Looking for a spiritual advice :) So we bought an old house in Mass suburb everybody wants to live in. Then the usual New England story: spent a lot of time and money trying to figure out how to fix the house, but everything feel through, and now we're going to tear it down. Our builder says that we should build the house up to to maximum allowed size. The problem is that we have the biggest plot in the neighborhood: 15K sq foot literally surrounded by 5k-7k lots. Curious to hear opinions: does it make sense to build a house which will be two times bigger and two times more expensive in such neighborhood? (Not to mention that all neighbors are not happy about it.)

Of course the builder is going to say that... Consider the source. If all the neighboring houses are 2000-2500 sq. ft. I doubt you're going to see a good ROI on a 4500-5000 sq. ft. house. Are there no houses of such size anywhere else in your town to offer a comp?

The more interesting/profitable question is could your lot be subdivided to allow for building another house as of right or would zoning allow for construction of another house or dwelling unit (rental/AirBnB) somewhere else on the lot?

Curious to know the town or region as a frame of reference.

Hi Peter! 

I understand your concerns and its good you are here attempting to get other opinions! I am connected to a top contractor that services tons of areas throughout MA! I would love to connect you two and maybe he can advise you more on what the best option is. Also, he own over a 100 units throughout Boston so he is well versed. 

If you are open to it message me privately with the best contact information and I can have him reach out to you!

Best,

Niara Ijezie