All Forum Posts by: Theresa W.

Hi - thanks for a great meeting last night. Had a few "aha" moments about using other people's money. There was a great mix of different levels of experience and interests in the room. See you at the next one.

The only solution for division of this property is a condominium plat. A party wall agreement is not appropriate because you're not selling land beneath the units. The lot and exterior would be maintained as joint ownership and owners only own the interior condo. Party walls are mostly for townhomes split vertically. In addition, beyond the costs of platting, survey plat, CC&R's (condo declarations, hoa creation) you may have some additional water tap fees and requirements for fire separation.

An HOA for two units is not only difficult, it's miserable for the new owners when there's not a majority to make decisions on maintenance. Yes, you'll pay property taxes for the two units which could be more than a SFR. Not simple, big costs and in my opinion, not worth it if you're intending to hold the property. Perhaps Bill's idea to temporarily convert it into a SFH could work but you don't want to give up MF designation from a zoning standpoint if you're wanting to convert it back. It could trigger a whole bunch of new building code or zoning regulations, whereas the current configuration is legal nonconforming apartments. Good luck.

Hi @Annunciata R.

I love billboards - they are the ultimate cash cow. The problem is that they are difficult to come by. With Ladybird Johnson and the Highway Beautification act in the 1970's, billboards became so severely regulated, new permits are extremely difficult to come by. Most of the existing billboards are leased by a handful of companies. A fellow investor I know receives $7500/mo for each of the two billboards he owns. Enough money to forgo using his commercial building for anything else. But I digress...

I'd start with the county or city planning office instead of calling the media leasing companies. Almost all communities have a sign code that restricts or limits new billboards because the original federal act withheld funds to states that did not adopt billboard regulations. If you can get a new billboard permit (and it's a big IF), the companies will happily snap up your lease.

Something to get you started quickly is to look at the online municipal code for your community. Find the sign code chapter and there should be a section that addresses billboards. Best of luck on your projects!

if it's a legal apartment, the city will assign you an address if you ask. It's more prudent to have their assigned number because it'll be tied to emergency services. Cities notify 15+ agencies of your new number. Need cable? How about phone? No confusion, because you have an assigned address. Plus, there's a standard for assigning addresses - call it "unit B" and the fire dept has no clue where it is. The city may number it in the 200's if it's above a garage. (100-first floor, 200-second floor and so on) or if you get a separate electric meter, they may assign you a different number entirely.

Hi @Emilio Ramirez

Lots at that price are not in the incorporated limits of the city. So, they are unincorporated Jefferson or Gilpin County, but addressed as Golden. Typically, they are 25 minutes from downtown Golden, and are at higher elevations which are in a more rural environment and sometimes have dirt roads. Definitely well & septic (~$45-$60k for the well, depending on the geo layers). Your price point suggests a high end client, but I'm not sure there's a lot of those in the area. View lots are considerably more, but could attract the client you need. Maybe also look at Genesee Park, Evergreen. Keep at it and you'll be fine. Best wishes.

welcome @Rick Fowler and Johnny! If you search for Anson's post about the April 28th RE meetup in Denver, you'll find details for the next meeting. I'm new too, and looking forward to meeting you perhaps at one of the events.

I'd agree with Anson on the land prices. Depending on where you're looking, infill lots that are left are often difficult to build. Flat areas east of Denver might have less ground work, but out west, site costs for grading and foundations (those darn clay soils!) can hijack that budget fairly quickly. I don't think the per sf price is that high, given the expectations for high end amenities of the buyer you're catering to. Good luck!

great posts @Karen Margrave. These are points every future developer should learn. Thanks!

Former city planner here. Ask what elements of the property are grandfathered under the zoning. You may indeed need a variance for setbacks, height, lot coverage or footprint, but fundamentally, that "shack" is a SFR on a legal, nonconforming lot. Building a bigger house may not comply with a lot of the new regulations, but ask if there is an administrative variance or if you actually need to go through the full-blown hearings with input from the neighbors.

Sometimes, if you keep the original footprint of the foundation and add on to it, it could be considered an addition, not new. That could work around some of the variances.

Find an original plat or ask whether there's a recent survey of the property in the file. Sometimes, if the old lots are within x square feet of the new lot size regulations, they can approve it administratively.

Walk around the neighborhood and take photos of other recent SFR builds. Ask to look at those or similar variance files and look through the process that they went through. You'll get a great sense of how the process went for them.

What you might really benefit from to finalize your RE transaction is a letter from the city stating that your plans for an expanded SFR would gain approval if it meets x, y, and z criteria (listed in their code). That can get you a level of assurance to finalize the sale and give you time to design the home you really want. Good luck.

P.S. If you're not finding enough time in the clinic, ask to make an appointment with a planner.

As a former city planner, I can give many examples of folks who thought they could subdivide into more lots than what was allowed. Drop in at your city planning office and get a copy of the zoning map, development regulations and learn about the subdivision process. A major subdivision like this could run $500+ in city fees, $2,000-$4,000+ from a surveyor, and take 2-3 months to approved if it needs review by a planning commission or city land use board. Totally doable, but this info will help manage your expectations. Good luck!