Those big custom homes with the palatial master suites certainly are impressive.
Impressive enough that San Antonio home remodeling professionals say customers who own homes with small bedrooms are asking for master suites with more bedroom space, expansive bathrooms and walk-in closets.
It's not always a bedroom conversion. Many customers want master suites on the ground floor of houses that don't have a first-floor bedroom, said Scott Thomas, design and sales consultant for Bobo Custom Builders. That means adding a whole new bedroom and bathroom to the house, which can be more costly than just converting an existing bedroom.
Marc Schneider, president of Maverick Remodeling & Construction, said the home additions he's seeing this year are almost exclusively master suites.
In one project on a 1,000-square-foot home in Alamo Heights, Maverick is adding about 200 square feet to a bedroom to make it a master suite. The existing bedroom didn't have its own bathroom, so the company is adding a full bathroom as well.
“They basically doubled the size of their bedroom and added a bathroom,” Schneider said. “Now there is a private bath and a new bedroom large enough to have a walk-in closet. Previously they did not a closet. They would have had to have an armoire.”
The job is costing about $67,000, he said.
“We're seeing the coffee bars and the sitting areas are frequently requested, as well as the luxurious master baths and larger closet spaces,” said Keith Moehle, president of KM Builders.
Other popular room additions are what Thomas referred to as “in-law suites,” an addition for an older family member. In most cases, in-law suites come in the form of a new bedroom and bathroom attached to the house. The additions usually total about 300 square feet, he said.
“You're probably looking at something starting in the low $40,000s and running to $60,000 for that 300 square feet, depending on your amenities,” Thomas said.
Amenities in in-law suites generally include lighting that can be turned on and off from the bed and bathrooms with roll-in showers and assist bars that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, he said. They often have a separately controlled heating and cooling system. Occasionally, Thomas said, the in-law suite will have its own kitchen area.
Remodeling companies also get called on to make similar additions for teenagers.
“We are seeing a lot of mother-in-law suites for greater space,” Moehle said. “A lot of times children from college are coming back and they want the space for an extra set of college-age children that are moving back into the home, or aged parents.”
The addition's proximity to existing plumbing and electrical lines can have a big effect on its cost, Thomas said.
“On additions like that ... typically the biggest stumbling blocks (are) some of the mechanical issues,” he said.
Electrical wiring and air conditioning can be expensive, but surprisingly large expenses can come in the form of plumbing, Thomas warned.
“If I have to run all the way along the outside of the house to run a sewer line and cut into the driveway, it gets pretty pricey for something you don't even see,” he said.
It's important to make sure additions fit with the home they're being built onto and with the neighborhood, said Ed Gray, a San Antonio appraiser and real estate broker.
Additions can increase marketability and resale value, but slapping a new room onto a house won't always do that, Gray said.
To maximize dollar value, an addition needs to be contiguous, meaning it is accessible from the rest of the house. Some additions are only accessible from the exterior — which could be great for your family but could limit the use in the future.
It's not all dollars and cents, though. Gray said there's something called “value in use” that applies to home additions.
“Value in use is a term that's applied to something that's a value to the person who's living there and they enjoy the aesthetics of an extra-large addition,” Gray said. “Even though it doesn't add dollar value to the property, it's comfortable.”
Schneider said in uncertain economic times, many people are making their existing homes more comfortable rather than looking for a new one.
“I guess my interpretation of it is that they fear the economic situation, and they would rather make solid improvements to their homestead, something that they'll get something out of,” he said.
