We are preparing to build on an infill lot. We looked long and hard for the right opportunity. We ended up buying an older house on a double lot. We are fixing up the old house to sell and will build on the vacant lot. That being said, I looked at a number of possible teardowns and possible renovation/addition properties. If it were me, I would look long and hard at the price, location and attractiveness of the lot. If your market is individual buyers, I would talk a lot about the location, proximity to amenities, school district, etc. The lot we will build on is very very small, but the location is excellent. As with pretty much any house sale, if the price is right, you shouldn't have too much of a problem finding a buyer. Is this property in Chicago? If so, can I ask which suburb? Another possibility you may want to consider is subdividing the lot and selling it as two separate parcels. Our lot added very little to the price of our house, but is worth substantially more as a stand alone property.

We are paying cash for our new kitchen and we started by paying the deposits (half of estimate) to the countertop guy (had to pick my marble slab) and the cabinet guy. I have spent HOURS and DAYS figuring out how to do the kitchen reno in several stages, which I believe will help me know what (upper cabinets for instance) I really need. So, doing the demolition, base cabinets, new range, knock down wall, move other 5' wall by 6", sink, peninsula, tape and float, and hopefully backsplash first. Later I will do range hood (having hookup and flue for hood done in first stage though), open shelving, backsplash (if can't do it earlier), upper cabinets (if I need). Lastly I will do floor. If something has to change with my plans, I may have to use our line of credit, but it shouldn't be more than $5000 or so and we will pay it off asap. Hate borrowing money. Also it helps that I found some of our kitchen floor tiles in the creek 15 years ago and saved them! They will replace the flooring where the island is getting removed. P.S. My GC knows about this plan ahead of time and is being very understanding.

Not a stupid question Suzanne. I actually did my own design because I had a pretty good idea of what I didn't like about my old kitchen and how I wanted the new one to flow. I came up with a preliminary design and a list of requirements (all drawers; appliance garage, for example) and that's what got shopped around. As I talked to KDs and friends and hung around here, that preliminary design changed, but I kept shopping that same design around for pricing. Now, not everyone does that. A lot of people go to the KD with a clean slate and say, design me a kitchen. So then you have to decide whether to pay an independent KD to make a design that you pay for (and possibly keep) or if you want to have a KD associated with a cabinet line do the design which you may or may not be charged for depending on whether you order those cabs. So, I'm not really giving you a complete answer but generally I would not go for a "ballpark" estimate because there are just too many variables. In addition to things like door design, wood type, stain/paint, there are tons of options that can add up a lot. Will you do drawers or pull outs? Will you have corner lazy susans? Will you have any glass doors? Etc. It's good to have a lot of that stuff figured into the design you shop around because it's all those "little" things that make or break the price from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Hi rvz, One thing I've found when shopping for a mortgage that works really well is to get a good faith estimate. Hate to sweep away that bit of comfort... but... a GFE is meaningless for comparing lender sources. Because it is a non-binding "estimate" every single originator in the business knows that they better LOWball all the 'range' numbers (when a cost may be anywhere between X to Y,) and severely underplay any lender fees that could be financed elsewhere in a different structure. The bottom line is that it is simply impossible to objectively shop lenders by preliminary rate or price numbers. They're not legally bound to the quotes or estimates (because it would be financially impossible to do so,) and thus they universally "play to the consumer's desires." In other words, when a typical loan provider is asked for a "quote" or a "Good Faith Estimate" that provider knows that the asker wants firm numbers that can be relied upon... that provider ALSO knows it is impossible to actually deliver firm numbers that can be relied upon... so what do they do? The deliver something that is not what the consumer really wants, letting the consumer think that it is. In other words, the Bald Faced Lie! (And the shopping consumers insist that they do!) They only best reliable way to shop a loan provider is to do so the same way you would shop to find other professionals you are forced to trust... tax attorneys, specialty surgeons, family pediatricians, architects, etc. Hope that helps, (I know it frustrates most people... but it's the facts of life.) Cheers, Dave Donhoff Strategic Equity & Mortgage Planner