All Forum Posts by: Suzanne Griffiths

Hi Joseph

We have used BluBox and like them a lot.  You get a high quality for your dollar.  Basically you buy from a wholesaler.  You need to have knowledge or work with the sales person to put together the layout with you.  If you want then to design the whole thing for you, there is an additional fee.  So, depending on your comfort level you have some ala-carte options.

There is another place that comes up a lot if you look on Craigslist.  They are a great price, but we weren't super impressed with the quality when we went and visited their shop. 

For a home that is $300k or more I'd go with BluBox.  Less or a rental I'd go with the others.  For either case I don't recommend the Thermafoil that Home Depot tries to sell.  They are plastic looking and can't be refinished if you wanted to.

Good Morning Minnesotan's!  We have been working on our largest (in scale and cost) rehab to date.  With a few unexpected delays we are excited to say we went on the market yesterday!  We had 2 showings scheduled within the 1st hour, brokers open today and open house this weekend. 

It hasn't sold yet, so can't share the success, but getting on the market is a big WIN so wanted to share.  

All you Real Estate Agent's out there that might have a buyer, we would appreciate you spreading the word.  Here are the particulars:

Location - Hugo, MN
School District - Mahtomedi
Lot Size - 5 acres
Bedrooms - 6
Bathrooms - 2 full, 2 three quarter, 1 half
Size - 4,652 sf
Features - Energy efficient radiant heat, all lights are LED, Dual flush toilets for water conservation, quartz counter tops throughout, barn door closets in two bedrooms, reclaimed wood mantel in the kitchen, pallet accent walls, three gas fireplaces, water feature, room to add a pool if desired and a 3 car garage with room for a workshop.

MLS#4780885

@Carlos Guzman podcast 198 was with a CPA that specializes in Real Estate investors.  You won't often meet him in person, but I was impressed with his approach as well as the information he was offering.  Might be worth a listen and then reaching out.

I'll check with a few of my contacts to see who is still doing modular in the area. The company I was working for wasn't able to sustain the economic downturn after 9/11. Method Homes was doing SFR's, but not with the equipment we were using.

@Christopher Wedde I find that a great resource for rough comps (always verify with your agent) is Redfin.

Type in the address you want comps for.  Scroll down til you see the map and select the link that says "map nearby properties".  Then on the next screen to the right of the search bar is a filter option.  Change the property criteria to be similar to the one you are looking at and the select the radio button that says "sold properties only".  This will give you similar sold properties within a close distance within your selected timeframe.  You can the select the properties and see if the finishes or condition of the home is similar to yours.  Try and identify 3 good comps and find the average.  This should get you relatively close so that you can run the rest of your numbers and then hopefully only make a small adjustment when you hear from your agent.

It will also give you a quick idea if the property is over priced for the area etc.

Christopher Wedde I love the plan that you have set out and that you have been flexible with it as you've learned more. One of the key's in REI is having a plan A then B then C and a backup plan working simultaneously for each of them. I would encourage you to start jumping in, looking at places making offers etc. make sure that you don't get emotionally attached to any property, know what your MAO is (Maximum Allowable Offer) and stick with it, don't compromise just to get a property. The right one at the right price will come along.

Scott Autenreith I would suggest looking for a local investor that you can do an unpaid internship with. You may have limited time and experience to offer, but for an investor having someone for 10-15 hours a week that can help them and the helper gets to learn the business seems like a great win-win.

I love modular construction. We used to work for a start up modular builder in Washington State. The methods of construction, especially if they are automating parts of it are far superior to site built. For example we used special machine for cutting and framing the walls. The machines would take the wall and optimize the cuts to get the most out if each piece of lumber, minimizing waste and material costs. Then the framing machines would place everything within a 1/32" tolerance. Site built tolerances in framing are +\- 1/2". That can be HUGE when you look down a wall and see tilts and waves. In addition not only are the boxes built to building code standards but they have to be built to DOT standards as they travel on a semi trailer from dopant to site. We also found that the construction timeframes are greatly reduced if you phase your project properly. While the boxes are being built get all you site work and foundation work done and quality checked so that when boxes start arriving you pick right from the truck into place. This will greatly reduce your carrying costs and get you from construction to revenue generation much more quickly. We could get a box from a pile of lumber to finished and ready for transport in 14 working days. Crazy huh?!? As mentioned your box cost shouldn't vary too much. Just your transport and site costs based on your site location and distance from the plant.

Hi Ronnie Booth we find that if you talk to 3 different people at a jurisdiction office you get 3 different answers. If you've called on the phone, might be worth going to the office a talking with the city engineer directly. Depending on how their office is set up you may have to bring some doughnuts or cookies to get past the gate keeper. It doesn't seem right to me that you'd need full construction docs so early in the process. As far as funding and moving forward I suggest two things: 1. Look to partner with someone that does land development and is familiar with the area. Some of these people will be builders some will just specialize in land development, plats and subdivisions. 2. If you are uncomfortable with a partner look into some crowd funding type structures. Multiple people investing with a passive mindset. As an alternate exit strategy it might be worth talking with some bigger developers in your area that build out large subdivisions, maybe you could sell the land and the concept and make a profit from it that way.

Welcome to BP!