All Forum Posts by: Eric Teran

@Sergio Santos I am an architect in the area and you will not be able to build this in the current zone. You have about a .01% chance of getting these properties rezoned. I just went through this with another client in Alexandria near Crystal City. Arlington is just as hard.

For a property to have a chance at being rezoned you have to either show hardship or that the community would benefit from this. You can’t show either one and your neighbors will come out in full force against you.

With that said if you can get both lots then go for it and hold on to them in case the city changes the zoning areas. Perhaps you don’t build a 4-plex but they might allow in-law suites and that would give you essentially 4 units on two lots. It would also be a lot cheaper than trying to build what you showed. To build around here is around $200 SF unless you have a relationship with a GC. Then you might be able to do $150 SF but that depends on finishes.

John Vandivier have you verified that your property is allowed to have a four plex? There are a lot of questions that need to be asked with the zoning department. There might be a design build firm in the area but usually they do smaller residential project. If not you have to go the traditional route of hiring an Architect and then a GC. The GC that helped me build my house in Alexandria is pretty good. I have referenced him to two of my other projects I designed and the clients are happy so far. If the zoning code is online I can do a quick review to see what you can build. Just PM me the address. Good luck.

I built my modular home a year ago and it is worth it. I wrote a BP blog on why modular is great. Here is the link, https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/9522/68289-i-love-modular-construction-and-so-should-you With that said Remember that $50 SF is only for the modular portion of the home. You final cost will be around $100 and maybe more if you hire a GC. Additional expenses 1. Permits 2. Profesional like and engineer or maybe an architect. Surveyor, civil engineer. 3. Site work which is maybe you have to build a sidewalk in front of your lot or a driveway or any landscaping, etc. 4. Utilities. hook up from the water meter to your house, electrical, sewer or septic and gas. This can get expensive. 5. Do you want a basement? 6. All the foundation and footings. 7. Temp equipment like a dumpster or toilet or tools from Home Depot. 8. Will your lot fit a stock modular plan or are there customized portion that an architect has to get involved? If you read the modular blog post I linked above you can find another post I did regarding zoning and everything you should ask for a lot or new building. 9. What level of finishes are you choosing? 10. Are you going act as the GC or will you hire a GC. This adds a lot. Usually 10%. So $50 SF becomes more like $100 SF. Don’t let all of this scare you but there is a lot that goes into building a new house on a vacant lot. The key to building in lots is finding a cheap piece of land in a good neighborhood. Hope that helps.

Hi Loretta Gray I would be interested as well. Thanks.

@Christopher B. I am not sure if it needs anything different or extra. It did get to zero this winter in DC and the minisplits heated up the house to 70 just fine. Maybe you might have to buy a better brand if it is going be working harder in the winter to be on the safe side. I do know some minisplits systems will either only cool or heat. However, if you pay a little more like I did each room can do what it wants. So one room can heat and another can cool at the same time even if they are on the same condenser unit. 

@Maurice D. I went to Airbnb and there is a lot of info on this thread, Best Integrated Smart Lock.

@Maurice D. I am looking at the the Pin Genie and the UL3 BT. I also looked at the August smart lock but it didn't seem that you could give users passcodes to enter themselves at anytime of the day. The August is the sleekest looking but more expensive. It also seems that you have to buy 2 or 3 pieces to have the entire kit. I guess it depends how you are going use it. 

My rental is in South America and I live in the States so I need something that always works remotely. I'll keep researching. Hopefully someone on BP can share their experience because I searched and didn't find anything. 

I installed a mini split system in my house in Alexandria, VA. It was new construction but can easily be done in a remodel if they know what they are doing. Overall I like it. For example, right now my wife and kids are out of the country so I am only using 2 (bedroom and office) minisplits out of the 6 that we have. Actually I only have one on at a time. If I go into the other rooms it feels a little warm but it is bearable for a short time. If I go watch TV then I turn that minisplit on while I am there. So yes you save money only having certain units on. Other advantages are that they are quieter, less dust, occupy less space, if one breaks down it doesn’t affect the entire house and every room can be at its own temperature. The two drawbacks. The wall units are noticeable at first. After a year I don’t even notice them. The second is that They cost a little more. It depends what manufacturer you use. Daikon is the best but most expensive. I went with LG which was less but not the cheapest. Last point, if your ducts in a typical HVAC is not sealed properly you will be wasting lots of money and efficiency. Sometimes you can’t just replace the unit but have to repair the duct work. Hope that helps. Contact me if you want more info. I have lots of links comparing the two.

Terri Parrilla are you looking in the DC area?There is a lot you need to know. By right most of the DC properties allow 2 units on a lot no matter how small. If you want more then you have to verify the zone it is located in. Also, if you want more than 2 units then each unit is required to have 900 SF of lot area. For example if you want 4 units then the lot has to be at least 3,600 SF. That does not mean each unit has to be 900 SF. In fact it could be bigger. Another possibility is a special exception. It is not a difficult process but does add 4-6 months for the permit process. The bad thing is that the city can deny a special exception. I am going through this process with a project in DC and I hope they approve it. As you can see there is a lot going on and this is just scratching the surface. If you want send me the address of the empty lot and I can tell you pretty quickly what you can build by right.

As an architect I have tried this twice for new homes on vacant lots for construction loans. Once in California about 10 years ago and once in Virginia 3 years ago. Both times I was told no and between the two I called over 40 banks. Big and small they all said they only cover construction costs. Soft cost are on the owner. They would not count my fee as equity or a percentage of any down payment. Same goes with all the other consultant fees to get a permit. Their response was that a permit has no value to them. If the project doesn’t get built the bank is left holding a set of plans with no owner. Who knows what the new owner will want to do? Actually before you get a loan all banks require you to have a permit for a construction loan. Especially on vacant land. A few banks said I could be reimbursed if my construction cost were under the LTV. For example if my LTV was 80% and my construction cost was only at 70% they said I could ask for more to cover soft cost and be part of the first bank disbursement. Both my experiences had construction cost that were the full LTV so I did not get any reimbursement. There are lots of different loans out there, lots of forms of construction and relationships always help so I would ask. It hasn’t worked for me so far but I still ask every time I speak to a new bank. It doesn’t hurt to ask.