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Buying To Expand Can Be Tricky

By Broderick Perkins

It may be better to buy the square footage you need in a neighborhood of larger homes rather than buying into a neighborhood of smaller homes with plans to build up or out.

At the very least, if you decide to shop for a home you want to expand, also shop for zoning laws that will allow it.

The purchase money you save up front on a smaller home may not be worth the headache that could come later from building restrictions and market conditions that leave you with a home that doesn't fit.

Shifting cash into major home improvements can have a triple payoff -- the work will likely increase the value of your home, boost your net worth and improve your quality of life, especially if you need room for an expanding family.

But if you've got a case of palace envy and plan to tear down walls or pop off the roof to create an expansive estate, make sure you don't move into a community where zoning laws won't let your home become your castle.

Numerous jurisdictions passed restrictions preventing so called "monster homes" in response to the late 1990s "wealth effect" of stock market endowed riches. Many home owners used their stock market winnings to rebuild homes, twice or three times their original size -- much to the chagrin of neighbors.

Today, the cost of housing is forcing many owners to consider staying put and expanding their home, but that door may be closed.

Bowing to community pressures, jurisdictions enacted home improvement restrictions that prevent home owners from spreading out or up too much. Often based on the lot size, square-footage and footprint of the existing home, the new zoning laws are designed to allow neighborhoods to retain their character as well as prevent starter mansions from physically over shadowing their neighbors.

Even where such laws don't exist, you must consider a major home improvement's impact on your resale. Rebuilding or expanding a home beyond the scope of existing homes could be financially hazardous if you plan to sell the home later.

Major home improvements don't always return to the value of the home the full cost of the work and even if you plan on remaining in your home indefinitely, your heirs could be stuck with a very large, immobile white elephant.

In the best of markets, where there's room for appreciation, improvements are generally wise if they don't push your home's value beyond 20 to 25 percent above the current value of like homes in the community, appraisers say.

In a tired market where there's less wiggle room, your improvements should keep your home's value in line with the value of existing homes.

In any market, if your neighborhood's homes have mixed values, keep your improved home's value just below the top values. The high end homes will help buoy your home's value, while offsetting pressure from low end homes to sink it.