Oh no not another one! Bay Area CA, Newbie

[Yasmina Malik]

Hello everyone, I just wanted to introduce myself even tho I have been lurking on this site for a few months I finally decided to sign up and say hello. I'm not really looking to get into your normal type real estate deals like flipping, and renting although I wouldn't mind it at all. I am more interested from a developer standpoint. I would like to see alternative and sustainable design and build included more in the main stream,  ie: Prefabricated strawbale panels, hempcrete, recycled building materials ect. I studied art and architectural design and found a love for building after I had an amazing professor in construction management at Laney College in Oakland. I actually built my own tiny cottage house with mine own two hands and have deconstructed a 500sq ft studio for the material.   I found in my studies there is growing need for alternative housing options, so naturally I need to know more about the real estate market. I bought a couple of vacant lots a couple years back (Marin county, and one in Vallejo Ca) in order to start my research although I have not broke any ground yet. I am mainly waiting for the ICC to be amended later this year to reflect the change in natural building code. If California adopts this change to the code (which they always do) it will make building with with things such as straw much easier and cheaper. (think affordable housing without the crappy shakish houses) I'm also waiting to get my funds up as I've learned some very hard lessons about playing it cheap and will not start another project without making sure I have the money to finish it.  Hope to learn a great deal from you all and make some great connections. 

[Matt Aspen]

Hi @Yasmina Malik, super glad you decided to join. Both of my parents are architects and my mom, in particular, instilled the "green" bug in me. I've always wanted to include 'green design' in my (future) deals but have not had the opportunity to do so; yet. For those of us who "care" about how healthy a home is to live in, how efficient it is AND what impact it has on the environment, you bring essential knowledge to BP.

I'm in the East Bay, interested in investing in Oakland & SF. Be great to connect & stay in touch!

Best, --MA