All Forum Posts by: Kristina Kendall

We signed a contract with a builder to build a new house from scratch back in late 2021 and we still haven't broken ground. At the time, the contractor presented as an experienced builder but I've since learned that he owns an HVAC company and has done some kitchen/bathroom remodels. (we used a building consultant to handle the RFPs so I trusted their reco more than I should have...) Anyway, a year ago, I asked him if he was up for the challenge of building an entire house from the ground up and he 1) assured me that he was and 2) said that if I canceled the contract, I'd still be liable for the full build cost. I've paid him about $60k in draws for the permits and whatever else he's done...and the next draws don't happen until he breaks ground...but that doesn't seem to be happening any time soon.

So, my concerns now are 1) lumber costs have come way down since late 2021 so I kinda want a new quote based on current prices and 2) I'm not really confident he knows how to build a house and 3) now that i'm looking at different financing, I'm hearing that investors wouldn't want to work with him because he's never built a house. So, even though I probably won't pursue a construction loan at this point, I'm worried that maybe I shouldn't work with him either. So, I need to know my options for backing out or renegotiating the build cost.

For those curious, I think we're paying about $400/sq foot for a 2000sq ft. house on a sloped lakefront lot.

We signed a contract with a builder to build a new house from scratch back in late 2021 and we still haven't broken ground. At the time, the contractor presented as an experienced builder but I've since learned that he owns an HVAC company and has done some kitchen/bathroom remodels. (we used a building consultant to handle the RFPs so I trusted their reco more than I should have...)  Anyway, a year ago, I asked him if he was up for the challenge of building an entire house from the ground up and he 1) assured me that he was and 2) said that if I canceled the contract, I'd still be liable for the full build cost. I've paid him about $60k in draws for the permits and whatever else he's done...and the next draws don't happen until he breaks ground...but that doesn't seem to be happening any time soon. 

So, my concerns now are 1) lumber costs have come way down since late 2021 so I kinda want a new quote based on current prices and 2) I'm not really confident he knows how to build a house and 3) now that i'm looking at different financing, I'm hearing that investors wouldn't want to work with him because he's never built a house. So, even though I probably won't pursue a construction loan at this point, I'm worried that maybe I shouldn't work with him either.  So, I need to know my options for backing out or renegotiating the build cost.

For those curious, I think we're paying about $400/sq foot for a 2000sq ft. house on a sloped lakefront lot.

Quote from @Jay C.:

@Kristina Kendall Just curious, have you received any of the distributions they promised in return on your investment yet?  It amazes me that they've raised over 70 million and have not fully completed developing even the first location.  I'm also surprised that they have not yet been pumping out the number of homes they presented in their webinar.

I'm also amazed...in a bad way. Lol. No, they have not paid distributions yet. Supposedly, that'll start at the end of 2023/early 2024. But I've been hearing that since mid 2020 when they were supposed to start. They underestimated the costs with building a factory and spread out the money across too many locations so they need capital do get anything finished. There is a facebook group for investors...

As an investor of S2A Modular, I'm curious to chat with other investors about the company, the new structure and the actual homes they will (eventually) be building. I found a group on facebook for investors but wondering if anyone here is an investor and wants to connect for "civil" conversations rather than attacks on how stupid I am for making the investment to begin with. Lol. 

Well, to close this out, I terminated the contract. Too many red flags with the sellers and they hid behind the fact that "they never lived there" as an excuse for providing zero info. And the people who are living there but shouldn't be are on a "verbal" lease with no paperwork...so that was pretty much the end of that. 

I appreciate everyone's support and information. It was really helpful (and depressing. lol.) But as the market slows, I'm confident I'll be able to find something that is much less sketchy. 

Thanks again!

Quote from @Wendy Man:

Agree with the others. If first rehab and out of state and no trusted team or at least boots on the ground, this is going to be extremely risky and tough to make work.

if you go through with the deal anyway, best of luck and  suggest you also plan to travel there (maybe multiple times) to scope and then check on the work .  Preferably before the last big checks are cut to whichever contractors.

