Homeowners all along the
New Jersey shore are now raising their homes in an effort to comply with the current
FEMA guidelines and recommendations. With so many variables involved in lifting
an existing home, the real total cost of lifting could be much greater than the
cost in the original proposal.
While it is critical to
know what the recommended height is for your home location zone, many homeowners
do not realize that the cost of raising your home may not be cost effective, as
compared to the custom home you could build instead of raising your existing
home. The truth is, many times the costs
quoted by a reputable house raising company many not include critical and
necessary repairs once the process has begun.
In addition, your contract with the house raising company may specify
that additional costs can be incurred.
What will happen if you begin the process and end up with cost
overruns?
And once the house lift is
complete, you still have the same floorplan you had before, now it’s just
higher and may be in need of significant repairs inside. As a custom homebuilder, we believe that
rebuilding a new, elevated home with modular construction is more cost
effective because not only will your home comply with the newest elevation
requirements as set forth by FEMA, you will be able to build the home of your
dreams! Here are four reasons why you
shouldn’t raise your home at the Jersey Shore.
Reason #1 - It Won’t Be New!
If you decide to rebuild
your home from scratch instead of raising your existing home, everything in
your home will be new, from the roof down to the foundation. All of the electrical, plumbing, windows,
doors, sheetrock, finishes and everything in between will be brand new. Even the layout of your new home can be
completely different from your existing home.
Unfortunately, you have been put in a position to make a decision on whether
to raise your existing home or build new, so why not make the decision that
will give you everything you’ve ever wanted in your home?
Reason #2 - Budgetary Concerns
As we stated above,
lifting a home can present some budgetary problems in that you don’t know what
the home-lifter will encounter during the process and what the additional costs
will be. Having that in mind, building a
new custom modular home will provide for an up-front budget, based on the home
and features you will be building and cost over-runs can be alleviated at the
time your contract is formulated.
Reason #4 – It Won’t Necessarily Increase The Value of Your Property
Raising your home provides
for compliance with the new FEMA elevations standards, but it doesn’t
necessarily add value to your existing home.
Building a new home on your existing property can provide for an overall
increase in the value of your property.
With all of the brand new systems, appliances and finishes your new home
will feature, it will more than likely compare at a higher value than existing
homes of similar size and features in your neighborhood.
Reason #4 – It Won’t Have A Home Warranty
When you build a new home
with a custom home builder, you will be the proud owner of a brand new home,
but you will also have a new 10 year home owners warranty to go along with all
that newness! This home warranty is a
valuable asset that your existing, raised home will not have. A homeowner’s warranty can provide peace of
mind that your home will be covered under a warranty for 10 years. We recommend you discuss with your builder
the specific coverage for your new home, and make sure you receive a copy of
your policy at closing.
We think that these four
reasons should raise enough questions about whether it is worth raising your
existing house as compared to the alternative of rebuilding a new home. But, if you have any questions or need
information on building a custom modular home RBA Homes is here to help. As one of New Jersey’s premier custom
builders, RBA Homes has been helping homeowners in Monmouth and Ocean Counties
rebuild their homes after Superstorm Sandy. There is a lot of information
available about zones and heights, which can be obtained online for your
particular home and location. http://www.region2coastal.com/bestdata.
If you have questions
about raising versus rebuilding or have a lot to build on, feel free to contactus today at 732-747-3800 or http://RBAhomes.com for more information on how we
can help you get back to living your Jersey Shore lifestyle.
