Dr Joan, You are correct. My clients who have been asking for the ranch plans are mostly empty nesters or one child or a parent who is living with them who want easy access to the whole home even if in less than perfect health. This then also appeals to a wider range of potential buyers for resale. The house also appears to be larger on the lot and in my opinion adds to the percieved and actual value of the home. Both of these are generally ranch plan. The first having the bonus room over the garage and both having full or partial walkout. The first has much more potential finished space as there are 2 bedrooms and bath in the lower level as well as space ready to be finished off for wet bar, rec room, family spaces etc as time and budget allow. The flexibility and potential is very valuable to the owner and any future buyers. The pricing I spoke of was gained through extensive price shopping and great internet purchasing and a year of planning prior to construction. Your pricing seems very reasonable to me based on my experience and not knowing your details of finishes etc. The trick is keeping it that way. Up front its your plans, builder and checkbook...as you move along it becomes emotional...as in gee honey the carpet floor looks fine in the great room...But wouldnt the reclaimed Heart Pine wide plank flooring look fantastic ???? The key is doing your best to be honest and complete in your selections up front as possible.

We considered doing just this. However, our plan was a 1-year, not a 10-year, to finish the second floor. I DO agree with the previous posters that you should do windows and rough plumbing electrical. Our plan: we'd figured out the basic layout of the upstairs. (You'll probably need some bearing walls in the interior, no? So figure out where they will be and what the room layout will be.) it'll certainly be easier to have a complete plan of the upstairs before starting, so you'll know where the stair will come down, and they builders will frame in the opening for the stairwell into the floor, etc. Personally I think I'd have the stairs done now and just have a closed door at the top... Our plan was: -Have the builder do the exterior framing, roofing, window installation, exterior siding, interior stud wall framing. -Since we DIY plumbing & electrical, we'd have carefully planned the rough-ins for those to correspond with the downstairs kitchen electrical and plumbing, and run plumbing stub-ins up through the floor and electrical up through the floor (that way the downstairs can be finished and you won't have to open up walls later to run stuff unpstairs!) -We planned to leave the interior walls bare- just studs- but to insulate the exterior walls and seal them with vapor barrier. We felt that at that point it would be OK to leave the top floor unheated -or very slightly heated- until we finished it. So, we'd have a finished downstairs, and a finished exterior. The stairway to the second floor would be sealed/closed with a door. Upstairs, the floor would be plywood subfloor, the interior walls just studs with plumbing and electrical rough-ins coming up through the sole plates but not going anywhere, and the exterior walls insulated and vapor-barriered. I'm not sure I'd want to leave it like that for 10 years, though! What if circumstances changed and you had to sell the house or something? You'd have an empty shell. And wi-sailorgirl's point about paying taxes is a good one. In my town that add'l living space would add a hefty chunk to the annual taxes :( I guess an in-between solution might be to do the careful plans for the second floor now, and run the plumbing/electrical in the downstairs walls, and make sure your architect/builder knows that you intend to "pop the top" at a later date so that construction details can be planned to facilitate that later.

While what Oaktown said about real estate prices is true (2M$ for a bare lot, thanks in part to people that click on Google and Facebook ads) that has limited impact on construction prices. I don't think construction prices are going to be that much different in the next town north, south, or even east. Not for the same (quality) result. Maybe 10% for the city's extra rules, etc.? But what is true here (since I live in the same town) is that adding a second story to a house of that era is going to be expensive. Two huge changes: code for earthquake and the fact that stuff built in the post-war boom tended towards the minimum they could get by with ... or a little less. I have a support post sitting on top of a random chunk of concrete in my cottage. There was a time when people did second story add ons in this area. But I think they're pretty few and far between now. The land value is just too high. It's not "that much more" to tear down. And, if it matters, for purposes of resale, there's a good chance that a house of that era is remodeled but not well is still going to be viewed as a tear down by a number of potential buyers, I don't think some of that's as true of some of the nice stuff built before the war. The city also isn't crazy about 2nd story add ons; it requires architectural review with all sorts of review of façade, character, etc.. We even have special zoning that forbids 2nd story, additions or builds, in certain (often Eichler-rich) areas. I thought about doing a second story at one point but my cottage came to my rescue: my lot is R-1 but I have a grandfathered cottage. But any change to floor area starts by requiring I come up to current zoning, i.e., tear down the cottage. That's not going to happen.

I too live in Montana. We are in the process of design and build. We examined a number of alternatives from using a modular home (different than a trailer, different than a manufactured home) and the issue of basement vs 2nd story. with a modular home, it is cheaper to build up. With the traditional stick built house, it’s cheaper to add a finished basement. With the finished basement, it is important to inquire about the means they use to pour and form the foundation. In our case, the foundation walls are a dual insulation remain in place form. Meaning there is 8-10 inches of insulation on both the exterior and interior wall. The concrete is then poured into the cavity of that form. This not only adds energy efficiency below grade, but it also adds that “ground water” vapor barrier. that said, there is a difference in how basements and 2nd stories are appraised. Typically below grade is valued at 40-50% of the above grade story. Think of it like this, your main floor is 1000 sq ft. It appraised at 100 per sq ft. The basement is 1000 sq ft. Even if it mirrors the main floor, it might only appraise at $40-$50 per sq ft. Where as if that basement was an above grade story, it would appraise at the $100 sq ft. keep this mind, as it affects appraisal value, but may not influence a resale value in the same manner. It is best to contact a local real estate agent, and a local appraiser to inquire about these specifics in your area.