In-Law Apartment Home Additions

                                                             In-law Apartments

The continuing increase in real estate values give greater incentive for homeowners to "double up" their living quarters. The ability to share the same building lot, electric system, plumbing & water system, heating system & more can decrease every day living cost considerably. The increase in taxes to double up is not nearly the cost of taxes on two separate homes. Hence there has been a explosion in these type home additions in many parts of the country.

The real estate market has advanced considerably in recent years & will continue to due so for the foreseeable future. It all started around the year 1776 & has continued unabated ever since. I see no reason for it to stop. The current real estate problems are but a blip in the increasing higher value rates. 

Evidently many homeowners agree with me because I have built hundreds of these additions of every type & description. They always include an additional bathroom & kitchen & sometimes separate exterior entrances.

The cost to build is high but you have to remember that your home value is dramatically increased & will continue to increase. To those of you who are thinking "Yeh, but will I get my money back" The answer is, yes. It will be one of the best investments you will ever make. Just in case you did not know, there is a very strong sales market for homes with an apartment already functioning in the house. These homes are in great demand & I would see no reason for that to change.

Variations

Apartment additions come in many variations: Build a second story on a ranch type house & clone the first floor which becomes a house on top of a house. Put single or double dormers on a Cape Cod style house, or one or two story rear additions or side additions. (These are not as prevalent because of building department restrictions in relation to your lot size) Garage conversions & Basement apartments are also options.

Some are for one or two persons, some for small families. I have built for these in-law combinations: Mother in-law, father-inlaw or both, Son & daughter in-law, daughter & son in-law, divorced or widowed daughters, divorced sons, sisters, brothers, aunts & uncles.

Depending on where you live sometimes there are zoning restrictions to these units but most of them can be easily overcome with a variance.

Apartment Plans

I notice many people looking for plans or layouts of apartment additions. As I explain on my "Plans" page you are not likely to find exactly what you want. Laying out an apartment on paper is really quite simple & you can do it yourself in a few minutes. If you are going to have a general contractor do the work then he can/will suggest variations or improvement on your layout. Helping you layout an addition is (should be)part of his service.

Multi-use in the future

In many cases these units are used for rental apartments when the original tenant is no longer living there.  

Take a look at the First Floor Addition  page or Second Story Addition page. They all have complete info on everything you need for getting a great apartment built at the lowest possible cost.