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All Forum Posts by: Seth Davis

Seth Davis has started 4 posts and replied 28 times.

Originally posted by @Don Taylor:

@Seth Davis I salute your mindset & drive man. I'm looking forward to seeing what great things you come up with. Smart homes are definitely the next wave

 Thanks Don! Yeah, I figured at this point, people are starting to expect to be able to control their house through an app. I may even decide to build my app in-house, rather than trying to get a bunch of third party software to communicate with each other. Alexa and Google home are options, especially with smart bulbs, cameras, and appliances becoming available. 

I don’t know. I’ll have to weight my options when I get to that point. I'll definitely thoroughly document my choice though when I do.

Post: Electrician and plumber in Greensboro / Triad?

Seth DavisPosted
  • Lexington, NC
  • Posts 28
  • Votes 19

I have a plumber that does all of my work at the farm. I'll send you his information.

Post: Diary of a Construction Business Startup

Seth DavisPosted
  • Lexington, NC
  • Posts 28
  • Votes 19

Hello everyone! My name is Seth Davis. I introduced myself earlier in the newbie forum. Feel free to and read my post if you have time.

I have recently decided to pursue a new passion of mine which is building and construction. I'm 39 years old, but I figured it's never too late to get started with something new. Plus, it helps keep the brain in tip-top shape! I have been a professional software developer for 20 years now, and absolutely love technology and programming, but I'm looking for something to spark that imagination and wonder again, and building and construction seems to be doing that. I never went to college, so I only have a high-school diploma. Everything I know was self taught, or learned from mentors along the way. Over the years I have realized that if you are genuinely interested in something that someone is passionate about, they will teach you things about it that you could never learn from a book.

My initial plan is to do spec builds, particularly technologically-advanced spec builds: Smart, robust home network, and high speed / reliable indoor/outdoor Wi-Fi. I figured I would try to play to my strengths.

The goal of this thread is to basically document my entire process of starting my business from the ground up and pursuing (and hopefully completing) my first build. Please feel free to criticize, advise, ask questions, or anything else, as I will be doing the same along the way. This will be an on-going thread. So, without further adieu, let's get caught up with what I have done so far.


Goals
You need goals. Goals help fuel the passion. Here are my personal goals for this journey:

1-3 Months
- Finish studying for GC exam
- Register and take the exam (pass the exam!)
- Find the most useful accounting software (Freshbooks seems good so far)
- Begin learning the PlanSwift estimating software
- Research local real estate sales and land availability
- Meet up with the accountant and get the business structure in place
- Meet up with a family member who just graduated interior and structural design school and hash out a great floor plan
- Get a few polos and t-shirts printed with the company logo and pass out to friends and family who have been supporting this endeavor

3-6 Months
- Meet with mentor and begin shadowing and learning the ins-and-outs of general contracting
- Meet with plumber about partnering up for a spec build
- Meet with realtor and begin searching for a great piece of land
- Meet with lawyer and setup some of the more mundane boiler-plate contracts
- Research local material companies, lumberyards, etc and begin setting up relationships for purchasing materials
- Go to the county permit office and learn the processes and costs for applying for permits

6-12 Months
- Acquire a piece of land to build upon that has been soil bearing and perk tested, in a good location, and minimal tree/brush clearing if possible
- Provide the architect with the floor plan and house design so they can stamp and complete the plans package (foundation, joist, floor, electrical, mechanical, side, site, roof, and detail views)
- Finalize partnership with plumber and get contracts in place for how funds will be managed
- Finalize partnership with mentor for sub-contractors and get contracts in place
- Get a building permit!
- Verify sedimentation control and land disturbing requirements
- Break ground and build a house!

3 Year
- Average 2-3 builds per year
- Have enough working capital to not require loans or private funding to do one build
- Begin searching for simultaneous funding sources
- Pursue 2 builds simultaneously
- Begin building for clients, not just spec homes

5 Year
- Have enough business to be able to quit programming and grow my business full-time
- 3-6 builds per year


Up To This Point
So, most of my time has been consumed with getting this GC license. I didn't realize just how hard this test is going to be until I started studying for it.

But here is what I did to get to this point with the GC license:
- I went to https://nclbgc.org/, downloaded the application and filled it out. I chose the limited license, which means I can build residential structures up to $500,000
- I asked 3 of my friends for the required reference letters. They were awesome letters!
- I mailed in the application package: The application, the 3 reference letters, and a $75 check
- After about a month, I received my eligibility letter. This letter gives you a code that you will use to register for the exam
- At this point, I purchased my first book, Pipe and Excavation. I started reading it from page one. Once I got to page 20, I realized just how much material was going to have to be covered if I went from cover to cover in the 10 books that the questions on the exam are pulled from. I mean, this is over 10,000 pages of information.
- I decided to purchase a study guide from https://www.carolinaseminars.com/. The study guide came quickly and seems to be very thorough. It has practice tests and audio CDs, and a well-laid out study guide
- I have been studying around an hour and a half every night for the past 2 months, and I still feel like I'm not ready
- You have 4 months from when you receive your eligibility letter to register and take the exam. My letter expires July 28, 2019. I may schedule the exam around the 5th of July. The exams are through psiexams
- I paid $20 and took a practice test and didn't do so hot, so I'm going to keep studying

As far as the business side of the story, I have just done a few things:
- I tried out freshbooks for the account software. It's pretty straightforward and simple, which I like, and they have a nice mobile app which is essential.
- I downloaded PlanSwift estimating software, since that's what my mentor uses. It's going to be a beast to learn, but there are plenty of YouTube tutorials, so I'll be watching those and following along to learn the software.
- I swapped out my iPad for a Microsoft Surface Book, since the estimating software is windows-only. 
- I designed my own logo. 
- I registered my domain name. I'll be hosting my WordPress website on my server at my house. 
- All of your business startup costs are deductible, so I have been keeping a list of everything that I do and it's cost.

