of the best ways of increasing your budget easily and affordably.
Remember to factor in not just the cost of labor and materials, but also permits, landscaping, furniture, and decor. The last thing you want when planning a home addition is to run into hidden costs you forgot to account for.
2. Create a Comprehensive Game Plan
After you’ve figured out how much money you have for your home addition project, you can begin working on the designs and details of the project itself. In this case, the more you plan ahead, the better shape you’ll be in once construction starts.
First, ask yourself what your home addition is for. Is it purely to increase your square footage? Are you hoping to add value to the property? Is it for storage? Work? Leisure? Next, consider where on your property the addition should go. How much space do you need? Will you need to knock down walls or install doors? Are there electrical or plumbing issues to worry about? How big will the addition be? How will the design mesh with the neighborhood’s aesthetic?
These and other questions can be difficult to answer all on your own. It helps to have an experiencing contractor from Homeowner Funding by your side.
3. Choose Your Architect & Contractor
Unless you want to try to design and build the addition yourself (not recommended!), you will need to employ the services of an architect and building contractors. Don’t wait; the sooner you begin working with an experienced architect and contractor, the sooner you can get the kind of expert advice necessary to make the most of your addition. After all, no one wants to spend days or even weeks planning the perfect home addition only to find out the project is unfeasible.
Not only will the architect and contractors be able to assess and reconfigure your plans if needed, but they can also help you determine the best materials and strategies for the addition you have in mind.
The most important thing to keep in mind when choosing an architect or a contractor is their level of knowledge and experience. Look at what kind of qualifications they have to make sure they are reliable. For example, Homeowner Funding is an Owens Corning Preferred Contractor, which means our work is recognized as among the highest quality available.
Finance the Addition of Your Dreams with Homeowner Funding
Whether you’re looking to build a deck in your backyard, expand your garage, or construct a dormer loft onto your roof, one thing that all additions have in common is this: they cost money.
Still, no one said it had to be your money.
Without even realizing it, you may be eligible to receive grants or other forms of financial assistance to make the home improvements of your dreams. At Homeowner Funding, our top priority is to help you take advantage of these resources.
Even better, one thing that many customers quickly out about us is that Homeowner Funding doesn’t just employ the best home improvement financing counselors around but also the very best building contractors you’re likely to find anywhere. From simple repairs to complete overhauls, whatever you need help with, Homeowner Funding can do the job.
Schedule an appointment with us today to get started!
