All Forum Posts by: Drew Whitehead

No problem. Hopefully you can get it to work out!

Wow great responses all of a sudden this is great! I shifted focus a little bit from what I was thinking back then. Because the market is so much of a buyer's market I decided to start flipping some houses. I still think I'll eventually buy one in the near future just not exactly sure when. Part of the reason why I was going to be purchasing it is because during the off-season I wanted to use it as a weekend getaway for my family as well as during the peak seasons for one weekend or so. I did look at a couple though recently and I'm trying to just still crunch the numbers and make it work. I just think it's a big learning curve with maintenance and cleaning and everything so if I'm going to get into it I almost need to buy more than one to make it worthwhile. If anybody knows of any deals up there whether it is a buy-and-hold or a Fix and Flip I would still be interested in partnering or working the deal.

It would probably depend on the architect or firm that you choose on whether it will actually be cheaper or not. Some may be a flat fee regardless white others don't mind turning a functionable plan into construction docs. It should be less work for them because they know what you want and they won't have to do any programming or space planning. It really just depends on how you define the scope of the architect and how it is written in the contract. As far as site prep goes, you will need to see if there is a recorded plat and check what the zoning is. Zoning can have major impacts and effects on the design and size of the structure so you need to be real careful. If the site is unimproved and never been built on before, you may ask a couple survey guys to look at it if you aren't sure how good the soils are in that area. This is typically how it is done in the States on the main land and Guam may be completely different.

In my experience as an architect, I have a couple of comments whether they are helpful or not. The $1-5/SF cost is fairly accurate, especially for a small residential type project. If you come with an idea of how you want it to look and have a preset floor plan it makes it even easier and cheaper. 

As far as submitting and creating your own plans. Most cities have a list of items that need to be included and you would be very helpful on the site plan and other areas but that is typically 1 page of a 50-100 page set of drawings and I feel like you would be wasting more time than not creating and drawing everything. 

The other thing to consider is that every jurisdiction is different and most that I have done work in, if the building is under 3,000 SF, you don't have to have an architect stamp necessarily if you get a structural engineer or other professional to stamp the structural drawings and calcs. I've found that hiring a structural engineer (~$1,000 or so) is well worth it rather than running your own calcs and details that the cities require. 

I would be interested in attending also! I'm new to REI but have done a couple deals and am finishing one right now. I'm also an architect in the area and could be helpful if needed. I'm on a couple wholesalers list but could always use more! Most of the deals I get sent are ok but not great. Under 200k is harder to find with minimal margins.

I have a great guy who steps up to the plate to go out and find the best options and rates for anything I need. He is very knowledgeable and I bet he could at least discuss with you. If he can't help you he will refer you to someone that can. He had done that for me also. 

Pm me if you are interested in getting his info.

I can recommend several but they are a couple weeks out. I just started a flip and finally found someone able to get it done adding a bedroom and bathroom in the basement as well. I've had pretty good success lately with the Thumbtack or Nextdoor apps also. Nextdoor is more local to each neighborhood and you could probably even pop in and see their work if your neighbors don't mind.

Multi family deals are hard to come by now. I'm still always looking for deals there but people are still buying them high and must be owner occupying to make sense of the high price. I've heard of some that are buying just for 'future investments' and aren't seeing any cash flow. With utilities and mortgage they are breaking even or slightly negative every month... Crazy...

I'm shifting my focus on single family flips right now as I feel there are still deals to be had right now and the opportunities to sell high are still there. 

Thanks Danielle for offering. I would love to chat about how you got things started! Or to connect with your friend would be great also.

Eric, that's a unique insight that I will look into in the Salt  I lake area near the University. I guess you rent to college students furnished also so that makes sense.

I guess I am looking at the Park City one and others as also a destination spot for me and my family to block out several weeks a year to vacation to also. Having one local to where I live would maybe stay occupied more regularly. 

Thabks for the input guys!

Anybody have any properties they do Airbnb with? I'm wondering about the Park City area specifically due to the swing in seasons and events. I have some capital that I am looking at purchasing a property in Park City to Airbnb most of the year and would also be a weekend getaway for me and my family when not rented out. I'm just curious to know the pros/cons, etc. I know some people that rent it out for more than $400/night in the winter and don't hardly get it rented out in the summer. Obviously if you average it out over the year it still needs to make sense but I'm curious if anyone is in the same situation.

Thanks