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Updated about 9 years ago, 10/01/2015

User Stats

208
Posts
98
Votes
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
98
Votes |
208
Posts

From sucessfully crowdfunding development to building and selling it

Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
Posted

Thanks to all that followed me through my first crowdfunding raise for my infill development project. I figured why stop the party! I am going to chronicle the rest of the journey. 

Some background information on the project to start. I was able to assemble and divide 4 residential infill lots in an up and coming area in Charlotte NC. with the current zoning I was able to divide the 4 lots and make 6 lots. After looking at comps in the area and the market I picked six unique plans. I managed to fund the first of these 6 houses through Ifunding. 

We started moving dirt yesterday the lots are being cleared and graded. They will stake the foundation by Monday and maybe we will have permits in hand by Friday. My building permit is in plan review (7-10) day . 

first day pictures

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/an1uh5r53buqnl2/AADB_u_...

User Stats

10
Posts
0
Votes
Sapan T.
  • Real Estate Investor
  • Los Angeles, CA
0
Votes |
10
Posts
Sapan T.
  • Real Estate Investor
  • Los Angeles, CA
Replied

Kenneth, this is exciting. Thanks for sharing your journey. 

User Stats

63
Posts
36
Votes
Jack Knochel
  • Investor
  • Huntersville, NC
36
Votes |
63
Posts
Jack Knochel
  • Investor
  • Huntersville, NC
Replied

Hey Kenneth, what area are you doing this project in?  I had thought the same thing with a 2.5 acre I purchased off Mallard Creek.  Michelle was not feeling the building of spec homes at this time and we saw that we could more then double our money with just selling  lots.  I subdivided it into (2) 1.25 acres and put them up for sale.  Sold the first a month ago for what I had into it all and will close on the second in 2 weeks for a nice profit.  I look forward to watching this project.  Later 

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User Stats

208
Posts
98
Votes
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
98
Votes |
208
Posts
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
Replied

@Sapan T. Thanks Sapan, I am excited to share.  I will post pictures and updates as often as I can.

User Stats

208
Posts
98
Votes
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
98
Votes |
208
Posts
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
Replied

@Jack Knochel

I am in a perimeter neigborhood to uptown seversville/biddleville border. Inventory is low and I live in the adjacent historic district which is a royal pain to build in!! So people are spilling over into the adjacent neigborhood to Wesley Heights.

User Stats

7,620
Posts
4,154
Votes
Karen Margrave
Professional Services
Pro Member
  • Realtor, General Contractor, and Developer
  • Redding, CA & Bend OR
4,154
Votes |
7,620
Posts
Karen Margrave
Professional Services
Pro Member
  • Realtor, General Contractor, and Developer
  • Redding, CA & Bend OR
ModeratorReplied

@Kenneth Bell  Congratulations! Happy to hear you got your funding. I am in shock at the short time frames you have to be able to move dirt, and get your permits. Here it takes a minimum of 4-6 months. Did yuo already have all your plans done, engineering, etc. ready when you submitted to Ifunding? 

  • Karen Margrave

User Stats

208
Posts
98
Votes
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
98
Votes |
208
Posts
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
Replied

@Karen Margrave 

 Yes as part of my "skin in the game" I already had lots divided, surveyed, and plans engineered. All I had to do after we funded was start clearing the lots. We put up our erosion control and got started. We will have final permits in 7-10 days. I wanted to be sure I had as little lag time as possible.

User Stats

7,620
Posts
4,154
Votes
Karen Margrave
Professional Services
Pro Member
  • Realtor, General Contractor, and Developer
  • Redding, CA & Bend OR
4,154
Votes |
7,620
Posts
Karen Margrave
Professional Services
Pro Member
  • Realtor, General Contractor, and Developer
  • Redding, CA & Bend OR
ModeratorReplied

@Kenneth Bell  That's great! Looking forward to watching your progress. Looks like the New Construction Forum is going to be busy. We are building, you are, @Bryan Hancock  @John Blackman , and @J Scott  

  • Karen Margrave

User Stats

371
Posts
284
Votes
John Blackman
  • Developer
  • Austin, TX
284
Votes |
371
Posts
John Blackman
  • Developer
  • Austin, TX
Replied

Small world, so you are the Charlotte NC deal on iFunding.  Nice to meet you @Kenneth Bell 

We are going through a subdivide in Austin right now.  We're on the tail end of it, but it has been a bear.  It's taken us almost a year to get through it, most of that time was being stuck in the city's historic review process.  Now we are learning how to do asbestos remediation which is a complete racket out here.  It won't affect the profitability of the project, but it's going to hit us time wise.

Did you have to do any demo, or were the lots fundamentally clear?  From the pics it looks pretty clear.

What kind of soils do you have there?  Are you doing soils sampling for your foundation design?

Would love to track your progress.  I love new build stories!

User Stats

208
Posts
98
Votes
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
98
Votes |
208
Posts
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
Replied

@John Blackman 

I have dealt with the historic district commission here on many occasions. That is why I am building in adjacent neighborhood to a historic district instead of within it. The one here is a real pain and you can add 20% to your cost and loads to your time. I have done enough to steer clear. The value here is in developing in identical neighborhoods that are adjacent.

I demoed the two homes that were there when I bought the dirt. The fact that there were exsiting homes in place i was confident about the soil but I ordered soil test to be sure. Everything came back great! In general the soil hear has few problems. The company that we use for our basements also includes engineering for soil to accomodate their warranty.

