All Forum Posts by: Hugh Ayles

I had an employee who was seperated from her husband.  In spite of court ordered child support, he often shorted her.

It sucks and I thought he was a creep for doing that to her. 

I would not count his income, especially if his support is nonbinding.

Some things you can buy direct, other things are not a good idea.

Do you have the equipment and knowledge to cut stone and put a desired edge on it?

Do you have equipment to unload the slab from a truck?

Do you have another use for the fall off?

Stone countertops are not sold like the p.lam. countertops you see at Home Depot.  They are sold in big "sheets" for a lack of better terms.

Will you need new sidewalks and driveway?  What kind of substructure?  Brick, wood siding, aluminum siding?

Does the old house have lead or asbestos?

To elaborate on soft costs, that would be things like architect fees, permit fees, tap fees, insurance costs, interest costs, temporary utilities and utility consumption.

This is really a question for your local plan review/permitting department.  Set up an appointment with them so you can ask when bringing everything up to code is required.

If you touch any electric, they are going to want to see GFCIs in the kitchen and bathrooms.  Apprently in Austin they are now requiring AFCI as well.  I assume that may affect you as well.

Commercial construction is way different than residential apparently.  In commercial, the owner provides a contract to the GC.  The GC provides a contract to the subcontractor.  

As far as having two contracts, that is a bad idea.  Too much chance for conflict.

@Michael A Rytina

It is a slippery slope inviting a GC to give you a bid when you only want him to set your budget for you.

Using square foot prices or it usually costs $x for a 2,000 sf rehab is a very dangerous thing to do.

I found homewyse at least gets you in the ballpark for costs.  I would take that and add at least 10% contingency.

@Austin Spangler

I have had a business coach for another business that is not REI related.

Again I refer to my post where i indicate you need to spend more time reviewing the educational info on Bigger Pockets and investing in a couple of books that are available here.

I am not sure what your "educated your self" reference is.  I assume you mean we all needed education at some point.  Some of us got it through years of industry exposure such as myself.

There is no shortcut to education but there is a shortcut to failure.  Pump the brakes, do some reading, come up with a plan, and then seek coaching.

There are a number of "gray hairs" (meaning experienced) people telling you what to do in this thread and it seems like you are ignoring the advice. A good coach will want to know that you can take direction. One REI coach has even responded to your post with similar information as what I am giving.

You can't get rich quickly in REI but you surely can go broke quickly.

@Nina Haman

You ask for low cost lenders but with the situation you present, you will be looking at hard money lenders.  On the one hand, you may pay more.  On the other hand, you may be getting such a return that it is worth the cost.

For hard money lenders, you need to have at least 3 points available.  In other words, for a $100k loan, you need to pay about $3k on the front end.

You will need to be able to pay interest each month.  Figure at least $1k per month for that.  Other monthly costs include insurance, electric, property taxes.

You will also need to come up with 15-30% of the money yourself.

Conversely, there are private lenders who may provide 100% financing but they most likely want points up front and you still have insurance, monthly interest payments, and other monthly costs.

I present this so you don't get caught by surprise with costs.  

"I just need help" is way to general.  This is a business.  A coach cannot help you with no set plan.

Spend some time on BP listening to podcasts and researching.  Hopefully you will come up with a more clear path and then seek some help.

Are you wholesaling?  If so, please add me to your buyer list.