All Forum Posts by: Christian Konn

Josh, thank you for the insight. I appreciate your help with a more clear understanding of what to ask the contractor.

Greetings BP community! About a year ago I posted a question about developing a container home in San Diego with a limited budget of $200,000. Since then I’ve gotten a VA construction loan for $480,000. My real estate agent and I have been looking for some lots and I can not find a piece of “shovel ready” land so i’ve given up on that. My criteria currently is that the land have water, electricity, sewage, maybe phone (I don’t know if VA inspections require this). I’ve found a lot to match these requirements in spring valley but the land is steep. The listing agent calls it a rolling hill. It is zoned Semi Rural and is .52 acres. The land is 25% of my loan amount and I will be trying to build a single family 2000-3000 sq ft home (depending on the foundation/ earthwork costs). I’ll need a soil test to get an idea of what kind of foundation I’ll need. I’m thinking it will be pier foundation. Where should I get started? Do I need to open escrow on the land first to attain geographical data? What would be the best way to mitigate risks? What kind of team do I need for this? - Currently I’ve reached out to a contractor that specializes in shipping container homes in San Diego. They have an in house architect. They tell me that i’ll need to own the land first before we plan and estimate. Their rate is $80 - $130 a sq ft. (Permits included) (not including foundation) - I have a real estate agent. How can I accurately predict costs? What am I missing? Caveat: Home needs to be built in 9 months Contractor estimates 2-6 months. Background: I am a plumber in the navy so I am somewhat familiar with construction. This is the first time I am doing this. This will be my first home.

@Lee ripma I'm up for the challenge. The shipping container group I've contacted is from San Diego and they've already built a few homes close to the down town area. There is a shopping center in east village built out of shipping containers.. I'm not sure how long i'd have to tie up my money for these types of buildings. From what I've researched their a lot more fast to build than traditional "stick and stucco" homes. Don't get me wrong though. I would definitely stick to easier methods if the numbers were right. I'd be willing to develop on both vacant and land with homes to tear down. My mom is a real estate agent here and she lends me her MLS program to find land/ R4 zoned homes. I also use Redfin, Trulia, Zillow, and realtor.com. Wouldn't my contractor account for soft costs such as environmental consultants like yourself? I've never thought about trading my skills to fund my material costs but that interesting. I'll look into that more. Thanks! You got the ball rolling on this question and I appreciate the insight.

I'm going to have $200,000 in 3 years and want to build multifamily homes in San Diego by either developing on vacant land or demolishing cheaper homes in R4 zones.

Is it possible to get a construction to perm loan in the san diego area with $200,000 in the bank? If so then how much does the typical 4 plex cost to build in this area?

I am an active duty plumber in the navy and bring in about $29,000 a year plus $2100 a month in Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH). I'm saving my BAH to build investment property by renting out a friends room for $400 a month.

I've contacted a shipping container build group and they quoted me $80 - $150 per sqft plus architect, material costs and permit costs.

Would it be better to live in one to get lower interest financing?

Any advice would be appreciated. I'm just getting my feet wet and want to learn all of the ins and outs of building investment properties in the San Diego area.