All Forum Posts by: Kevin Martin

@Sarah Mason sounds like you are talking about an architect or "residential designer". If you are doing major work then definitely use a professional to make sure you are good with permitting and local codes. 

@Allan Smith ah yes the title of this post says it all!!! Engineer here...I see this all the time. The best is when a buyer knows the game, gets a huge quote from a foundation company, then uses it as leverage to negotiate the seller way down. Not cool for people who dont even know what a footer is....the problem here is that investors like the words "free quote" instead of $250-1k from an engineer to even look at it. 

Sorry about your situation but thanks for sharing on BP...hopefully someone else on here can learn from you.

@Seun Saka  fellow engineer here! Welcome to BP...You got this! 

@Joseph Beilke We are doing this just up the street from you in Jax.... Here are some helpful tips

1. own the land outright

2. get your hard bids, plans, comps, ect. on the front end to save time and help with your financing....you may need Hard money on your first couple before you can prove a track record.

3. Your GC can make or break you....right now where we are in the market time is your worst enemy. Engineers, architects, builders, ect. ect are slammed busy and if you have hard money it can go sideways quick....

4. Make sure you see what the GC is including in his price....if he has no development costs in his bid it goes on you and this can rack up quickly on the front end before you even start digging footers.

5. Dont get too "cute" with design or finishes of a spec home unless you get a pre-construction contract and your buyers are willing to pay for the extras....even then if you are on hard money you dont want to wait a couple weeks for your buyers to pick paint colors and tile.

There is much more info but this is all I have for now....If you need any help with plans or engineering feel free to reach out...good luck!

@Darrius Harris there is always another deal around the corner! 

@Larry Bowers always keep calm and carry on but get some hard quotes from septic guys before you lose your poo! ha 40k seems really high unless you have alot of poo to clean up. 

1. Invest always....

2. Primary residence is a liability...

3. buy more rentals and use the cash flow to offset the cost of your mortgage...or just rent until you find a lower end home for 799k

4. Move to Iowa and buy the same house for 199k...

Based on my research...

1. Residential and commercial property

2. You fill out a form for the IRS and check a box....

3. You have to file the form with the IRS the tax year when you bought the property. 

using loans and rehabbing properties gets in the weeds with the details of what is allowed and not. 

I am not an accountant or lawyer.....

@Wayne Brooks thanks for the reference! 

New septic around here runs about 10k for a traditional system. Any special septic systems start at 16k and go up from there...this is for a new system with nothing existing....I dont know the added cost to remove existing.