All Forum Posts by: Lewyt McGrath

Quote from @Chris Seveney:

@Lewyt McGrath

I recommend you find a local architect to draw up the plans as they will need to meet energy codes as well as other codes

Awesome, thanks for the super quick response. Do you have a guess what that would cost? Just exterior walls and fire wall plan for something already constructed. 

Hello Bigger Pockets professionals!

I know most don't have a bunch of time, so I'll keep it short.

My wife and I own and manage our own multifamily property just outside of Portland, Oregon. We have owned and operated a couple single family rentals as well as our first purchase, a duplex since 2014. We've had a little bit of experience with minor fixes and repairs and decided this new property will be our largest project to date. We recently purchased a triplex that has an extra 500sqft attached garage we're renovating into a 1 br unit.

I have spoken with the city and verified that I am allowed to add this unit, we're already under contract to add the meter for power with an electrical company, and have already had the sewer pipes dug and installed under our slab, I am well under way! After speaking with the city, building permits and plans are my next step, and also the step I am stuck on.

I have interior plans, provided from a contractors bid, but I was asked to draw plans for the existing exterior walls and roof. The kind ladies at the city planning office explained to me they have seen some in pencil so it does not have to be professional, but I'm hesitant to showcase my lack or artistic ability and unsure where to go or how to acquire drawings for this.

Could you guys please point me in the right direction to figure this out?

Thank you for your time in advance!

Lewyt McGrath

LKM Properties LLC

Hello Bigger Pockets professionals! 

I know most don't have a bunch of time, so I'll keep it short. 

My wife and I own and manage our own multifamily property just outside of Portland, Oregon. We have owned and operated a couple single family rentals as well as our first purchase, a duplex since 2014. We've had a little bit of experience with minor fixes and repairs and decided this new property will be our largest project to date. We recently purchased a triplex that has an extra 500sqft attached garage we're renovating into a 1 br unit.  

I have spoken with the city and verified that I am allowed to add this unit, we're already under contract to add the meter for power with an electrical company, and have already had the sewer pipes dug and installed under our slab, I am well under way!  After speaking with the city, building permits and plans are my next step, and also the step I am stuck on. 

I have interior plans, provided from a contractors bid, but I was asked to draw plans for the existing exterior walls and roof. The kind ladies at the city planning office explained to me they have seen some in pencil so it does not have to be professional, but I'm hesitant to showcase my lack or artistic ability and unsure where to go or how to acquire drawings for this. 

Could you guys please point me in the right direction to figure this out?

Thank you for your time in advance! 

Lewyt McGrath

LKM Properties LLC

Thank you! I’m looking forward to meeting some new people and learning some things. 

Quote from @Geritt Shipley:

Hello, I'm also new to the forums and have just baught a Duplex in NE Portland, and I am interested in renovating it into a Triplex. I have spoken with a few people from the city about it and have been informed that this will take me into commercial structural code, that would require a fire suppression system and an architect to draw up the plans to make sure all codes are met. I'm interested if you spoke with an architect for your Triplex to quadplex conversion? When I searched for architects none would take a job that small. Any and all help is appreciated! Thank You

Hello and welcome! Congratulations on the duplexpurchase! We did not come across this issue when we spoke to the planning department in Forest Grove so no architect was needed. Is your property multistory?

From what I’ve gathered most tenants are all bark. I’d be surprised if he followed up with that. 

I don’t want to steer you wrong on anything, so take everything I say, about renovations, with a grain of salt, because this was my first go at it. With that said, one thing I will say that benefited us immensely was that we did most of the work ourselves, and what we contracted out was to our family contractor. It seems like there is a lot of work to go around right now, and not many people available to do the work, so the prices are much higher than anytime I can remember. One other point to note, we intend to hold this property for a while. The risk of buying something that needs serious attention right now might outweigh the benefit if prices have flatlined in your target area. 

Nice to meet you Tysson. Thanks for reaching out.   My wife and I are looking into developing a property for the very first time, and after a quick read I see that’s your thing. Great coincidence! Currently we’re renovating a garage on our triplex in Forest Grove, after upgrading the other 3 units. This renovation stuff is very new to us, but we have been landlords since 2014 when we purchased our first property, a duplex in Beaverton. I’ve listened to the podcast for a while now, figured I could meet actual people here. Very cool the first person to reach out is right across the River. 

Hello I'm new to the forum, just looking to learn what I can. Currently have a triplex in Forest Grove Oregon that were renovating to make a 4plex. Recently sold a duplex I bought in 2014, and have sold other single family homes we house hacked since then as well. 

I'm interested in learning about getting investors to help me scale when the time is right.