All Forum Posts by: Brandon Low

Is $400/sf including the soft costs or is that just the hard costs?  

There isn't a ton of modern houses in the bay area, so I'm looking to buy a plot of land and build a modern house. But since there are not many modern houses, there isn't a ton of information on how much it would cost to build one. For anyone that has experience with modern architecture in the bay area, what would you estimate the cost of building a house like this?

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/327-Hillside-Dr-Woodside-CA-94062/15597481_zpid/

@Joe Villeneuve

I'm probably missing something, but you mentioned that you can rinse and repeat this process over and over.... but if its a limit of 10/person, how can we repeat this after the 10th time?

I had a car drive through my property last week and there is a big whole in the side of my house. You can see the thread that I started over here:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/1984...

I need to get somebody out there to evaluate the damage, but I am not sure who is right for the job. Can I just get a foundation repair company to evaluate the damage or do I need a structural engineer to write a report? Are they the same thing? 

I've read that if I ever wanted to sell the house, I would need to have a report from a structural engineer showing what is wrong, and proof that I have fixed it. Would using a foundation repair company be good enough?

A quick update to the situation (along with more pictures)...

As of now, my property manager has been calling the police everyday to get the drivers insurance information. Ideally, I want to go through the driver's insurance to cover everything. Unfortunately, we have no idea when the police will get back to her, so it could take a while. Since this is the first time something like this has ever happened to me, I am not sure what I should do... Should I just keep waiting until the police get back to my property manager with the drivers insurance information, even if it could take a few weeks? Or should I put in a claim with my own insurance and pay the $5,000 deductible and also risk having my premiums increase? Obviously, I'd rather not pay the $5,000 deductible and risk having my premiums increase, but I also want to get the house repaired asap for the tenants. 

@Ali Boone

You're right, its NOT the seller or the property's fault at all. In fact, the seller is still involved and trying to help out with this disaster. I just wanted to share my experience, and it just so happens that it is an out of state turnkey property (which is why I included it in the title and post). 

I wish I could change the title and my original post so that people wouldn't get the wrong idea.

@Brett Snodgrass

Thanks for the encouraging words... and for the sympathy haha. That's terrible that someone lit your house on fire the day after you bought it. My situation doesn't seem too bad after hearing your story.

On another note, I've been getting a few private messages from people asking me about my out of state turnkey experiences. I want people to know that my experiences have so far been REALLY GOOD, except the the random freak car accident. Please don't misinterpret this thread as if I am unhappy with out of state turnkeys... although I completely understand how the title and post can be seen that way...(i apologize, my mistake!) 

@Dale Hensley

Thanks for the tip on First Call. Hopefully I won't need to use it, but will definitely keep it in the back of my mind if I ever need to use it.

I probably should have renamed the thread to something like "My 1st month experience with rental property..." instead of "My 1st month experience with out of state turnkey property...". I didn't mean to make it seem like it was the "out of state turnkey" thing that was bad. In fact, my experience has actually been very good with the whole process of investing out of state and the people I have dealt with so far have all been amazing. I don't want this to discourage people from investing out of state or in turnkeys, because as Dawn stated, this was more of a freak accident that could happen anywhere. I just needed to rant... 

Luckily, my PM has been great and has taken control of the situation so that I don't have to deal with it. They have already boarded up the hole in the house to prevent any water damage and hopefully will have the driver's insurance cover everything. 

Also, good advice on getting an engineer/inspection done on the foundation of the house. I don't plan on selling anytime soon, but it's better to get it fixed now when its covered.

@Bienes Raices

Its in indianapolis... the crazy thing is the woman who was driving the car supposedly hit a little boy the day before! I don't know how she is allowed to drive!

I have called my insurance but they said it would be better to have the driver's insurance take care of it. Luckily, she has insurance, but not sure if it's enough to cover all of the damage. If not, then I will have to bring my insurance in on it.