Totally agree. I plan to spend a week or two out there as soon as we close with my roofer brother and we'll get all the easy stuff done ourselves while supervising the bigger projects. I'm not planning to manage all the initial work from a distance. After it's cleaned up and rentable, I'm hoping we'll have a few reliable contractors we can call on if things go bad. And I'm planning to use the "big" PM in the area so they should have all the local experience that I don't have. Thanks for the advice!!!

Quote from @Robert Cunningham:

 I would love to hear from some of the people in the video who are investors in the company to see how they are feeling about the lack of progress over the last 18 months or so. 

Here is the video with investors. 
https://vimeo.com/s2amodular/review/708768398/ae9d69f695

Here is the longer virtual walkthrough : https://vimeo.com/718808585/f85d52d29f

I am in that video. Lol. I gave a testimonial as well but maybe it's in a different one. Anyway, see my previous post about my personal thoughts. I'm optimisitally skeptical that I'll get my investment back... As for anything else... if it goes public, I'll be rich. If it doesn't, I'll probably lose it all. Only time will tell which.

Quote from @Dave Arneson:

I would love to connect with any other folks who have actually invested in this company? 

If you are or know of any other investors I'd love to connect, please DM me.

Hi Dave,
I did invest at the $150k range back in late 2020. I was/am still skeptical, but I've personally toured the Patterson facility and believe they are legit in that they plan to deliver module homes to people. I will be honest and say that while I was walking the factory in April of 2022, visions of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos were flashing through my mind of "it works but don't make me prove it." But, they did warn us that they were still under construction and it certainly wasn't a working factory at that point...but made the hour-drive anyway just out of curiosity. 

I've been on their quarterly investor calls and they are always exciting. Probably overly optimistic, but when talking to people who have invested that much of their hard-earned money, they can't be pessimistic, can they? lol. I'm on the fence about the whole restructuring thing. 

If I had gone into this project with a "buy x number of shares at x dollars each" mentality, I wouldn't have put in so much money. I would have put in 10-20k and called it good. That's what I've done with boxabl. But I was excited by the prospect of owning .5% of a 'brick and mortar' factory. Almost regardless of the product, that was most interesting to me. So, now that I'll just be a regular shareholder of all the factories and all the other related ventures (55+ communities, solar stuff, etc.), it's a little less exciting. But, if I get my investment back at some point, I'll consider that a win. Any returns I make above that will be gravy. And if I lose it all... Well, I'll feel stupid and gullible but I'll have learned a lesson. 

If American Greed ever does an episode on them, I'll be one of the people saying "I should have listened to everyone who told me it was crazy." And if they make good on their promises, I'll post a copy of my fat check here. Either way, it's been a good story to tell.

Here are the pix I took back on April 20, 22. I'm sure it's further along by now...but I don't believe they are delivering units yet. I tried to order one for our lake house and it would have cost about a million dollars after construction (700k for the modules and 300k for installation on our remote property that has windy, narrow roads). Every contractor I talked to said stick built was cheaper, even with the crazy high lumber prices, so we're going that route. Though, with the ridiculous delays we're facing in building permits, we might switch to an S2A if they're actually delivering in Spring 23 when we're actually ready to break ground. 

Anyway, I'm hesitant to post anything here because so many people have been vocal about how only an idiot would fall for their smoke and mirrors...and that might be true. But like buying a lotto ticket, if the possibility of "winning" makes me happy and excited, then what's the harm done? I'm not encouraging anyone else to invest money they can't afford to lose in its entirety. But for me, it's exciting to be part of something that MIGHT be a game changer. 

I don't know the cost of ADU design but I saved about 75% of architect fees on our lake house by buying a plan online. I used house plans .com for the basic design we wanted and then the architect made adjustments to that for our elevation and the random changes (doors/windows/etc) that we wanted. If you don't need a really custom design, you might see if there is a premade one you can start with to save some fees there.

we extended the inspection period a few more days. Hoping to get the foundation looked at. We'll see what happens with that.