All Forum Posts by: Chris Gawlik

Building a small home with your own 2 hands. Wanted to know if anyone had any knowledge about this. DIY home building. Owner Building through contracting out the work yourself ie being the contractor. I have always wanted to give it a shot. I know this sounds daunting, but I have always wanted to try. 

@Frank Chin 

Yes I feel from your last post that its a pretty confusing time for people like us. Timing the market is not an easy thing to do. Its stimulus vs economy right now. Not sure how this will play out, but unless I get a smokin deal I am going to be patient for a few months.   

@Ben Stoodley

thanks for your opinion as well Ben. Im am sitting tight for eight months to a year to see what kind of an effect this has on the economy. I am also thinking of selling my properties to prepare for a coming crash.

To me everything seems over inflated, But I'm no economist it's just the general feeling I get. I also think that another thing people don't think about is that the economy is hanging on the edge of a cliff right now, if something else adds to this negative situation we are already in, it will push it over the edge.

I'm also going to be honest, part of this is me wishing I had taken more action in 2008 and 2009. I had some big opportunities I passed up and deperatley wish I had done things differently at that time. But you can't go back right, hindsight is 2020 And we try to learn from our past mistakes. Am I making another one by waiting this very moment I guess we'll wait and see. I guess is just in my nature to be Pessimistic and careful. Good luck with your investing guys thanks for the replies and advice.

@Frank Chin

I am in a similar situation Frank. I am on your side of the fence on this as well. Thanks for your opinion.

Just curious if you were a buy and hold investor, and you had a million in cash right now, would you wait until covid ( time frame guessing 8 months to a year from now ) is over or start pulling the trigger and try to find deals now.

Not that I have a million dollars. I wish I did, but just curious what you think about how covid may effect the economy and the housing market.

No right or wrong answer here just wanted your opinions. Thanks.

@Claratisha Davis  Wholesaling if very hard. I have tried it myself in this area. It would be a full time job and then some, and you still may not see much success at it in the Inland Empire. I would maybe consider starting another business instead, but if your still going to try, shoot me a colleague invite request and ill give you some tips on what I have been doing to find deals in the IE. Basically just driving for dollars, but I am really just focused on Yucaipa. Good luck.  

@Imanuel Gemilang Have you looked into Beaumont, Banning, or Cherry Valley. You may be able to find a good deal in these city's as well. I think these areas will be a bit nicer than Mo Val. There just right up the 60 fwy not to far away from Moreno Valley.

I wanted to hear from people who have experience building there own house. I have always been interested in this and it has been a dream of mine to build a house with my kids. I have done major DIY projects and believe I am capable of doing most of the work myself building a small unit or converting a garage into a unit. Do you have experience building a home? 

The new ADU laws are changing in California, with some pretty major changes in 2020. Cities can no long charge you development fees or school fees. This could save you up to 20k on a new build. This is a substantial savings especially if you know how to do the framing, electrical, plumbing, roofing, ect. I have been speaking to the city of Yucaipa about this, and with these sort of new laws in place you can actually turn a single family residence into a multiple unit property, legally. There are definitely some square footage requirements, and some cities are more receptive to this than others. If anyone would like to talk more about this ( contractors, owner builders, anybody interested in this topic ) I would love to hear your opinions. Thanks.

I have a cabinet connection, but you said you don't want custom work. So prob not what your looking for. He deff does higher end custom work. Just thought I would reach out if you can't find anyone soon. If your looking to go cheap you may need to Home Depot DIY during covid. I also have someone who did the quartz at our home in Yucaipa. They did a great job. Takes laser measurements on site then cuts the quartz with a machine at his workshop. I'm actually up in Big Bear right now. PM me and Let me know if your interested and ill connect you to them if possible. 

I have also been looking for areas that cash flow well. I have been looking towards Jacksonville FL. I wanted to find an area that may also appreciate well in the next 5-10 years. After watching some Bigger Pockets vids, one of the guests found a cool web site / tool that would show you the rank of schools to help you find nice areas / neighborhoods to invest. Its called school digger. Not sure if they will post the link but its SchoolDigger.com. 

On a side not I wonder what covid will be doing to values over the next year. Im sure there are 5000 posts about this so I will go and have a look around and see what the pros are saying about it. Im thinking theres prob people on both sides of the fence. Those who are waiting on the side lines and those who will just plow on through the ups and downs of the market. It has to take some toll on value though right. Even if its only a small one.