Oakland, CA · Member since 2016 · 2 posts · 2 votes
Hi all -
I'm not (yet) a real estate person, but I'm interested in exploring opportunities for small-scale (2-6 unit) infill development in urban locations in California. I know there are a million reasons why it's difficult, but it seems like an underserved market and like maybe the political winds are shifting to make it possible to build business models around this kind of development...
I'd love to meet local folks who are interested in chatting about this - share ideas and knowledge, and just get to know each other. Considering hosting a meetup or networking event in the East Bay soon - would anyone be interested to join that kind of event?
I'm not (yet) a real estate person, but I'm interested in exploring opportunities for small-scale (2-6 unit) infill development in urban locations in California. I know there are a million reasons why it's difficult, but it seems like an underserved market and like maybe the political winds are shifting to make it possible to build business models around this kind of development...
I'd love to meet local folks who are interested in chatting about this - share ideas and knowledge, and just get to know each other. Considering hosting a meetup or networking event in the East Bay soon - would anyone be interested to join that kind of event?
You need big money and or a whole lot of support behind you. Maximizing bonus density and exemptions will make most the area around your project hate you, the ones that support you will lack any meaningful way to push your project fwd.
Land costs, permitting and all the backend stuff that goes into it, and time will be huge barrier to entry. If you pass that hurdle then you going to battle labor and material costs if you can even find a builder that will take on the project.
I have seen how much of a disaster a local project was locally as a resident of the town but also from the lens of an investor. It either fizzled out or went top secret... I've also seen similar in Walnut Creek and Lafayette...but from a much less in depth perspective.
Note, these projects were way bigger then 2-6 units, but again depending on the area the battles are likely similar....and you'd probably need extra units for something to pencil out.
These were also all new construction... Converting single family homes going to limit the amount of units which will significantly impact your costs because there's less units to spread them over...
I'm not (yet) a real estate person, but I'm interested in exploring opportunities for small-scale (2-6 unit) infill development in urban locations in California. I know there are a million reasons why it's difficult, but it seems like an underserved market and like maybe the political winds are shifting to make it possible to build business models around this kind of development...
I'd love to meet local folks who are interested in chatting about this - share ideas and knowledge, and just get to know each other. Considering hosting a meetup or networking event in the East Bay soon - would anyone be interested to join that kind of event?
HI Steve - I dropped you a DM. A lot of opportunities out here in California.