1927 Hidden Lake Place

The situation

An unfinished basement in a Wilden home splits the room. The seller sees space you could use. The buyer sees an open-ended bill and prices their offer around not knowing.

The plan

First question was whether the space could legally be finished at all, and what that actually involves. I pulled the building plans and the city files so a buyer could check for themselves rather than let uncertainty do the deciding.

Then I got detailed quotes and laid out a renovation plan. Not a rough range. Actual pricing from trades I’ve worked with, showing what finishing that space would cost.

That reframes the whole thing. Instead of a concrete floor and an invitation to imagine, a buyer gets usable square footage with a number attached to it. One of those is easy to evaluate. The other one is easy to discount.

The home sold, and the basement counted as space the buyer was getting rather than a deduction for work they weren’t.

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