I've attempted to explain issues regarding the house I want to sell, including associated issues that figure into my decisions. The associated issues are complex, and mistaken assumptions have been made by some commenters here that are wildly off-base, offensive and inappropriate. Suffice it to say, I am not leaving this town. I am not selling the property where I live. I've joined others in my community who are fighting for responsible building regulations to stop damaging run-off. I'm sorry if some commenters don't like that, but nothing you say will change this. It depresses me that land is considered so disrespectfully in this forum, and I wish all would consider land has more identity than just a box of cereal. Land has geographic identity.....the place on the map of this planet. Geological identity......the ancient bedrock beneath it. Biological identity.....the biodiversity of flora and fauna that call it home. Environmental identity......land and water quality. Historic identity.....the natural and social identities previously. Community identity.....as a permanent fixture in social surroundings. Tax identity.....what we owe for services that facilitate the surroundings. Personal property identity.....that which we call home. I was raised to respect land, and it depresses me that some people see it as merely transactional, a commodity to be exploited and then move on, and who cares about the damage to the land and those who remain. I'm not anti-capitalism, but late-stage capitalism seems to have eroded all other values. It's an unsustainable mentality, unsuitable to a shrinking planet. Besides being caretakers of land, we're caretakers of our own souls. You might even consider them one and the same.

Most wood or pellet stoves considered to be space heaters. Check with your local building department if you within code compliance or any local restrictions if any in place having a stove installed in the basement.

A renovation loan is not a new construction loan. Not even close. Spending 100K to finish out your basement isn’t going to add 100K in value. That’s HGTV fiction. You might get a 20K bump if you are lucky. It doesn't matter what the renovation costs. It’s still a basement and not above grade footage. You‘ve bought into the HGTV fiction that $1 spent adds $1 to your home value. Nothing could be further from the truth. All home renovation projects add less value than you spend to do them. They lose money. A basement project adds less than most. In other words, it loses more money than average. Because below ground doesn’t count like above ground. You could spend 300K putting in exotic marble floors, gold taps, and custom mahogany cabinets down there. No one would ever pay for what that costs at resale. Its a basement. You’ll still get that 20-30K bump because it’s nice basement. But that’s it. Finish level counts far less than above grade square footage and location. That is the primary driver to any appraisal. Not age. Not finishes. Not lot size. Not below grade space. None of those things has the impact that square footage and location do. My guess as to why the bank is challenging the appraisal has less to do with the fact that it’s incorrect, and more to do with the personality that’s on display in this and past threads. They’re gonna check that box for you, as a “customer service concession” because you’re all up in their face. Not because the appraisal is wrong. This way they can say that they tried but their hands are tied. Unless they didn’t count a complete above ground wing, no new appraisal is going to be significantly different. The arms length process is pretty much a standardized art. You don’t get big swings in value from one to another. That’s part of the reforms enacted.

It's a interesting question. ANSI standard 2765-2020 (Square Footage--Method for Calculating) provides a standard method for calculating square footage of residential structures. Following the standard, dimensions are taken to the outside of the finished material above grade and the outside of the foundation wall below grade. Using that method, I think you can make a case that adding exterior insulation increases the square footage. By way of illustration, consider two homes with the same interior dimensions: one constructed with 2 x 4 exterior walls and the other with 2 x 6 exterior walls. The home with the 2 x 6 exterior walls calculates out to be larger, although the usable interior dimensions are the same. It's amusing--and you'd need to read the standard to learn-- that a method for calculating square footage gives an option for metric units. Could it be that the folks who write ANSI standards have a sense of humor?