All Forum Posts by: Kristi Kandel

Hey All,

I have a background in Civil Engineering working for around 40 years doing land development, floodplains, and waste management work, among other things. I stopped for a while to do life coaching and energy work, and then I met a guy who was a broker that wanted to get more into the development side so we teamed up with his dad, a lawyer, and started up.

As things have progressed, I am now finding lots of deals, and as it turns out, the guy I am working with is not really delivering the investors like he said he could/would so I am learning that part of the process now too as most of my deals sit quietly on the sidelines. I'm getting too old to wait, so if I have to take things in my own hands, I will.

Here is the caveat, I came back to do this because I am extremely passionate about sustainable development, net-zero carbon, thermal mass, compressed earth block, rammed earth, hempcrete and others with all the add-ons like rainwater collection, solar and permaculture. I'd be surprised if there is a sustainable builder in Texas that I have not at least talked to, if I don't actually know them.

I am trying to develop projects that allow these folks to showcase their work so people may discover that they can live in healthy, efficient, comfortable, forever homes that don't burn,  and are insect proof and mold free. 

Besides the funding for the subdivisions or site developments, we need funding for the builders to take down lots and build. They are transitioning from the custom home model to a spec home subdivision model. While this is exciting and opens the door to opportunity, they really need investors to make the shift since they aren't used to buying the land and funding the build without the buyer already in tow.

So I have an abundance of deals to do basically those parts, either develop subdivisions with all the horizontal infrastructure and sell lots, or fund builders spec homes in these developments, preferably all sustainable because a known stick builder can come in and build without any help.

So if any of this interests you or you think I would be someone you want to know, drop me a message and we can talk all about it. I am an introvert and an engineer so talking is not my thing, but I love talking about this.

Also, I'm not sure this is the site for this kind of development project since most everything I see is flips and rentals, although funding a custom build is basically flipping a brand new sustainable home.

All the best!

How does one acquire financing for a development project when I am a brand new developer? I don't have any developer friends to be on the LLC with me. I want to help with low-income housing in my community that I know well and I've worked in for many years. lenders sometimes want 3 deals of the same level done. The project is 1.9 million for the land and then the development of the low-income housing

Hi All,

The more I learn about land flipping, the more I am intrigued. I have some general questions I am hoping to get answered to point me in the right direction. 

- Is it worth buying a course (seems like there are plenty out there) or should I just dive right in without one? 

- Should I use my own capital up front or try to partner with an established land flipping business to fund the deals? 

- Is it really possible to do this while working a 9-5, or is it something you need to go all in on and quit the 9-5 to pursue? 

- Is there another way to make this business model work without sending out direct mailers that could cost tens of thousands of dollars each year?

Any and all tips are much appreciated!

We have 4 townhouses east of 75 & Haskell (West of Ross), Built ~ 2007. Good condition, 100% occupied. Monthly rent in the ~$1.5/sqft range. I'm currently also the property manager. I'm a professional in another unrelated field and the time I spend to manage the rental properties are not worth my hourly. Also, our portfolio is very heavily concentrated in RE, diversification is seen as a positive at this point. 

I'm exploring several long term strategies:

-Exit:

The townhouses share common walls in the middle. The legal description of the lot states these 4 townhouses are 1 legal property (they are NOT platted as 4 separated properties).

The realtor I use to appraise the property claim that I would maximize the sales price if I had the re-platted as 4 different legal properties. However, he offered no assistance on the re-platting process. 

I spoke to my RE Lawyer, who claimed that re-platting would take much longer than just forming a condo association and selling each individual townhouse as a condo. 

-Long term hold

My rolodex isn't that great for trades (Plumber, Electrician, Roofer, Landscape, or Property Manager). I may have 2 or 3 on that list (no property manager that I trust) of trades that I would trust and keep long term to work on my other properties. This results in me often driving to the property to assess the problem myself and paying a premium to get the work done right. 

I could just get better at establishing relationships with the trades and hope that my cost to manage will go down in the future. Or I may get a trust worthy property manager, but that cost almost would lower the long term returns to below the S&P 500 indexes. 

My questions to the hivemind:

- Have you ever had to re-plat 1 property with 1 legal description into 4 different properties? Any insight on this process or forming condo association would be helpful.
- What would you do if you were in my situation? I feel like this is a good time in the market cycle to exit and diversify? But I may not be as in tune with the market trends as the rest of the professionals. 

Morning BP!

Does anyone have experience selling raw land to charities and/or non-profits like Habitat for Humanity? I'm exploring tax deed auctions and there is a ton of raw land that pops up at these auctions. Seems to me that selling to an organization like Habitat for Humanity might help you ensure you have a relatively consistent buyer, assuming the parcels you purchase are in desirable areas for them and meet their acquisition criteria. I'm assuming these organizations would pay far below market value for land, but there are obviously also some significant tax benefits that may potentially offset the "lower-than-market" valuation you may receive when selling to them. 

Thanks,
Chris

Greetings,

I am a recent Civil Engineering college graduate, and I am looking for advice on how to secure funding.

The deal is located in Florida

I am currently in process of purchasing the Land for $18k free and clear

I will be building an 1100 SQ/FT home construction cost will be around $130,000

What are some ways I can secure funding as a 21-year-old inspiring developer? ARV is around $250,000 on the very low end.

@Marquez Davis start talking with the local and regional banks. Find out their requirements to fund a construction loan and their terms to provide a permanent loan after construction. I was just at a conference where several hard and private money lenders fund these deals for investors and developers. 

Shoot me a DM and I’ll send you more information. While the lender might need you to also have a partner with experience on the loan that could be your builder and you work out an equity split. Lots of options. 

I have long been weighing the option of acquiring an MBA as it seems to be the most practical real world degree for someone developing their business acumen and career. As a real estate agent and investor is this required obviously not, but I wonder if anyone can share success stories in regard to an MBA within the real estate world. Has it made a major difference in your business?

Experience is king I'm well aware but...

Is it worth getting? Is the knowledge helpful in this space, any particular specialization, entrepreneurship focus... etc? Any advice on this topic?

Thank you for sharing!