Well, that's about it for now. I'll keep posting to this thread as I make more headway into this adventure. Feel free to ask questions or make comments. I'll be sure to answer them!

Thanks for reading!

Post: New Investor - Triangle Area NC

Seth DavisPosted
  • Lexington, NC
  • Posts 28
  • Votes 19

Welcome aboard Stephen!  It's nice to see a 'local' in this forum.  I live in Lexington, NC, down below Winston-Salem. By the way, thank you for your service!  You are much, much braver than I. I really don't know anything about the investing side of things.  I'm currently pursuing the general contracting portion, hopefully getting my license within the next month and then moving on to getting the ball rolling with the business of building spec houses.  

It's pretty cool knowing someone my age is traveling unknown roads as well.  Who knows, maybe you and I get together and make a deal in the future!  Anyway, let's keep in touch.  I would be curious to learn your side of the coin. I find it makes things easier if you have a little knowledge about everything, not just a lot of knowledge about one thing.

Post: Are Some People Just Getting Lucky

Seth DavisPosted
  • Lexington, NC
  • Posts 28
  • Votes 19

Hey Daniel!  For me personally, it's really just as simple as finding what you are passionate about. What tickles your fancy.  If your buddies called you up and asked if you wanted to hang out, what would you turn that down to do instead.  For me, it was the building and construction aspect. 

Originally posted by @Ian Gilligan:

Hey Seth, 

Whoa! Love your vision bro. The RE world is in need of great contractors, so go kill it, man! Godspeed! 

Thank you Ian! Appreciate the kind words.

Hello!  Thanks for dropping by.  My name is Seth Davis.  I currently own a horse farm in Lexington, NC and work as a software developer for Wells Fargo.  I have been developing software for the past 20 years and developing mobile applications for the past 10 years.  I'm very passionate about all things technology. But within the past 3 years, I realized that I also have an extreme passion for building and construction.  I jumped in feet first and designed and built by hand a 2-story workshop in the backyard of my previous home.  It took about 1 year from start to finish, but the rewarding feeling I got after all of the literal blood, sweat, and tears of 1 year of very hard work, was worth it all.  But the icing on the cake was selling our house in 1 week, and the buyers buying the house because of the building I built.  Such a fantastic feeling.

So, now, I'm jumping feet first into my next endeavor, becoming a General Contractor and starting new home construction business.  I have never started a business before, so this will be a learning experience.  I may succeed, or I may fail, but we won't know that unless I try.  My initial focus will be spec home building, and then once I have a few builds under my belt, I may venture into client builds. 

There are a lot of builders and a lot of new homes for sale, but I'm going to try to set mine apart slightly by incorporating my knowledge of all things technology. My homes will be smart, have robust home networks, and be equipped with fast and reliable indoor / outdoor WiFi.

So, right now I'm in the process of studying for the GC exam.  It's going to be tough, and I may fail the first time around, but we will see.  I'm also in the process of getting my ducks in a row to start the business.  I have been trying to put my rock star team together as this can't be done without a great team of people that are smarter than me.  Here is what I have at the moment:

  • Accountant: He has been doing our taxes for the farm the past 2 years and I really like him.  Super intelligent when it comes to all things taxes
  • Real Estate agent: We purchased the farm and sold our previous home with the help from this guy.  I don't know what it was, but we just had a connection. Like we had been friends for years.  So, I contacted him recently to see if he would be willing to help me out with all things real estate, land acquisition, selling the specs, etc.  He was more than happy to be on board
  • Lawyer: My buddy from high school became a lawyer and helped with me a personal family matter a year or so ago.  He has agreed to be on board for my contracts and all things "lawyery". 
  •  Investor?: My plumber for the farm found out I was getting my GC license.  He has built and sold some specs in the past and is interesting in partnering up and might possibly front the money for the project.  We will see...
  • Mentor: It must have been the powers-that-be. A gentlemen purchased a horse walker we had for sale. Come to find out, he is a contractor/developer of apartment complexes.  I was immediately hooked, asking as many newbie questions as I could about contracting.  He says he has available every sub-contractor I would need to complete a house and is willing to let me shadow him and ask questions.  He has already pointed me to the estimating software I should be using.  I truly believe he is going to be an invaluable resource

My plan is to start a thread on BiggerPockets, similar to the Diary of a spec build that J Scott did, and just document my whole process of starting this business, including the ups and downs, and the process of my first build.  There are a lot of people on here that are a lot smarter than me, so maybe they will tell me "yeah, don't do that", or "yeah, do that" or "dude, seriously?? WHAT were you thinking..."

I hope you enjoy your day. Thanks for reading my post and I look forward to meeting all of you!

PS - Below are a couple of pictures of my building I built.  The first is the AutoCAD design I made before the build, and the second is the almost-finished product. 

I'm currently studying for the GC exam in NC.  I purchased the study guide from . It has a ton of information in the study guide and comes with a  practice exam you can take over and over on the computer, as well as audio CDs (which basically just read out the study guide).  I have been studying for about 2 months now.  Whether or not I'm ready (and whether or not the study guide was worth anything), I guess we will find out in a few weeks when I register to take the exam.