All Forum Posts by: Lee Hampton

@William HuntI have a zoom session (no charge) once/quarter in which i provide guidance and insight.  I keep it to a max of 8 individuals in order to avoid chaos.  Let me know if you are interested.  

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you cannot get 6-15 units on a 50x200ft lot.   At most 6 and that will be tricky.  Houston city council created several ordinances 3-5 years ago that made small multi-family more challenging.   You cannot use older properties as a model as they are grandfathered and do not have to abide by the new code.  Get familiar with chapters 33 and 42 of the code. I'll give you one of the ordinances as example;  Maximum density is 27units/acre,  that means a minimum of 1615/sf of land per unit.   If and only if all else falls into place, you can fit 6 units on the lot.   Unfortunately, there are many other impactful ordinances.   I've seen this bite numerous individuals that are new to new construction multi-family.   Tread carefully.

@Sam Mao  COH is correct, there is no specific ordinance preventing you from building a duplex on your property, but you must comply with all applicable city ordinances.  COH is not going to do a piecemeal or preliminary review for you.  There is no way they could tell even if they wanted to because they don't have density calcs, parking analysis etc.. They will review once you have submitted a complete package and paid for a plan review.   Then and only then will you get a complete review to determine if your proposed project meets code and/or violates in ordinances. You will have to either 1) read chp 33 and 42 in detail many times and deal with misfires as a result of inexperience or you will have to rely on your builder, architect or project consultant.  

That’s a wise approach, tapping into an attractive market (health care workers) in which you already have professional and personal ties. You have a more compelling narrative than most with direct links that seemingly give it credibility.

I'm Houston based and am part owner of units less < 5 miles from the medical center. We typically don't allow STR subletting but it may be worth a discussion. Reach if you have an interest in a conversation.

I would not spend the money on an appraiser, especially if there are no comps in the area. There are two methods of appraisals, Sales approach vs cost approach. The sales approach looks at comps, if there are no real comps, appraiser will expand the area until they find something, but this is useless for your purposes. The other method is the Cost approach. This is useful for the purposes of determining loan value by the lender but adds no value to you as there is often no correlation between build cost and sales price. But……… unless the lot is far outside the city limits, there should be comps.

Your best bet is to get your realtor to provide there opinion of value. If you have no realtor and have all your ducks in order, and if the lot is within the city limits of Houston, I can take 5 minutes and give you an opinion from a developer’s perspective.

@Phil Pat  Early October for next cohort

Assuming your property is within Houston city limits;   You will have two main challenges, although others exist.   1) you don't meet the density ordinance of COH,  you need ~3350 sq ft lot for a new duplex    2) four parking spaces are required, they can be tandem parking, but it is still tricky
However, you can do is a SFR plus a small guest house of ~400 sq ft.

Ideally, you want to consult with someone with knowledge of land planning prior to purchase, though i realize this is not always possible.   Half of potential projects brought to me, the lot/land cannot support the intent of the owner due to City of Houston ordinances.    I build multifamily and do land planning.   Land planning comes first.    Chapter 33 and 42 of City of Houston Code of Ordinances is what you need to master if you want to do your own land planning.

@Phil Pat

See BP link below,  I can put you in contact with BP members that went thru the first cohort.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

I am committing to take on a virtual cohort of 8 mentees via Zoom. It will consist of three 90-minute group sessions over a period of three weeks and will cover all aspects of RE investing. My bio is on my website(www.leehampton.com) if you want to peruse. Email me at [email protected] if you are interested.

What does it Cost? I will designate two 501 (c) (3) charities and your donation of $50 directly to the charity is your price of admission. One of the charities supports resettled refugees that engage in urban farming, the other is a university (HBCU). Don’t overpay for knowledge. This will be my second cohort, the feedback from the first was outstanding.

My advice:  Tread carefully.   Make sure you have the property under contract prior to disclosing location to a potential partner.    A non disclosure agreement is the 2nd best alternative but it is a distant 2nd as partner could easily hand-off information.  If it really is a great deal, you need to protect yourself from someone stealing it from under your nose.    While I normally do not like hard money lenders, this may be a good option in this case in lieu of a partner, but only if you are absolutely sure about your analysis.