The more information and details you provide, the more accurate the estimate will be. So far you are at $955 per square foot.

Point well taken. It will be an addition to add a hallway a bathroom and one bedroom and a kitchen. We actually are a family that will be ok with not getting top of the line appliances and materials (lowes Home Depot are just fine for us). We will splurge on a high quality non toxic luxury vinyl plank floor but things like paint and light fixtures and tile for bathroom, Home Depot is fine.

The best way to find out how much your addition will cost is to have someone come and give an estimate. Before they arrive, provide them with a general scope of work document so that you'll both know what you're talking about and you won't forget anything.

You want to pay for excellent labour and project management, regardless of the price of your fixtures. So don't get fixated on an "all-in" price-- otherwise the guy who puts in low numbers for allowances is going to look like a better deal even though he may not be.

Trying to infer the cost of a remodel on a cost-per-square-foot basis is not likely to yield a very accurate result. I suggest you pursue either of two routes: 1.) get an architect/designer to develop a concept plan for the addition and then speak with some remodelers about the likely cost or 2.) speak with some remodelers to get calibrated with regard to cost even before doing any design work. That said, concept plans will lack a lot of information required to develop final costing for the project. Don't select your remodeler based on the lowest estimated cost when the estimate is based on concept plans.

Charles this is so helpful - is a remodeled the same as a general contractor?

"General Contractor" is a pretty broad category. You should be looking for a contractor with a proven competency remodeling homes.

All points well taken but we have family around the block which makes us want to stay here so that we remain close to family - especially for the sake of the kids who go between houses several times a day every day. And we’ve already invested a lot over 10 years updating the house so matching the new to the old should not be as difficult as it otherwise could be.

Kristina:

Your first thing should be a conversation with a reputable local General Contractor, Building Contractor, or Remodeling Conractor; all qualified to do your job under Florida law. I'd take this guy's estimate on a napkin over coffee over some fancy architectural drawings that you can't afford to build.

The person you want is very busy. His dominating thought while initially speaking with you is "Am I wasting time with this woman?" You must convey that you are serious, qualified, and shopping value, not price, immediately.

The "Always get 3 bids" days are long gone. This is speed dating.

Good luck.

You will need an architect so start there with a plan then a contractor and in Miami there is no chance of you doing any DIY BTW I will guess it will be 200K+ to start even for a simple addition with builder grade items .Where I live in Canada we are at $400 a sq ft my guess is Miami is closer to 1K per sq ft to start. You need to start with a plan no one can tell you anything else .

I agree with @Joseph Corlett, LLC that you want to communicate you are serious about the remodel. One way to do that is to make an investment in some concept plans to show prospective remodelers or be prepared to pay them to do that amount of preliminary design work as the basis for a preliminary estimate. Concept plans aren't fully detailed construction plans--just basic floor plans and elevations to show the concepts being considered. The alternative to plans is a "hand-waiving" approach to articulate what you want to achieve. That's usually how it goes when prospective customers are "dreaming on the contractor's time." If that approach was ever taken seriously, it won't be in the current environment.

For what it's worth, I got a call from an engineering firm that had been retained by a client to produce a bid package for structural repairs to a veranda on their home. I politely declined the invitation to the "pre-bid" meeting. It will take a while for folks to understand the get three bids approach is dead for residential construction and remodeling projects--if not forever, at least in the current environment in most markets.

Wow you all have really given unexpected and helpful advice. Thanks- will start by paying to get a concept plan, although we are agreeable to changing the concept plan if budget constraints dictate so.

I think there can be a sweet spot in the extremes between panicking and blindly trusting a contractor to give the best quality and price and exhaustively interviewing contractors for best prices. Generally, and very respectfully speaking, contractors with beautiful websites and glowing Google reviews have staff or services to keep the marketing machine going, so naturally they get more referrals, they participate in projects and work with other professionals who also feed the referral pipeline which enables them to be more selective. Congrats to those people.

I think one path to the sweet spot can be found by asking friends and relatives and professionals and even strangers sometimes for contractor referrals while the concept plans are being developed. Once they're developed, email the plans, discuss the scope and budget briefly on the phone so you can each pre-screen each other. If a referral is too busy or the scope isn't a good fit, ask that person for a referral. It's definitely more work but there are skilled contractors who know their market and rely on word of mouth. An enterprising neighbor we didn't know left a note on our door (written on a napkin!) asking for our contractor's name and a recommendation and as a result, our contractor got that job too.

Forget "best prices" and seek only "best value". Those are the only clients we're taking right now.

Completely agree with JT7abcz. Think about family/friends/neighbors who have recently remodeled or are in the process now. Ask about their experience with their contractor. Are they happy with the project outcome and their relationship with the contractor? Once you find the contractor, they’ll be able to recommend other professionals (architect, engineer, designer) who they’ve worked with many times over the years. They’ll have relationships with great subs too. Friends who had recently completed a gorgeous kitchen remodel introduced us to our gem of a contractor. He remodeled our kitchen and later added a deck for us. Now he’s building our new custom home. I can’t imagine doing this with anyone other than him. Be prepared though, guys like this are booked out several months in advance. That’s okay, you can make good use of the wait time getting things like planning/permits/financing ready to go.

Thanks Sofia, unfortunately nobody we know has recently done construction and had a good experience but i agree that is the way to do it

Social media sites that are neighborhood oriented (I'm thinking Nextdoor, local FB group) can be a good resource. Good luck!

I would stay far, far away from any recommendations from Nextdoor, Angie’s (List) and the like. Not reliable by a long shot. You are going to have to do some researching to find a high value contractor. The one I used for our major renovation didn’t advertise,only worked on one side of town, gave out contact info of previous clients (with their permission) so prospective clients could go see the work first hand and booked his work 12-18 months in advance. He and his subs were/are spectacular, but expensive and a long wait. That’s the lay of the (skilled, competent, professional) home renovation and building land.

The finishing touches - paint, light fixtures, even appliances - are usually not the big expenses when renovating. Another $30k would get you to a much higher level. What really costs are lumber, labor, plumbing, electrical and bringing your old house up to current building codes.

Labor to install a $29 light fixture is the same as to install a $500 one. Same with painting, plumbing, etc.

Have you looked into renovating your existing space? Another idea is to speak to neighbors and let them know you would be interested in buying a bigger home. Maybe there's an older couple that may consider downsizing.