All Forum Posts by: Douglas Gratz

@Caroline Gerardo.  Yeah I have everything I need with the house for it to sell at 2.1 to 2.2 million.  From elevators to city skyline views the roof decks.  It being 30 feet wide is another plus, as 20 feet is the norm, but who wants a skinny home when they can have a wide one.  Thats a huge bonus that will help me pre sell these homes.  You saw the 3d rendering, they will be the biggest homes in northern liberties (so someone with an ego might like the idea of owning the biggest lol) Overall its very original!

When it comes to all the finishes from the kitchen cabinets, floors, handles, etc you names it, we are working with a company called 

They are going to bring me 10 different high end designs to choose from (all packaged into one), and from my pick it will all be ordered and ready to go when its needed,  in that sense, that part will be seamless .  I just walked through a couple of homes my realtor has sold 1321 Bainbridge st(well this one in particular was not occupied yet, under contract, but not closed) so we walked through and he showed me exactly what I need to do for this House to sell at my price point.  He is very hands on and I have a good idea of the finishes I need to have in the house.  I dont plan to make any changes to the plans given way things are right now.  The builder and myself have been over the plans many times to make sure there is nothing I will want to change, but I see where you are getting at there. I am using quickbooks.  I would love to set up a YouTube channel, but have no idea how to get people to subscribe.  I have one already for my pets, I train birds to do amazing things

https://www.youtube.com/channe.... , but how people know to go to it, I suppose Facebook and IG posts could do the trick.  I am going to keep a day to day journal on here for it so that I can help other people new to the ground up construction game.  I have put 400k aside since I am using hard money, I do not want to run into problems there, so I have a safety net because I know when the money stops, thats when you run into the biggest problems. So if a draw is late, or I need it sooner, I have a reserve set aside. Doing my best to plan for anything that can go wrong.  Ive ordered my appliances already, windows will be ordered the day we break ground and I will keep it in one of my warehouses.

@Mike Smith. I added the budget to my rental website (temporarily) so you can click it and it will enlarge enough to be able to see it Budget per 1 house 

This is the budget for the build (it does not include all other cost associated with the project like soft costs and the like). Incase that link does not work ,

Note that the builder added a 70k cushion . Better to have a loan for more than for less. 

@Caroline Gerardo ....The budget you see or cant see lol, is just the cost to build it does not include my soft costs (fences, porter potty, commissions, etc etc) but in a nut shell the budget calls for 989k per house which is approx 170sqft including finishes....here are the 3d renderings, everything approved, just submitted the building permit. And I am not sure I what your getting at about picking up my builders subs in a truck, thats not how my builder operates. My best friend uses him all the time on much larger projects, he has a legitimate company and is very reputable.  On top of his game is the best way I can put it.  Seemless process's from start to finish. We are ordering wolf appliances now since they might take 1 year to arrive, and ordering windows as soon as we break ground. I will have them pre-sold, and I say that with confidence seeing what my realtor has accomplished in the past 3 months (his team specialized in luxury homes) You just dont find 30 feet wide homes with two car parking garages in Northern Liberties, or anywhere in the city for that matter (30 feet wide). Its like a suburban home , in the city and that gives me confidence that people in the market for a luxury home in this area, are going to jump on this.  I have an umbrella policy, along with builders risk insurance. I have 400k in an account just for the purpose of reserves incase I have to weather any storms or delays. I had to sell 3 of the 15 rental duplex's I own , but it makes me feel better to have the liquidity if I need it. And my builder is not the one filing for permits, my architect is a full service, they have submitted everything in an expedited fashion. We got the zoning permit passed a few weeks ago, so just waiting on the building permit to break ground. And I dont have a day job lol, well I guess I do, my rentals, but I have a property manager who runs those for me.  I have put serious thought if that market does turn, and my asking price for these homes is 2.1 million.  Houses way smaller have sold for 1.9 in a matter of weeks just after breaking ground (or under contract I should say). In order to pay my lender back I just need to sell them for 1.3 million each, and in this neighborhood 3000 sqft 3 strories 3 bed/3bath no parking are selling for 1.3, so if it came to the worst of the worst, these would sell for 1.3 in a heart beat (aside from being in a serious depression)...  I am curious as to why you say I cant do any change requests? I have spoken to my architect about this and he says so long as we are not changing the foot print, then an addendum would take 2-3 months if I were to make a major change...

@Mike Smith it doesn't seem to allow to attach pdf or anything. below the message box allows for links but thats about it.  I wish I could make it bigger

The budget, please review, this builder just did 22 luxury homes his estimates are good since he literally just finished a huge project, 

This is definitely something I am looking into, I bought the lots for 720K..With plans and permits ready to build, I can get 1.1 million easy, so yes I think I will put it on the market but for 1.2-1.3 million and see what happens.  

And I have looked and talked to my builder about his latest build of https://www.packerparknewhomes.... too him 1 year 8 months for 22 homes during the heart of covid. If he was able to do that, times in concern to covid are getting better, with that I can only make an educated guess that if he can build 22 in that amount of time , then building two mirrored homes should take at most 1 year to 1 year 2 months....He says he can do it in 10 months, he knows what we need to order ahead of time due to shortages and supply chain issues and thats the plan....Anything and everything that can hold us up will be ordered ahead of time with several options depending on what comes to pass. I have planned for it as much as one can....I have 500k in liquid cash just to have as a cushion since I am using hard money. I am also having my hard money lender put on paper, that if things get delayed that their will be a clause in the loan that gives me leeway on time, so that I do not get screwed if I cant build or sell fast enough....