To refurbish basement or not in Somerville, MA (outside Boston)

[Joseph Lucido]

A fellow submarine officer and I luckily got stationed in Boston together at the same time. We bought a 2-family in Somerville equidistant from both Davis and Porter squares. We are both independently remodeling our separate units (I own lower, he owns upper). Before we condoize the property, we are deciding if we should completely redo the basement and turn it into its own separate 2 bed 1 bath apartment. Estimates from contractors range from 150k-200k for everything. Scope is digging out basement, tuck point, permits, architect, engineer, chimney removal, re configuring HVAC, and everything else. We think we could rent the basement unit somewhere between 1800-2000 a month.

My questions are:

1. Do these numbers make sense?

2. Has anyone in the area seen this and know if it is a worthy investment

3. If so, any tips or advice (especially when it comes to permitting in Somerville) or any other contractors recommended for the job.

Appreciated all the help from BP!!!

[Account Closed]

Hey Joseph, did the contractor give you a cost break down, or just a rough number? If you get a break down it's easier to start shopping around and checking numbers otherwise you never know if he's just trying to get you to start the work and then raise estimates as the project progresses. Also I see you said you want to use an architect and engineer. If that is the case start with them and then use a contractor. Architects are legally and professionally bound to act as your agent and their liability is attached to their license number so they can't hide behind or dissolve a LLC like a contractor can. The drawings they produce can be bid out to multiple different contractors for the best price and then they will proceed to ensure their performance throughout the project. Whereas contractors will try and get people to get an architect just for permits and then tell them to trust them to do the project. They then cut corners, perform slowly and upcharge because you have no one in your court looking out for you. Bottom line, if you are new to the game, let the architect help you, they don't profit from giving you a cheap building, the contractor does.