All Forum Posts by: Kevin Martin

I am hiring!!!! Things are strong in the building industry here in Jax....

@Ryan Murdock thanks for the info Ryan...this kind of stuff always seems to happen at the last minute! 

@Jill F. Yes they are an independent agency. Maybe she doesn't know other options or are they just trying to sell me an expensive month to month policy? I fully explained to her what I am trying to do with the property....buy with a loan, fix up (very minor), rent....

@Wayne Brooks thanks for the info. My agent said she cant write a landlord policy if its vacant...I dont mind the builders risk even if I cant get a rebate to satisfy the lender. I see you are in west palm...do you have anyone in Florida you use that can write me a policy by tomorrow? lol

I am buying an investment property with a loan. House will be vacant until I get it rented...only needs a good cleaning, paint, and some minor things. My insurance agent will issue me a month to month vacant policy until I get it rented then I can get a traditional landlords policy. My lender emails me tonight and is requiring a 12 month policy or else they wont fund....oh and I am suppose to close it 2 days and have already had a few extensions. Seller is probably going to walk with my deposit if I dont make this happen....What is my best option here? Builder risk? Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance BP members!

What county/city is your project in? I get calls like this on a daily basis as an engineer to come “stamp” work done by grandpa on the weekends or Joe that became a contractor from YouTube....most of the time it’s tear it down and start over. If it’s just misc. trades then get licensed contractors to pull the necessary permits and do the work in accordance with the FBC. If you have an addition that wasn’t permitted then it will get messy for you. I hope this gets resolved smoothly and quickly for you. 

You will have a hard time here in Jax with new construction 3-4 plexes. Site work will blow the costs out of the water. If you do multi here you need to go big or go home. Lol. Trust me....

1. Zoning

2. Utilities

3. Site Plan

4. Engineering 

5. Platting

5. Permitting

6. Developing 

7. Selling 

Or do 1 thru 3 and sell the land to someone who does this all the time. 

@Tarik Hodzic if it’s worth your piece of mind before you close then go for it. I have done inspections on both the buyers and sellers side as an engineer. One thing I can tell you is that us engineers don’t have X-ray vision so most of our options/recommendations are based what we can see and past experience. If you do hire an engineer make sure he has plenty of easy access to the attic, basements, ect. to make his job easier. Good luck!

@Marcos Gutierrez time is going to be your biggest enemy here....time for design, permits, and front end things before you even break dirt could be 3 to 6 months depending on engineers, the city, tree huggers, endangered species, ect. ect. Then you have to deal with a contractor and his subs who are slammed busy if they they are worth it. Also, like @Jay Hinrichs said really try to drill down your horizontal costs as these cost are highly site specific and can really make or break the deal if your are trying to turn 10% to 20%....good luck!