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aliwnec10
mom of 3 boys
Member since 4/06 11426 total posts
Name:
Ali
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WWYD? new septic? 5th bedroom in basement?
I put up a post yesterday about our problem. We have a 4 bedroom house and are finishing our basement. We had plans to put in a 5th bedroom down there. Turns out our septic tank is not big enough to be up to code for the town.
One major reason I wanted to do the 5th bedroom (there were many reasons) is to bring the value of our house up. We don’t have a fixed mortgage and I was hoping this would help us refinance since we haven’t been able to yet. Appraisals are so low right now that I’m not sure we’d have enough equity in the house to refinance. But with the 5th bedroom and finished basement, I feel like we would now.
WWYD?
Would you spend the $5k-$10k to dig out and put in a bigger septic tank? Or just skip it?
HELP. Advice needed.
Message edited 2/12/2015 10:48:58 AM.
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Posted 2/12/15 10:38 AM  |
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GoldenRod
10 years on LIF!
Member since 11/06 26792 total posts
Name:
Shawn
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Re: WWYD? new septic? 5th bedroom in basement?
Do you have egress window(s) for the potential bedroom? There's a good deal of digging needed to make a bedroom in a basement. I would talk to a REA if a basement bedroom would add value. For me, personally, I wouldn't count a bedroom in the basement as a bedroom. I would use it as another room, but not for sleeping.
How many bedrooms does the average house have in your area? Are you competing with other 5 b/r houses, or do most of your area have 3 b/r?
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| Posted 2/12/15 10:59 AM |
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aliwnec10
mom of 3 boys
Member since 4/06 11426 total posts
Name:
Ali
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Re: WWYD? new septic? 5th bedroom in basement?
Posted by GoldenRod
Do you have egress window(s) for the potential bedroom? There's a good deal of digging needed to make a bedroom in a basement. I would talk to a REA if a basement bedroom would add value. For me, personally, I wouldn't count a bedroom in the basement as a bedroom. I would use it as another room, but not for sleeping.
How many bedrooms does the average house have in your area? Are you competing with other 5 b/r houses, or do most of your area have 3 b/r?
yes we are putting in an egress window. Into that room actually for the bedroom.
I believe most in my area have 3-4 bedrooms.
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| Posted 2/12/15 11:38 AM |
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MsSissy
xoxoxo
Member since 3/07 39159 total posts
Name:
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Re: WWYD? new septic? 5th bedroom in basement?
I wouldn't put a bedroom in the basement unless I was making an apartment.
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| Posted 2/12/15 11:48 AM |
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aliwnec10
mom of 3 boys
Member since 4/06 11426 total posts
Name:
Ali
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Re: WWYD? new septic? 5th bedroom in basement?
Posted by MsSissy
I wouldn't put a bedroom in the basement unless I was making an apartment.
i'm curious. why?
Well we're doing it because we need the room/space. We have guests quite often and now since we had our 3rd, we have no more room.
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| Posted 2/12/15 1:03 PM |
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MsSissy
xoxoxo
Member since 3/07 39159 total posts
Name:
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Re: WWYD? new septic? 5th bedroom in basement?
Posted by aliwnec10
Posted by MsSissy
I wouldn't put a bedroom in the basement unless I was making an apartment.
i'm curious. why?
Well we're doing it because we need the room/space. We have guests quite often and now since we had our 3rd, we have no more room.
if I didnt need the extra bedroom for my family (kids) I wouldn't spend the money to change the septic system for guests. If the septic system wasn't an issue it would be a different story. I would spend the money if I was making an apartment and it was brining in income.
However if I could get away with just an extra "room" I would do it. As long as I didnt have to lay out money to change the septic.
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| Posted 2/12/15 1:54 PM |
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Mrs213
????????
Member since 2/09 18986 total posts
Name:
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WWYD? new septic? 5th bedroom in basement?
Why not take the 5-10k and put towards refinancing, rather than spending it in hopes that the value will go up. Maybe one of the realtors can chime in but im not sure that basement bedrooms add any value. I. Not sure if it can technically count as a bedroom
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| Posted 2/12/15 2:18 PM |
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Re: WWYD? new septic? 5th bedroom in basement?
Just chiming in to say that a bedroom in a basement is not counted as a bedroom. Even with egress windows, you cannot legally have a sleeping space in a basement. So your home, for purposes of a listing, or an appraisal would still be a 4 bedroom home.
The fact that you have additional sleeping space in the basement may appeal to some buyers, and a finished basement will add value for appraisal purposes. But a finished family room would add more value and be deemed more useful to most buyers than a basement bedroom, especially since you already have 4 bedrooms. These days most families don't have a need for a 5th bedroom. If you have a large opened finished basement and want to take away a little space to make a guest bedroom or office, that would be a positive for most buyers, but add minimal value (it's all part of the finished basement), and it would not make your house a 5 bedroom house in a realtors eyes or a mortgage bank 's eyes,
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| Posted 2/12/15 2:37 PM |
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aliwnec10
mom of 3 boys
Member since 4/06 11426 total posts
Name:
Ali
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Re: WWYD? new septic? 5th bedroom in basement?
Posted by Century 21 Dallow - Christine Braun
Just chiming in to say that a bedroom in a basement is not counted as a bedroom. Even with egress windows, you cannot legally have a sleeping space in a basement. So your home, for purposes of a listing, or an appraisal would still be a 4 bedroom home.
The fact that you have additional sleeping space in the basement may appeal to some buyers, and a finished basement will add value for appraisal purposes. But a finished family room would add more value and be deemed more useful to most buyers than a basement bedroom, especially since you already have 4 bedrooms. These days most families don't have a need for a 5th bedroom. If you have a large opened finished basement and want to take away a little space to make a guest bedroom or office, that would be a positive for most buyers, but add minimal value (it's all part of the finished basement), and it would not make your house a 5 bedroom house in a realtors eyes or a mortgage bank 's eyes,
THANK YOU so much. That does make sense and i get it.
See this is why i love these boards! Thank you everyone for your responses and input. It really does help and i'd be lost without you. 
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| Posted 2/12/15 2:46 PM |
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Re: WWYD? new septic? 5th bedroom in basement?
Happy to help! 
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| Posted 2/12/15 2:53 PM |
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