Hi all,

I'm new to this forum and new to development. Having designed and owned investment properties before (simple rental units), I'm interested in taking this to the next level - more than likely in Miami or LA. I...

I'm planning to start looking at fix-and-flip opportunities in the Bay Area and will be working with an architect I know who has a contractor's license and who had done a lot of construction management.

A HUGE part of the costs are the lot preparation costs, permit fees, and the school tax really actual construction costs are more like 60-70/sfBUT this is greatly due to taking all of the general contractors markup out, paying him only daily to be on site for framing and roofing and paying him instead of an expensive architect to draw all the plans in autocad(other generals pay him to do this for them) He is getting older, it is a nice setup for him, saves us money, makes me more money as project manager (I get paid out of labor allowance for days I am supervising jobsite) and saves our owner/builder a grip of money allowing him to get a decent return from the investment. which for our area is amazing because you can't really build for profit right now unless you are a builder.

I am an architect in Honolulu and picking up all kinds of great advice here.

Google/Bind Street view is also a good way to see it.http://www.zillow.com/homes/15212_rb/http://www.housetrends.com/Housetrends/Pittsburgh/May-2012/Deutschtown-Treasure/ -- Bob Baumbach is my architect as well.

I am not sure if I need an architect to do the drawings and then have a GC do the renovations?

I am assuming roughly $60,000 for fixed costs such as plan approval by the city, architect fees, lawyer fees, water/sewer connections etc.Is there any other information I might be overlooking or a challenge with building out myself?

I am basically a middle man that connects home owners, contractors, Architects, Engineers, ETC.

Another thing to consider, (and maybe someone else can chime in on this) I've heard that Philly has become a NIGHTMARE for investors ever since that building collapsed a while back.At my local investor group people were telling me permits are damn near impossible to get anymore and you need architects and engineers to even get anything approved.That could get costly very very quickly.

Also, find out if they actually use an architect or a draftsperson for the design, or a combination of both (we personally have a draftsperson do preliminary design and an architect do final check and put in notes as it saves a lot on costs, then our structural engineer signs off on his part)Another way to save money is on the commission on the land.