All Forum Posts by: Eric Teran

@Alexander Felice I am happy to speak to you about my journey viewed through an Architects mind. My wife and I are still rookies as we only have three rentals in Ecuador (too far to tour but one is a jungle house in the Amazon rainforest) and the house we live in where we house hack by renting the basement in Airbnb. The cool thing about our house is that we built it on a vacant lot in 2017 and used Superior Walls and Modular construction to finish construction in four months while working a full time job and the wife being pregnant with our second child. We were the Owner, Architect, and Contractor. Those were four crazy months!

Additionally, around half my clients are developers and it is interesting to see all the different mindsets and what each one is after. There is definitely a wide range of paths to becoming successful in real estate. I’m happy to speak to you to see if it’s a good match.

@Alvin Uy talk to your CPA. I was approved for Both the PPP and EIDL for my Architecture firm. The PPP was approved first in April and the EIDL about a month afterwards. I spoke to my CPA and he informed me not to take the EIDL unless absolutely necessary. I declined the EIDL. I forgot all his reasons but it had something due to with affecting the full forgiveness of the PPP. Of course this was back in May and things have changed.

@Nic Werner noise is measure by STC which stands for sound transmission class. For floor separation between units you want to be around 50 STC. There are various ways to achieve this.

Putting another layer of drywall or sound insulation is not enough. You want to separate the vibration. In addition to the extra layer of drywall and sound insulation there are vibration clips that are installed under the joists and then a metal furring channel is installed running the length of the ceiling. Then the drywall is attached to the furring channel. This separates all the vibration and noise will be minimal.

I did this for my basement (we rent on Airbnb) in the DC area and have done it for numerous clients. Around here a 1,000 SF ceiling cost around $4k to $8k (drywall, clips, insulation, paint, labor). I did mine around $4k because I acted as the GC, bought the materials, and hired the subs. It was definitely worth it.

One more solution is if you are replacing your flooring on the first floor there are rubber Matta that you can place under your flooring.

Whatever you do try to get the STC rating above 50.

@Luka Friganovic I think your calculations are off by about 1.4 months.

@Tucker Marshall I'll jump into the conversation as a fellow Architect also playing the Architect + Developer game. There are a few threads with fellow architects who are entering the REI field. I don't know why more architects don't do it as we have the knowledge to find properties that others don't through zoning and building codes.

I think hands on experience and not being afraid of a calculated risk is the best form of education. take that $50k and invest it somewhere. I have three rentals in Quito, Ecuador and rent our basement in Alexandria, VA and it has been a great learning experience.

I also started my own architecture firm in 2018 and around half my clients are REI investors. I have found that understanding how an REI investor thinks has allowed me to grow my firm rapidly and additionally I have numerous contacts in the REI world. A few which I hope to partner with on bigger deals this coming year.

In my opinion there is nothing more valuable than real world experience.

Good luck.

@Gerrett Houston an interior designer or other consultants may be covered. Take a look at this link, https://www.fdic.gov/consumers/community/mortgagelending/guide/part-1-docs/fannie-homestyle-renovation-mortgage.pdf. On the third page it has Architects, engineers and other consultants covered. So an interior designer may fall within that category. Just confirm it when you apply. Good luck.

@Ash Ghods I sent you a PM if you are interested.

@Mark Caudill please keep me updated. It will not be feasible for me on the East Coast but at least I can pressure the modular company I work with to look at them for inspiration. For example. I tried for a year to have multiple modular companies install cellulose insulation. I even had an installer willing to go to the factory to show them how it was done and was willing to provide documentation that the cellulose will not settle during transportation. No one wanted to try. One thought about it but got scared in the end. I noticed SA2 also had the typical fiberglass insulation. 

Let me know how it goes.  

@Mark Caudill I agree that a net-zero home is great and worth it. I tried to do it to my modular home that I built for myself in Alexandria, VA. However, no modular company (called over 30) was willing to go the extra mile to do it. A few of the companies had even competed in the solar decathlon but it was a one-off for them. It was extremely frustrating.

I believe this is great for an individual homeowner who is looking to keep and live in. That makes sense. However, from a developer standpoint, I don't know if it does. $200 SF or more for a home will not have the returns unless they can sell it for the right price. That doesn't even include the cost of the land. I guess it does state luxury homes so they might be able to price it high enough. 

I wish more modular companies on the East coast start to follow this trend because they are falling behind. The biggest items for sustainability are to insulate the house properly, correctly size the mechanical systems, and face the windows the correct way (stock plans don't work for this). From there solar panels and a Tesla Powerwall can be installed. I am doing this for a client near Baltimore who is building a 12,000 SF house out of SIPs (Structurally Insulated Panels), installing solar panels, Tesla Powerall, and many more sustainable features to make it net-zero. The nice thing with S2A is that they will do it for you and it doesn't have to be piecemeal. 

My biggest point is that it works for an individual homeowner or a big development. A duplex or small multifamily will depend on the site cost and land purchase to see if it is feasible. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for this. 

@Mark Caudill I took a quick look and it looks promising. However, the $165 per SF is not a big deal. That does not include any site work, foundations, utilities, and so forth. You can add another $30 to $75 per SF for those items. A modular home around $200 SF isn’t that great. It is fine for California but not for Kansas.

It is nice that they are using new technology. I have contacted numerous modular companies and my biggest complaint is that they are stuck in the 80’s.