I am excited to get going and I will post all the detail. I love urban infill!!!

User Stats

44
Posts
10
Votes
Sharetha H.
  • Real Estate Broker
  • Charlotte, NC
10
Votes |
44
Posts
Sharetha H.
  • Real Estate Broker
  • Charlotte, NC
Replied

That's awesome!  I love to see urban infill projects!  It looks like you're pretty close to my area--I live in Smallwood.

User Stats

208
Posts
98
Votes
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
98
Votes |
208
Posts
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
Replied

@Sharetha H. Yes you are literally around the corner. We are excited about the impact we will make. Much like what is going on over on Rosyln. What street are you on over there? Do you have any projects in the area? We are looking at as many as 7 more lots in the area.

User Stats

208
Posts
98
Votes
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
98
Votes |
208
Posts
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
Replied

Updates!! 

We made it through plan review and we have our permits. We meet should be able to have basments built and inspected in 2 weeks, if everything moves on schedule. As soon as the basments inpection is scheduled we will be delivering first and second floor labor for house #1

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Account Closed
  • Full-Time Investor
  • Charlotte, NC
1,562
Votes |
2,280
Posts
Account Closed
  • Full-Time Investor
  • Charlotte, NC
Replied

Hey Kenneth, keep it up.. I'll have to swing by and check them out sometime.. I'm building right now in NoDa, Midwood, Myers Park, and Cotswold. Drove through Smallwood a few weeks back-- it's cranking over there too! Look forward to watching progress :)

User Stats

208
Posts
98
Votes
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
98
Votes |
208
Posts
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
Replied

@Account Closed 

 Wow sounds like you are building in every hot neighborhood in town. I inboxed you my contact info. Let catch up some time.

User Stats

208
Posts
98
Votes
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
98
Votes |
208
Posts
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
Replied

We have a date for basement install for 15th. I am trying to get my foundation crew to get it prepared this week if the rain stops. If so I am going to try to get a earlier install date. After the inspection we are framing and off to the races! Nothing is more expensive than time! House number 2 starts in a few weeks and I am thinking of crowd funding another.

User Stats

38
Posts
3
Votes
Joseph R.
  • Fairfield, CT
3
Votes |
38
Posts
Joseph R.
  • Fairfield, CT
Replied

Hey Ken - can you tell us more about the crowdfunding? Are these donations or do you give them something in return?

User Stats

208
Posts
98
Votes
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
98
Votes |
208
Posts
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
Replied

@Joseph R. 

No these are not donations. We did an offering through Ifunding.co. Investors funded part of the project and we funded the rest. We are giving an annualized return of about 28%

User Stats

208
Posts
98
Votes
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
98
Votes |
208
Posts
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
Replied

I will hopefully be posting picture of our basement being errected on Monday evening. We had some delays with rain so we are about a week behind.

User Stats

208
Posts
98
Votes
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
98
Votes |
208
Posts
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
Replied

Sorry for the delay in updates. I have had to figure out how to add photos and video. 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rqbka0wmx2sn1c4/AUTO_AWE...

This is the video of our basement install a little less than 4 hours and it was complete. Pre insulated and guaranteed not to leak. We have also now finished the basement slab, water and sewer rough in. We had a few days of rain that delayed framing but we have also completed basment framing, and the first floor , floor system. We have started on first floor walls as well. The plans for the second house will be submitted to plan review this week and we will begin the raise for our third house within a week or two.

User Stats

208
Posts
98
Votes
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
98
Votes |
208
Posts
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
Replied

Hello All!

I have been super busy and have not been on BP in a while. Here is where we are.  We have completed the first, second floor framing and the front gables have been errected for the third story. We should be placing rafters today after a full day of rain yesterday. I checked yesterday on the status of our windows and doors. They should be on site by weeks end and we can call for our framing inspection! Once we get inside the pace really picks up! I will attach some pictures.

User Stats

8,666
Posts
4,013
Votes
Jon Klaus
  • Developer
  • Garland, TX
4,013
Votes |
8,666
Posts
Jon Klaus
  • Developer
  • Garland, TX
Replied

It's looking good. How much was your ifunding raise for this project?

User Stats

208
Posts
98
Votes
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
98
Votes |
208
Posts
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
Replied

@Jon Klaus Jon we raise about 195k on this one.  I will have 3 of the 6 on this infill site underway in 30 days. I crowdfuned another one about a week ago on Ifunding and I have a private investor on another. The weather here has been killing me!! But we are still on schedule.

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Account Closed
  • Full-Time Investor
  • Charlotte, NC
1,562
Votes |
2,280
Posts
Account Closed
  • Full-Time Investor
  • Charlotte, NC
Replied

Way to go @Kenneth Bell .  I still need to get out there and see it :)

User Stats

371
Posts
284
Votes
John Blackman
  • Developer
  • Austin, TX
284
Votes |
371
Posts
John Blackman
  • Developer
  • Austin, TX
Replied

Are you going to backfill that?  It looks like a basement.  Is there a garage opening on the other side?  I've never seen a slab that high.  :)

User Stats

208
Posts
98
Votes
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
98
Votes |
208
Posts
Kenneth Bell
  • Developer
  • Charlotte, NC
Replied

yes 2 car garage and basement. We backfill next week.