First if it's an addition, make sure it's all permitted and has CO's on it.

Second is to see if you can get someone to come in with you to see what walls are load bearing, etc to be torn down.

Do I hire a contractor or a structural engineer to advise, or would our buddy who is familiar with that kind of work (but not an expert) be appropriate?

It appears that the addition bedrooms don't have actual doors, just doorways. I'm imagining not really moving the walls too much, maybe to expand the bathroom and connect it to master

If your buddy is really familiar you can bring him along for now. Just make sure that if you decide to make an offer on the house that it's contingent on an inspection. Then when you get the inspection, be sure you're there with the inspector.

Also I mentioned in your kitchen thread to look to make sure the wiring isn't knob and tube because that could get expensive.

Also galvanized pipes can become a problem.

And of course asbestos.

I was going to offer an opinion, but see you have already gotten excellent, and adequate, advice. If you follow it, it shouldn't be difficult to get an answer that will help you make a good decision despite your lack of experience. Good luck!

Pics? Or a Google Map overhead view?

Definitely check the permits ... because it sounds like something a DIYer would do to accommodate granny and not bother with the permits because it's hidden behind the garage.

And write the contract contingent on the addition being a "legally permissible and inspected addition that complies with the zoning regulations". And make THE SELLER do the footwork and provide the paperwork. I had to halt a closing because they claimed the MIL suite was grandfathered, but a phone call to the zoning people showed it wasn't.

If they tell you it's easy and cheap to get it grandfathered, tell them that if it's cheap and easy, they should have already done it. (it can be tedious and expensive).

I'll just link the listing, this may all be moot because I saw one version of the listing today that indicated pending sale as of yesterday. Kind of a bummer, not too many homes of this size/lot size/area in our budget.

listing

Bummer that it is pending. It doesn't look to me like it has too odd of an addition based on the pictures. Seems like it works fairly decently, and something you could work with. Many new homes have master on one side and the other bedrooms on the other side, so your idea of making the other side a master suite isn't a bad idea at all.

Maybe if you're lucky the pending sale will fall through.

It's not odd to have the rooms divided up this way? The windows in the addition also don't really match the original bedroom windows. Maybe I'm getting hung up on the wrong things.

I do plan to watch this listing, especially since it fell through once.

Go see it and ask why it fell through the first time. If it's something you like, put in a backup offer.

No it's not odd at all, and yes you're getting hung up on windows.

I hadnt considered a back up offer! Thanks for all the excellent suggestions, very helpful :-)

When you find the "perect" home the next time, don't waste time trying to figure out every little detail before putting in an offer... especially in a sellers market, which includes most of America right now. The first rule of RE is to get the property under YOUR control. Contracts can be written in a way to allow the buyer to terminate w/o losing too much money. Chances are that if you find a home that is "perfect", then someone else is thinking the same thing.

When people are searching floorplans to build there is an option to choose split floorplan for those that want the master separated from the other rooms. I think people want the bedrooms close when the kids are small and as they grow older they like the separation.

Yes don't worry about cosmetic things such as windows not matching. That can be fixed, but isn't an item that has to be done immediately either. Worry more about things already mentioned here such as permits etc. I've seen way worse additions that doesn't work with the house at all and have odd ways of entering the rooms such as through a bedroom that has its entry straight off the dining room. That is an odd layout. A hallway leading from a main room is not.

NC--great advice, thanks. in our current home, i don't believe our offer was written with much option for us to back out so I was feeling nervous to make an offer without being positive we'd love the house.

Lyfia thank you! I'm so afraid of buying another house that I don't like. Our current house I like okay, but only because of our remodeling. It's too small though & the neighborhood isn't a good fit. I probably have decision paralysis to a degree too.

NC gave you good advice. Make the offer first. Then decide.