All Forum Posts by: Ed O.

@Austin Ralls

Hey Austin, you're down the street from me (SW MO), guessing we might have a similar experience. 

We're hoping to go from start to shovel ready in about 9 months on our current project.  I know some people that have developed for large national builders. They usually get irrevokable letters of credit for the agreed upon price of the development so they know they will get paid when they deliver. How big of a development are you working on? Do you have an engineer and surveyor lined up? This is an important first step. I can refer you to a guy in my market that travels if you need a solid engineer - DM me if interested. 

If you've never built, live thousands of miles away, take the easy money and sell outright. There's an endless list of sad stories of first time builders. Local and regional banks are generally the best source of financing. Forget about talking to the large national banks for this. 

Are you folks really paying 2500-3000 for a cost seg study on a single family home? If so, I think that's ..... crazy. Why not do it yourself?

I don't have experience in your specific area. 

I would add this for what it's worth: 

Insulate inbetween the first and second floors to minimize sounds being heard. 

Also, I don't understand how you could lose closing costs in this deal. The bank can modify / revise the loan without breaking your kneecaps. 

Last, I would ask the county and also a local attorney (on your behalf - in case the city is overreaching requiring sprinklers in this instance) for the code where they can require sprinklers. It sounds like overkill to me, but maybe it's code and I'm not aware of of it. 

10% in a slow market, 15+ in a hot market. It's a big chunk to me, but reasonable in this climate. 

Have you considered asking for a seller concession at a minimum? Clearly there's a significant defect. Perhaps the apartments should be condemned absent the repair. The fire escapes will have to be dealt with by you or the owner if they do not sell, making this a real and urgent problem. This would effect the owner as much as yourself. I would try to renegotiate this as well as get a lot of other bids to see if you can do better on the cost. 

We're in a market where GC's all will make a killing, regardless of skill or quality... at least that's my opinion....

Are you building and selling or keeping? If the houses are all in the same neighborhood, scaling would/should be a lot easier.... you can look at all of them with one trip, instead of multiple trips to different locations. 

Systems make the ordinary extraordinary. I think Ben Kinney said that.... Are you using systems? I use a few somewhat basic ones which help a good bit. 

It could help for sure. I wouldn't try it first.

My bet it that it can probably be resolved by addressing rainwater and more effectively getting it away from the house. Placement and maintenance of gutters and downspouts can often be the greatest influence on issues like this. I'd suggest watching the rainwater during a downpour to see obvious issues that you won't observe when it's dry. Nothing can simulate a lot of rain... gotta throw a raincoat on and observe it in progress. 

Usually people asking those types of questions here have between 0 and 50 posts and 0 votes (takers, takers and takers). 

1. Order Custom items as far in advance as possible. 

2. Avoid using custom items to the largest extent possible. Their cost is at least double a stock size. For instance, a 36x60 mirror is $60-90. A 34 x 60 mirror would probably be double that as it's a custom size. Same with vanities and tops. 

3. Get all bids in writing or in a text. Labor will often change prices when they have a newb. 

4. Find a builder in your market. So many details are region specific. Processes, codes, rules. A contact here would be priceless. 

@Barrett Bridgewater

Thanks for the info. I agree, some homes FEMA tags, in my entirely unqualified opinion, are not flood risks. They do a great job of collecting premiums from those sites to subsidize the high risk polices they underwrite.