All Forum Posts by: Todd Whiddon

@Caleb Mclamb @Karen Margrave The short answer is structure the arrangement to where EVERYONE wins, and EVERYONE is comfortable with the arrangement.

Every deal IS different.  On one project one of our investors maybe a 50% equity partner. On another project that SAME investor may be providing the cash on a note.

Weigh your options against your alternatives.  On a BIG project that lasts a LONG time, the money may be cheaper cutting someone in as an equity partner than paying an interest note or hard money.   

The important thing is to know your numbers and anticipated rehab timelines and run them various ways, equity partner, hard money, debt.

The BEST is when you don't HAVE to partner, but WANT to partner.

I ONLY try to "partner" with people that I either WANT to work with, or bring something EXTRA to the table. You can find deals anywhere, You can find money anywhere, You can find contractors anywhere. The KEY to any partnership is finding people you enjoy being around and whose combinations of personality and skillsets allow you BOTH to achieve more than you either could ALONE!

@Terry Burger , For a "regular" house on a "regular" lot your looking about 7 bucks a foot +/-    For this type of situation I would consult with the municipality, my engineer and my plumber on the EXACT parcel of land I was looking to develop.   Things can get "stinky" in a hurry with developmental sewer!

Also your "tap" fees will probably be MORE than the actual costs of the pipe install.

Here's some of the action for those of you who couldn't make it out!

@Roy N. Good Call, I've been needing an excuse to buy a new GoPro...This is IT!

Due Diligence Part 2 - Survey Surprises!

I once LOST about 30k on a deal, that had I done a proper survey during due diligence, I would have NEVER bought the property in the first place! I won't go into the full story here, but there were some less than honest sellers involved, a house that was split in half by a tax sale, and a buyer that didn’t know what he was doing, “ME”. 

On the bright side I learned about tax liens, went to a tax lien auction and successfully won the tax sale on the other half of “my” yard. I also learned the BENEFITS of a full survey make my investment in them PRICELESS, so I ALWAYS “try” to do them during due diligence. Sometimes when purchasing from a wholesaler or the property is just “THAT HOT”, I don’t have the opportunity and it’s a risk I have to weigh.

On new construction and addition projects more than likely your municipality will require AT LEAST a boundary survey, most of our projects in and around Atlanta are in jurisdictions that require 2-3 pages of survey, site-plan and other mumbo-JUMBO.

QUICK DUE DILIGENCE TIP

When getting ANY kind of survey done, or even if you don’t get a survey, call in utility locates “dial 811” to have underground utilities marked during due diligence. "Get permission from property owner" Your surveyor can then mark them on your siteplan for future reference during your project. On this Pop Top, there is a gas line marker in the front yard, we can’t find another one anywhere up or down the street so we HAVE to find out where this sucker goes if we plan on purchasing this house.

AWWWW NAWWWW

That’s Southern for “O’ Snap!” Our survey reveals part of this house is sitting OUTSIDE the current building setbacks!!

This could be a PROBLEM!

While we will have to work this fact into our plans for the second story addition, all is not lost. We will either have to get a Variance “which could take months and risk not getting approved” or a Letter of Non-Conformity “which could take about a week and also risk not getting approved”. We’ve had this issue on a few other projects the last couple years and have a pretty good relationship with the folks at the zoning department so we’re gonna,

Go for the Letter of Non-Conformity….

Anyone in the Atlanta area that wants to follow along a MAJOR REHAB has 2 AWESOME options!

1. Check out our thread DIARY OF A POP TOP second story addition project

2. Come to our series of Q&A Open Houses! The first of which is NEXT Monday!

First Q&A Open House Monday 10/20 11-12pm

Time to start swinging hammers! Our "PRE-hab" Q&A open house will be next Monday 10/20 11-12pm. Not selling anything. Not Pitching anything. Simply an opportunity for those following this thread to get a "Behind the scenes" look and ask questions about WHY we are doing the things we are doing on this project.

We will have several other open houses during the various phases of this project, this one is more for those interested in seeing the "before" phase.

For everyone that has already expressed interest I will PM you the details, anyone else that wants to join us send me a PM or respond in this thread and I will get you the details too! 

First Q&A Open House Monday 10/20 11-12pm

Time to start swinging hammers!  Our "PRE-hab" Q&A open house will be next Monday 10/20 11-12pm.  Not selling anything. Not Pitching anything. Simply an opportunity for those following this thread to get a "Behind the scenes" look and ask questions about WHY we are doing the things we are doing on this project.

We will have several other open houses during the various phases of this project, this one is more for those interested in seeing the "before" phase.

For everyone that has already expressed interest I will PM you the details, anyone else that wants to join us send me a PM or respond in this thread and I will get you the details too! 

@Jon Klaus If you think THAT toilet is nasty, you should see @CENSORED's upstairs hall bath! 

Kapow! 

We're gonna be demoing a house today around 11ish in Dunwoody "Northside of Atlanta"  Anyone that wants to come watch is welcome! PM me for details.