| Considering Costs |
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Again, I’ll get into estimating actual construction costs in a moment. For now, consider how much finishing your basement could cost, a ballpark number. How? By developing a per-square-foot cost based on the value of the remainder of your home. An example works well here. If you have a 2,000 sq. ft. home worth $200,000 (not counting the land), the per-square-foot valuation is $100. Figuring that about two-thirds of that value is in the structural skeleton and one-third in the finishing, the value of finishing is about $35 per sq. ft. Apply this valuation against the example basement size of, say, 800 sq. ft. and you come up with a ballpark estimate of $28,000. Obviously, this is a broad ballpark. However, it serves as an initial reality-check. Is this a realistic number for you? Were you thinking more like about half this amount or double it? It’s an important questions because it may tell you to consider finishing part of your basement now and the remainder later—when Uncle Bud leaves his fortune to you. Even if it does seem like more than you can spend, don’t give up yet. Keep reading to find ways of cutting—and financing—costs that you may not have considered.
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