All Forum Posts by: Doniel Winter

If you search "NC H.B. 829 short term rentals" you can read about what the legislature is considering vis a vis a city's ability to ban people from renting homes on a nightly basis in NC. The bill is based on a successful court challenge to Wilmington's efforts to limit STR'.

It's nuanced, and frankly not entirely clear what the outcome could be. But the gist is, should it pass: a city would not have the right to force people to register/seek a permit to rent their homes nightly. However, they could still limit STR use by enforcing existing zoning laws that, for example, might not allow a "commercial operations" like an STR in neighborhoods with specific zoning.

This is one of the more detailed explanations I found on the subject.

https://canons.sog.unc.edu/202...

I need an education. What's a wrap investment?

Gabriel, prior to listing, what was your confidence level that a conceptual plan as opposed to an actual approved plan would get you the premium it did? Clearly the buyers were willing to take the risk, which is awesome. Also, could you guess how much more you could have sold it for if you had actually taken it through the entire approval process? I'm curious compare the entitlement process in different areas, particularly hot markets Boise.

Tom,
Jason Spencer of WNC/Spencer surveying is professional and a good communicator. He was about 4 weeks out last time I checked. Wes Cole of Wes Cole Surveying also good, bigger team. I had an emergency survey I needed and his team worked over a weekend to do it. I paid for that, but it was good to know someone in this town will work over a weekend. -Doniel

Try them: https://www.clean-dwell.com/

Depends on your goals I suppose. If this is buy/hold for future retirement income sounds ok to me. Seems like it wouldn't be hard to compare the duplex to some alternative investment in a different asset class?

Only in the last two years have rents been strong enough for our properties (SFR) to cash flow with a decent/competitive return. And we self manage to get it. Those mortgages will be paid off in a few years, but man that was 30 years of headaches!

Hopefully your rent projections are accurate, particularly for 2BD - it can kinda be a no man's land in rentals, unless you're in a really great location. I have a newly remodeled 3/2 SFR in a walk to town neighborhood where tenants gripe about $2200/month being unaffordable. Many tenants bristle at modest, yearly increases in rent to account for inflation. So we tend not to push rates to market with our longest term tenants, to avoid vacancies. BUT, AVL is full of folks coming from high rent cities where it's cheap by comparison. So I'm sure your future tenants are out there. Good luck.

That's awesome man! Like said, in the last 5 years, had I stuck to doing what you're doing (which I have done a few times as well) I could probably have accumulated the same number of building lots in prime Asheville neighborhoods, with more certainty, less effort, less risk, and with no more capital than we have invested now (about 600k). Buy, split, flip, build, repeat is a great formula. And don't forget about adding ADU's. ROI per sqft built is probably 1.5x single family in prime Asheville neighborhoods. So everything we build to rent going forward will have an ADU that's rented separately.

Ultimately, a rising market and that we had money to self finance is what saved our project. Had we started this with a hard money lender or something we'd have been toast after year two...

HI Gennaro - the journey is long, capital intensive, and not for amateurs. The process and requirements vary by region, state, county, city - and neighborhood within a city. If you search land development on BP there are hundreds of posts on the subject. Jay Hinrichs is also a good resource, he posts and has podcasted on the subject many times.

I am in year 5 and counting on the first phase of a 13 lot subdivision in Asheville NC, my first, and I would never undertake a project of this scale again. There are easier ways to make money, IMO.

That being said, the easiest way to dip your feet into development is to start with a single lot and a single house. That will give you a very good idea of what's involved on the construction end. Even better would be finding a house to rehab or flip that has enough land to do a parcel split and create a new lot - maybe even two. That would give you a taste of what's entailed in entitling land for development in your city. In my experience, there is plenty of hidden value in existing properties on larger parcels.

When it comes to development there are two common refrains that I heard from others in the beginning of my project and have found to be true: you don't know what you don't know, and you will be paying for your own education in development.

So, a great place to start are the development ordinances of the city you want to build in. It's dense and not always easy to interpret but it's all there. Also, if you see a development project in your neighborhood that interests you, find the job box on site and look at the plans, get the number of the engineer or the developer and make a call. People like to talk about their projects, you might get lucky. Last, look for a realtor that's listing land for development - it's possible they have enough experience/knowledge in the process to steer you in the right direction.

Good luck.

This article addresses taxation as capital gain vs. ordinary income, but to Bill's point, it mentions the nuances of intent.

https://www.thetaxadviser.com/...

If it's outside the City limits there are no restrictions, for the moment. Within the City, you can rent long term 30 days or more with no restrictions. Short term, or less than 30 days, see Talor L's post.