All Forum Posts by: Jimmy Nguyen

Woops just realized that the last few posts were from half a year ago.  

@Karen Margrave - did you get those solar panels?

Hi Karen,

I am going to put solar panels on my custom house (I'll be living in it for a long time I hope) and got a bids ranging from $2.85-$3.50 per kw installed.  With the federal tax credit of 30%, which has been extended through 2019, I estimate that my payback period will be 9 years.  We don't get as much sunshine as Redding and Virginia does not offer any state incentives so your payback period may even be shorter.  A good place to estimate how much energy your solar panels will generate is through this website by the Department of Energy: http://pvwatts.nrel.gov/.

We are going to install a dc to ac inverter that is compatible with Tesla's Powerwall.  When Tesla finally starts shipping these out to customers, the Powerwall will act as backup power in case of outages.  Of course, you probably know that typical backup generators can be very pricey so the Powerwall can be a great alternative if a customer elects to go with solar panels.  The Powerwall can also be beneficial if your area charges different rates for peak hours and normal hours of energy use.  You can use the solar energy stored in your Powerwall during peak hours to avoid those higher costs.   

The best report I've read about whether or not solar is a good investment for a homeowner is the Going Solar in America report by the N.C. Clean Energy Technology Center. The report found that purchasing a 5kw solar array in 20 of the 50 largest cities in the U.S. is a better investment than the S&P 500 index (assuming 6.61% annual return).  In cities with low electric rates and unfriendly solar laws, the customer may not make a return on investment.

I think if you do the analysis for the customer, they can decide if it makes sense for them or not.  But I think you are wanting this on your own home?  I would say do it because as someone who wants to reduce our dependence on dirty sources of energy - solar pv is the cheapest and easiest thing you can do right now.  

Thanks @Bill S. I think I'll try direct marketing as land prices listed on the free real estate websites are too expensive bordering on lunacy.  I do live in the Northern/Central Virginia area so I guess standard rules of evaluating land for a spec home build might not apply.    

Thanks @Bill S. I just found Bigger Pockets' Ultimate Guide to Direct Mail and got some good information there too.  Should have looked there first.  

What type of seller do you find gives you the best results? (i.e. probate, divorce, out of state, etc.)

@Jay Hinrichs - I just saw this thread.  I like your personal approach to getting good land deals. I can imagine sometimes a potential seller will have a sentimental attachment to the property (i.e. it was in their family for a long time) and letting them know what your plans are for the property may help.  Not sure if you have encountered any situations like this.

My real question is - is there a list I can purchase to target potential lot/land sellers?  Can I send mailings to large landowners in the hopes they may subdivide some of their property to sell?

Thanks for any advice you can give.   

It's probably different for land that is not zoned agricultural, but I got a loan from Farm Credit of the Virginias pretty easily. The interest rate was 4.5% at 20 year amortization/5 year ARM. That gave us 5 years to build something on it and refinance to a lower rate.

Thanks @Mike Wood.  We only have to build for 90 mph winds and no seismic activity.  I can't imagine the extra wall bracing you have to do on your homes.

The $3200 figure is actually very conservative.  For recycled foam board, if my costs are $10/sheet and I need about 100 sheets (10 extra sheets to account for slop) to cover my house that would equal $1,000 for materials + $200 for screws, washers, and tapes.  I recently got a quote from a subcontractor to sheath my house with 7/16" plywood, tape the seams, and wrap it with 30# felt paper for $2,000.  That's where I got the $3200 number.  Of course, hanging up the foam board would go faster than sheathing heavier plywood and wrapping it with felt so the labor cost would be lower.  

For a double stud wall - it's harder to calculate.  The materials costs will be lower than foamboard, but labor will be higher.  However, I am sure a properly trained crew of 3-4 carpenters could knock it out in 3 days. Carpenters around here are generally $30/hour per person.  3 days for 3 carpenters would be $2,160.  It's just taking me long because I am doing it mostly solo with my 70 year old dad helping occasionally.  I hope I can get a good team together one day.  

The acoustical framing looks interesting.  It's still a standard 2x4 or 2x6 width though.  It wouldn't give you more depth to put insulation into and it doesn't cover thermal bridging through your rim joists and plates.  How much would a 92 5/8" 2x6 stud cost?

@Shane WoodsGreat pictures.  I'm going to have to start doing the stairs on my new construction soon.  I've never done interior stairs before myself.  Any general things to look out for?  

How are you going to finish the steps?  

Forgot to attach picture of basement.  We put down foamboard insulation before the slab was poured for comfort and to give us the flexibility to put down finished flooring afterwards without fear of condensation issues.  

The basement will really be my workshop for my beekeeping business and potentially to do some welding, but it is huuuuge.  Any other thoughts on what to do with a basement?  

@Mike WoodYeah I estimated $80/square foot, but hopefully will come in under that number. Although the $80/square foot number doesn't count my semi-finished (insulated, heated, and drywalled, but no bathroom or finished flooring) 1600 square foot basement, detached carport, and covered front and rear porch towards the square footage.  If counting just the basement towards the square footage, I would be right around $40/square foot.  I'm not sure if people only count conditioned space in their costs/square foot calculations, but it seems like a lot of the outside areas add significant expenses to a project.  My biggest costs above a normal house is the standing seam metal roof ($19,000 or $7/square foot), 7 kw solar panels ($19,950 or $2.85/kw before tax credit), and triple pane casement windows ($16,000). I am going to be using LP smartside instead of vinyl siding which is going to cost an extra $3,000-$4,000.

I suppose when I build a spec house I would opt for asphalt shingles ($1.50/square foot) and do good double pane windows for half the cost of triple pane and still have it be good quality, energy efficient, and attractive.  Solar panels would be optional for the customer.  I would still avoid vinyl siding as much as I could, not necessarily for aesthetic reasons, but more for its environmental impact.   

As far as double stud walls or foam board insulation - I calculated that the extra cost to do those things would be about $3200 including labor. By using energy modeling, I calculate that I will save about 1700 kwh each year. I pay about $.16/kwh and that would amount to a savings of $272/year. The payback period for this investment would be 12 years. By using the rule of 72, that is a ROI of 6%. Not too bad if you consider that electric rates might go up over time. Of course, I'll never get back the actual $3200 as it will be stuck in my walls. For building "green" spec homes, I will have to balance the cost, ROI, comfort, and environmental impacts of each product.

For the solar panels, the payback period with federal tax deduction will be 9 years with a ROI of 8%. Those solar panels have good resale value if I ever decide to sell the home.

Honestly, I think I will be under budget for materials and subcontractors because I usually estimate them 5-15% higher.  Probably not a good thing if I want really accurate numbers, but I will continue to fine tune everything.  

How are building things in the Big Easy?  I imagine you have different circumstances you have to deal with like flooding and high winds.