All Forum Posts by: Lee G.

Terra Nativa is a high-end subdivision. The city, highway district, developer and engineers and owners have all settled and the homes that were at risk have been removed along with the street that failed. There are still a couple of lots for sale in other parts of the subdivision but any potential buyer should conduct a geotechnical review prior to closing on anything there. I wouldn't necessarily be afraid of buying something there if I had a good geo-tech. 

A-1 zoning is open space, park or agriculture. 

Hope this helps. 

Mike Baldner or Jon Bauer at Hawley Troxell. Two of the best RE attorneys in town. 

Try Alliance. They will shop the policy around. Erin Dixon is the escrow officer you should talk to. Their number is 2zero8 947-9100. 

This has been my bread and butter for the last 5 years here. It's less tearing down old homes but finding homes on large lots, further subdividing and then building additional homes. Boise does allow twin homes but given the formula they use to compute units, it doesn't really make sense to build them. You'll see people do skinny homes, condos and townhome complexes before they do twin homes. 

We do this all the time. We have a 11 lot infill project in the north end going on now along with a six unit condo complex. We've done well with this strategy and have been able to generate IRRs in the 30%+ range consistently. 

There is a process with this strategy that you just need to go along with. You can't and won't change it so you just need to budget that time into your deal. The 11 lot sub will take us about a year total from the day we applied to subdivide to the day we sell our last lot. Our condo complex will be about 6 months worth of administrative and design work before we can start construction. 

The best advice I can offer on this is to pre-flight your deal with the appropriate folks at the city before you start applying for permits. Just about everyone will be helpful at the city and will candidly tell you your chances of getting this deal or that deal done though the system. From a personality perspective, it's best to be a bit laid back when talking to the city folks. While they are helpful, they don't care about the economics of your project. Know that they can make your life easy or very hard. If it's the latter, there is little recourse so be nice. I've seen too many developers or wanna-be developers pound their fists on the desk only to walk out with their tails between their legs. 

From a marketing perspective, we knock doors. Nothing else really works because you'll need time to get your deal done. Very few seller's agents will wait 6 months for a commission while you go through the entitlement and design process. 

Your duplex idea is a zoning issue. You should get the parcel zoned appropriately before you do anything. 

Good luck. 

Wyatt Johnson,
Angsman Johnson

http://angstman.com/contact-us/

How big of a duplex are you looking for? I have a duplex that's off market now we could talk about. 

It's a good place to develop now... We have 4 subs we are running now. 

Even if you self manage, always plug in a management expense. There's a point when you'll be sitting on the beach and sipping on something tropical and you'll have that expense...

So I'm going to be the negative nelly here. So many guys start off saying they want to flip homes without knowing what that really entails. Flipping is a real job. You should have real familiarity with construction. Do you have a construction background? Were you planning on doing the work yourself or do you have a team of subcontractors that you know and can trust? Even the biggest builders in town are struggling to retain their subs. You need to understand project management so you can deliver your project on time. You need to have an eye for home design and be able to do it quickly. Spending a day picking out tile and then changing your mind will kill your project. Same goes if you cut into a load bearing wall to move a room and realize you need to spend a grand on a huge beam. And in today's market, you need to be a marketing pro. We are at record low inventory levels so you'll need to find a deal before it hits the MLS.

I applaud your desire to get going -- that's a crucial first step but flipping isn't the cure all that many newbies think it is. Take a hard look at your skills and see how you can apply those skills to real estate. There are a thousand ways to "do real estate" beyond flipping. Focusing on what you do best will ensure you are successful. My best advice would be for you to go find a 1-4 unit in the 2C and run that for a bit. Your returns aren't going to be spectacular or particularly fast but you can find stuff Nampa and the rest of the 2c that will cash flow and enable you to cut your teeth on some of this stuff minus the risk and the months of work with a relatively low hourly wage.  Now that I've probably destroyed your dreams, start writing offers.