All Forum Posts by: Natasha Sadikin

Would love to find out more about this if you get more information :) 

Once your site is up and running, look into Hipcamp: it's the glamping/camping version of AIRBNB and does spectacularly well in attracting a good young crowd for yurts/teepees/airstreams/treehouses, etc. If you'd like to host, check them out HERE

Source: I'm a Hipcamp Fieldscout :)

I've seen them go around 200-250$ / night for cabins (some don't even have bathrooms).

@Manolo D. Of course! Sorry, didn't mean to generalize. It was just observations I've had. There are tons of great GCs out there! We've had great luck in working with some good ones that we communicate very well with. The hardest part is finding them. 

Hey! 

What sort of architect are you looking for? Low, Med, or High End Pricing? Fancy architecture? or just standard remodel. There's tons of great architects in SF, you just have to know what price you want to pay, haha. 

This is from an architect's point of view ... 

For contractors in general... I think its also important to see how well they communicate with their subs. Often times the general contractor you're meeting with isn't the person actually doing all the labor. They might have a job foreman who is coordinating all the subs. They will be sending subs to your house to do work who might not even know what the project scope is. I have heard of friends who had remodels done where the subs come and ask "so what do I do?" even though the CDs had already been sent to the contractor! Then they just sort of wing it. Disaster. So just having construction documents isn't enough. You really have to manage and watch over them to make sure they know what they're doing. The best way is through references through people you know in the area. You really don't know how they will be in a project until you see them actually do it. 

Also if you are getting bids, make sure they actually specify a detailed list separated out to each phase like electrical, hvac, etc that they will be handling. Often times people accept the lowest bid, but the bid might entail lesser-grade materials, etc. 

If you need changes made, make sure to have a change order in writing. Don't just say it to one of the subs. Only talk about it to the foreman/GC. Things get lost in the verbal ladder and you might end up with something different. You can also ask how big your project is compared to all the other projects they're working on. If they have a much bigger project, or are working on too many projects, their communication lines/workers might be spread too thin. 

If its a big enough project, ask to see their current projects. If you can, try to stop by at a rando hour while they're working (when the GC) isn't there. The subs can usually give you a pretty honest feedback about the GC company. 

Sorry, recent college grad / "Just became an adult" question here! 

I was reading up on a lot of investing books. All these books are talking about how I should be maxing out my Roth IRA and putting in as much money into my retirement accounts as possible due to the whole compounding interest thing. And while I do try to put in money into my company IRA account (they match 3%), should I really be putting the rest of the money into my retirement account? Since once I put it in, isn't really hard to take out? Plus it detracts the money I'm saving up for my down payment. I'd really like to be financially free by the time I retire and not need to rely on my retirement account..

As of now, I put about 20% of my paycheck towards retirement accounts and 20% towards just a regular high-savings account. My guts are saying to just match my companies match in my retirement account and save the rest (excluding living costs) in a high % savings account and possibly in a brokerage account under ETFs. 

My question is, how much do I put towards retirement, if any? Where do people put their money while they're saving up for downpayents? Below their mattress? in CDs? ETFs? Regular savings account? 

Hello!

Just wanted to say great work :D I am a designer at an architecture firm and handle most of the visualizations for the office. If you ever need renderings for marketing materials, I would love to help out in exchange for learning more about your process

-Natasha

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome! :) 

I hope to look into some turn-key investments. Although, LA is really too expensive for me especially as a recent grad.. I guess I'll be looking more into out-of-state investments. 

@Joshua McGinnis Hello Joshua! 

I think there are good arguments from both side of the "open-workstation" debate. I feel like, especially working in big corporate firms, people are always aiming for that private office so when you're forced to suddenly revert to the open workstations, its hard to let go. I think there are definitely pros and cons to the open workstation setting (we always incorporate it to all of our designs unless the client has specifically said they wanted private offices). It also sort of depends on what kind of work you do like if you need absolute privacy/silence to focus on your project, that might make sense. At the same time, we get feedback from clients who say that walking down hallways of private offices with doors closed is sort of depressing.

Heck, our firm is comprised of one-long workstation (there's only 9 of us). Personally, I think its great! It definitely gets the collaborative spirit going.The two principals sit at the end of the table and its a lot easier to communicate and talk about projects. I can also just wheel around to someone else's table space and talk about projects, etc. 

IMO, open-workstations are great, but only with a variety of public/private settings works best. We have different sized rooms for people to just go and work in by themselves for a while if our office is getting too noisy (with 4 dogs running around the office, it can definitely get loud!) or if they need to make conference calls. Or even when we have mini-group sessions, we'll just nab a small meeting room and work in there all day. We also incorporate a standing bar area & large picnic-table setting where people can bring their laptops or just pull up construction drawings to review. 

Definitely agreed, I don't want to quit my job. I love it and I think there's alot to learn :) It would just be great to have something on the side to make money since architects don't really make good money, haha. I do mostly portrait (headshots & fineart) photography, but I do some interior architectural photography for the office! 

@Eric Zunkley Thank you very much! It's still a  work in progress

Hello

My name is Natasha and I'm a complete newbie in real estate development. I am currently an architectural designer (I assist on the whole process from SD, DD, CD, to CA work) at a design firm that specializes in corporate headquarters, educational, and big creative workspace developments. Because of my job, I am lucky to have attended and help presented design presentations to real estate developers. 

I learned a while ago that being an architect doesn't mean we get to design what we want. I noticed that developers were less interested in the 'design' of the project, and focused more on the financial, numbers, "rent-able square footage". Ultimately, we always have to come down to what the client wants. Because of this, I wanted to learn more about the developer's side and combine it with architecture to develop my own projects ( like Jonathan Segal). But before all of that, I know it takes a lot of investments and money, so I'd like to generate passive income on the side from standard multi-family housing rentals, etc. 

My twin sister (we work at the same architecture firm, YAY SIBILINGS!) introduced me to this site and I was quite happy to see the wealth of information that everyone provides. I actually had a 'real estate mentor' before while I was in university, but it scared me since he kept telling me to quit my job/quit architecture.

Oh, I also do photography on the side :) Sorry for the long introduction, but I look forward to learning more from this site and making new connections!

Hello, 

Would love to come to come +1