All Forum Posts by: Alex T.

I usually use ~3% as my rule of thumb for all-cash deals without inspections. 2.14% for transfer tax, 1% for title insurance and ancillary fees. With a mortgage, it'll go up a bit. It's not perfect, but it's easy to multiple a purchase price by 1.03 to get my approximate all-in entrance. Carrying costs are a separate line item...but if you're going the mortgage route, you will have to prepay for HOA dues, taxes, property insurance, etc., so you'll want to make sure you have those funds at the time of close...but again, you'll treat those as carrying costs (not closing costs) from a budgetary perspective.

I recently paid to close the sidewalk on a construction project in North Philly. Because we're near a school, I thought it would be safest to lock the site down while we did did demo and framed out a 3rd story addition. I paid to close it for 6 weeks, and the permit ended a few days ago. We aren't quite done with framing, and I'd like to keep the sidewalk closed for another 7-10 days. The issue is (1) it's expensive to keep it closed and (2) you have to give Philly Streets at least 10 business days of notice prior to them approving you. Does anyone have experience leaving blockages up past the permit date? I feel like I read somewhere that it's a $70 fine per day for non-permitted closures. Obviously, any neighbors paying attention could call, but do you guys think the city is actively policing this if they don't receive a complaint? I see a ton of projects around the city that close sidewalks without permits (or at least without posting the permit) and also close sidewalks past the date that their permit calls out. I'm not trying to game the system, but if I need the sidewalk closed for another 7 days, I don't have any options now since I couldn't even pay the city without the 10-day notice rule. Thanks for the insight.

@Troy Sheets Thanks for the input. Clearly, there's some scar tissue from my architect/contractor, and they're being too conservative. The roofline is still going to end up 1.5-2' below the 38', but our ceiling heights are going to be 9.5'-10'-10' on floors 1-2-3, so all is fine.

@Tim Sharkey This project was ~3k for zoning and building permits for a 2200sqft SFR. That does not include any work needed for historic, zoning variance, engineering, amendments, etc.

@Jason Malabute Gotcha. Well, good luck. I don't doubt that Winter Garden, FL might have more upside than your local LA market, but perhaps you could find a market in your region - within a few hours - that is comparable. Just my opinion, but it's very easy to get burned when you're 3000 miles away from an investment.

@Jason Malabute Ha, no clue if they're not responding. What market is it? Why not invest around where you live? Priced out...weak market?

@Tim Sharkey Agreed, my architect should know that instead of taking the easy way out. Admittedly, I don't pay my architect much. $2000-3000 for a SFR to get through zoning and L&I. He's ok...and I don't ask for much because I lay everything out in CAD and send it to him to model it per code.

I am definitely looking for someone new if you have a rec. Thanks.

@Account Closed Thanks a bunch. I emailed L&I, and then they responded with the following:

"Parapet walls may extend above the height limits up to 42 inches in any district per Table 14-701-6 of the Philadelphia Zoning Code."

Glad that I now have that in writing. Thanks again.

I'm adding a 3rd story to an RSA5 property...which has a 38' max height requirement to the roof line. I'm doing a fiberglass roof deck on top with a 36" high parapet around the whole thing. I can't get complete clarity on this, would the parapet count within the 38' height? I have read in the code that railings can protrude up to 48" above the 38' requirement. My architect says he's done projects where they've been slightly over 38' and had to rip everything down. Due to this he is taking a very conservative route by designing the parapet top to sit at 37' above the ground. I'd much rather add an extra foot to the 2nd and 3rd floors! Does anyone have experience with this? Thanks

@Luke Fouch Taking everything you say at face value (and not factoring in any fees...since the values here are so low), why not just wholesale it? Personally, I'd take money with low risk over flipping or renting. My second choice would be to flip. A deal at this price point isn't going to make you rich, regardless of how long your money is working for you. If I could take 25k off a wholesale deal, or 45k off a flip deal, that would be fantastic. With renting, you're relying on longterm market factors to be in your favor, and it takes a lot more work marketing, screening tenants, responding to every tenant issue, refurbishing when they move out, etc. For a unit generating this little in rent, I don't think it's worth it...unless you didn't have great wholesale/flip options on the table.