All Forum Posts by: David Edwards

@Barron Peper

I started a company last year that does owners rep services, consulting, arch, and development. I have my investing in other companies. One thing to think of when structuring things is how insurance will treat a company with real estate and arch combined. From my experience they are different specialties and carry different amounts of risk in the eyes of an insurer. When setting up the LLC it wasn't an issue but my tax guy has their work cut out for them when sorting through things each year.

@Jenna Lee, Architect from Seattle here. What you are describing doesn't sound too extensive and if you are not looking to expand the footprint or add square footage it should be pretty straightforward and more or less cosmetic (new siding should perform better but still straightforward). 

From my experience you're looking at anywhere from $200 - $300 / sf for work in the city if you work with a full service GC. Prices are trending towards the high end of that range. I imagine you could find some savings by acting as the GC and hiring out trades individually, of course that will largely depend on your experience / comfort with that sort of thing and your local network. 

Its been said on multiple occasions on this site but, as far as investments are concerned, a primary residence isn't likely to perform as well as another class of property, best to go into any project with your eyes open. That said, you get to use this building for yourself so there's plenty of upsides. 

Do you have a property already? With how busy folks are it will be hard to pin down a number from anyone without a detailed scope of work. 

Sounds good @Jeff Chorath, feel free to PM me if you have any questions in the meantime.

Best, 
Dave

@Keyana Buckner As a note the rules surrounding ADU's and DADU's in Seattle have (somewhat) recently been adjusted to open them up. In the municipal code you will will want to look under the section titled accessory uses that should break down what can be done in the specific zone.

@Jeff Chorath, It sounds to me like you are looking for a design build team. I'm not that but I do own and operate a small design, owners rep, and development company in the area (more info in my signature) If you are open to going about things in a more traditional way I could reach out to some of my contacts within larger contractor companies to see who they recommend. Do you have a site?

@Ryan Lee both @Nicholas Lohr and @Eric Teran have made good points about the complexities of the building process. Fortunately for you there are different levels of involvement you would need to take in this process depending on who you bring on to your team. If you hire an Architect they can handle the sourcing of many of the needed consultants for the survey portion of the project, can work with you for the design and entitlement process, and should be able to recommend GC's to handle the construction process. 

Since you were asking for steps to take the simplified version is;

1. 1. Find a Site (check)
2. 2. Make sure zoning for site allows you to do what you want to do with it (also likely checked since it was a house before)
3. 3. Find an Architect to help you with the design and entitlement process 
4. 3a. Ask Architect what kind of survey you need done and who they would recommend for that work.
5. 4. Get project designed far enough for pricing to occur. 
6. 5. Get bids from GC's to confirm cost
7. 6. Make adjustments as needed based on above.
8. 7. Get all permits req'd for build (architect can submit and work with jurisdiction in building and zoning permits, GC and subs will typically pull all other permits)
9. 7a. Finalize whatever arrangement you will be using for construction funding (bank cash, etc.)
10. 8. Build the thing 
11. 8a. Get Inspected as required by jurisdiction 
12. 9. Done and Done

There's a lot of sub items to the above but as a typical home client your role is to provide direction for the design and construction team and to make sure everyone gets paid for their work. The people you hire are getting paid to deal with the complexities of getting something built. 

Hope that helps 

@Gerren Ferguson it will be worth getting some more clarification from the building department on who is able to submit the plans. I imagine if you stop in to the office you could get a pretty quick answer on this sort of thing.

I would generally recommend an architect for projects with the argument that the things we take into consideration due to their experience and material knowledge even on small jobs will help to avoid missteps and leave you with a better finished product. Small local firms are the typical scale that handle these projects. That said, I recognize that some people are looking to reduce upfront costs and have the experience from similar projects to navigate the process independently. In these situations a draftsman or even the contractor may be able to produce these plans. For small projects the fees shouldn't be that crazy whichever route you decide to go. 

On a side note, this requirement will make the next owners / renovators life a heck of a lot easier. 

@Devin Chong I'm an Architect in Seattle, just saw this thread and thought I would reach out. Feel free to DM me if you have any other questions or want an Architect / investor to put a set of eyes on something.

Best,

@Jeff Cliff for a good amount of residential work in the US you are generally not required to have an architect, this varies by jurisdiction so you will just want to check with your local building department to confirm. If you are doing any structural work the jurisdiction may require stamped structural drawings and calcs for seismic. 

Since, if I'm understanding correctly, you are planning on holding the property, doing minimal work now to get the place rent ready, and then rehabbing it to its full potential for your retirement, it might make sense to have an architect weigh in if for no other reason than to plan for the future home. This will help to ensure that you don't do work for the rental that will get in the way of the future work. If you have no idea what direction you want to go then and some rework isn't of concern then you can likely get a good contractor to get the "done for now" part completed. 

During the interviews I would ask to see examples of their work, try to get an idea of how they price their services and what it would take to get a bid, if they see any areas of concern that stand out to them, and check to see if they will be handling entitlements for the work. I'd also ask about their schedules. If they are an investor or have experience working with rental housing that's a bonus as they will know what their target is in the design / build. 

Painting with a broad brush here so feel free to reach out with any other questions. 

Best,

@Connor Dunham THAT IS NUTS! I suppose people generally take care of themselves if given the option but I've seen some pretty dangerous self builds as well. @Derek Morrison I'd still look into the IRC when planing your build for some base safety items but I guess up there, its in your hands.