All Forum Posts by: Keith Bloemendaal

 2 reasons. It's a 50' deep garage already, more than enough for two cars just in that bay. The other reason is the deck on the front, the garage starts even with where the actual house starts on that side. 

 Thanks! I am just glad to be finally building again, been a long 4mos to get here!

 Well, there are a lot of soft costs that aren't included, agent commission (5%), interest on loan, closing costs, insurance, utilities, contingencies, etc... I hope to be $60-70k though. 

This is my second new home, I have been journaling my first one, which deals with how I got funding, my background, why I am building on my own finally, and more here: http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/522/topics/158...

I just closed on my first lot and construction loan yesterday, so what do you do? Start thinking about the next one! I had actually already been working on a design for my second home, and it was completed today. This will be on the same street as my first one, where I actually have 3 more lots under contract. Here are some images:

The second image of the ground level shows an optional "inlaw suite" that adds 520 sq/ft to the plan, this spec won't include that. I am trying to stay in a specific square foot and price point on my first few homes. 

This is just in the beginning stages, I just sent off the info to my banker for another construction loan today, and am a few weeks out on closing the lots (3 total), so I am now sending out my RFP's to lock in my numbers. 

Here are my projections:

Lot cost $91,500
Hard Construction: $180k
Sale Price: $370-$380k

That's it for now, I will update as I journey, thanks for reading!

Yesterday, we closed on the first lot and construction loan. It has been a long journey to get here, but I am scheduled to start clearing the lot tomorrow or Thursday. 

Today, after having breakfast with my investor/partner and seeing him off back to Raleigh, I spent the morning scheduling, updating bids (my quotes for things like lumber, windows, doors, trusses, etc.. were from October and needed to be updated), which I ended up saving hundreds of dollars as lumber prices inched down over the winter, issuing PO's (first I created a template in Google Sheets with a sheet for every major vendor so I could easily get these PO's out in the future, that took me a few hours), sending my plans off to be printed, and sending out RFP's for my next build (will start another thread for that one). 

This week clearing, next week Pilings, the following week slab/concrete work, and I hope to be framing in 3-4 weeks if scheduling allows. 

Will post pics later this week when clearing and grading commences. 

 Everyone has their own way, and as many articles as one can provide paying for likes doesn't work (Page likes), another can provide articles showing how it does work. It worked for me, and you can drill down the demographic in so many ways it really is hard to screw it up. I narrowed mine down to 3 cities, must be realtors, and I got ~150+/- Page likes from it that are very targeted to areas and people I want seeing my stuff. 

Growing organically sounds great, but it doesn't work on FB anymore, not unless you are posting clickbait titles like "I went to the coffee shop for a cup of coffee, you won't believe what happens next!" and even then your organic reach won't be targeted to who you need. 

The best advice I could give is to test, test, and then test more. Find what works for YOU, because what works for me may not work for you at all. 

Update:

New appraisal FINALLY came back for construction loan, hoping to close on lot by end of week. New plot below, for some reason the town requires you to show parking that meets the requirements of how many spaces you have to have. (based on bedrooms I believe)

 I am working on 4 sets of plans right now, and have 4 lots under contract. I plan to start there and add to my design arsenal as I build more. I am also adding some "options" to a couple of my plans, like an inlaw suite underneath one, and a media/bonus room in the walk in attic of another, which gives me a couple more plans, sort of :-)

For me, I live on the coast, so the lots I am buying need to have a certain "coastal" design, when I decide to build further inland they will be a completely different type of home. 

Wow, looks like this was exactly what was supposed to happen for this deal! 

 Marcus gives great advice. Get a good realtor that knows the area, use them to find your lots, then list with them, build a good relationship it will pay you tenfold. 

I essentially do the same thing, I buy lots that are ready to build on, then sub all the work out.