Video Diary of an Austin, Texas Spec Home

[Lynn Currie]

Hi All,

I'm FINALLY ready to launch something that I've been working on - a new construction project documented through videos.

In order to get a head start and work through some of the logistics of setting up the video schedule, I'm starting this thread with 6 videos under my belt and will be adding more regularly. I'm sorry for the ridiculously long post right out of the gate, but from here on out one video per post, I promise!

Before we jump in, let me give you some details on me and the project.

For those who don't know me, I'm Lynn {audience responds: "Hello, Lynn!"}. I'm currently doing a lot of urban-infill development in Austin. In case you don't know what that means, I buy tear-downs near downtown Austin, and build a new house on the lot.

This project is a new, single-family, spec build in one of Austin's higher-end, central, neighborhoods. We are building a 2749 square foot house, with a detached 2 car garage on the lot.

Here are how some of the numbers will likely play out:

Lot - $550k
Build Cost ~ $384,860 (I'm using $140 sq. ft. for this calculation)
---------
Total Investment ~$934,860
Expected Sales Price ~ $1.4M

The first two videos are about analyzing the deal. It's all screen-capture and documentation. The information and numbers in these two videos are not specific to this deal, but I used the same process. I created these before I got rolling on this project and think they cover important information, so am including them here.

Video 1: Screencast - Analyzing Land and Build Cost on a Spec Home Build
Find the property and analyze the cost of the land and the build so that you can determine the feasibility of a project. You can download a copy of the spreadsheet that I used in this video here.

Video 2: Screencast - What To Do While In The Option Period:
Once your property is under contract, perform your due diligence while you are in your option period (and with very little money at risk) to fully scrub the property and ensure that you can develop the land as you plan.

Video 3: Prepping for Demo
Once you’ve received your demo or relocation permit, steps need to be taken to prepare the property for the work.

Video 4: What You Need To Know About the City of Austin’s Tree Ordinance
This Austin, Texas ordinance protects trees over in 19? in diameter. Any development in the city must adhere to the guidelines. House nerd alert: Even if you don't care about Austin's tree ordinance, this video is worth watching for the cool drone footage above the house.

Video 5: Relocating the Existing House in Order to Clear the Lot
We chose to move the house instead of demolish it. In this video I’ll explain the house moving process that give you a behind the scenes look at how the magic happens.

Video 6: Prepping the Lot for the Foundation
Now that the house has been moved off of the lot, we have to clear all remaining debris, setup some utilities and get the corner staked out so the foundation crew can come in and get started.

[Lynn Currie]

The holidays and a couple of structural changes have slowed our roll a little, but the foundation is poured!

When we were framing up the foundation, I made a call in the field to raise it up 1 board height, which is 5.5" (the size of a 2x6). 

In Austin we go for months and months without rain and then will get 6" in 12 hours sometimes. Because the soil is so hard and compact from the lack of rain, it can't absorb the rain when it comes down that fast so it just runs off.

In looking at the neighborhood topo, I was concerned that the SE corner would get a great deal of that run-off. We could have tried to do some re-grading, but I feel that this is a better long-term solution.

As a result of raising the foundation, the house will be raised up 5.5" and we're tight on our tent. I don't want to run into any problems with that, so we're working with the structural engineer to change our LVLs and trusses between the 1st and 2nd floor from 18" to 12". We should find out today if this is possible without other sacrifices that can cause problems. If not, we'll move on to plan B (or C or D).

In the meantime, here is:

Video 8: Pouring the Foundation

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/MOgGJ8tX8OY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Once we get some new docs from the engineer, we'll start framing.