All Forum Posts by: Elizabeth Zieman

Welcome Jason! I wish you luck! Would you ever consider GCing a job in Ridgefield or Danbury? Or too far away? I've got several things in the works. The GCs around here are used to getting Darien prices, so it's difficult to find people that are reasonable.

Hi Brian, thanks so much for that. I'm also in CT. May I ask what town you're in? Did you sell the house pretty much at what your market analysis told you it would sell for? It does look lovely! And what was your marketing/listing time?

I'll do the podcast if Rosie interviews me!

Did anyone do a deal with RCN? IM looking at a LOI from them right now.

Fred, did you do anything with RCN? I'm considering funding from them right now. Thanks!

On that note @Loubert Antoine, what to do you set as a reasonable expectation of credit scores in your market?

Hi @Loubert Antoine, you are a brave soul to invest in Bridgeport.  But I suppose if you know your market, and can screen tenants well, you probably can do very well.  I Landlord (Lady lol) in Danbury and yes it can go very well or very wrong.

As an architect, I salivate over all those beautiful old houses in Bport.  I would be a terrible investor; I'd probably spend way too much money trying to save the architecture.

I'm an architect and investor in Ridgefield, CT.  Fortunately I have a lot of contacts from my architectural work.  I've never heard of a contractor charging for an estimate; however, it would be perfectly reasonable to pay him/her for his/her time.  Like maybe $75/hour?  I'll do complimentary initial meets (2 hours max), then I am definitely on the clock.  The protocol in the industry is either (1) a walk-through of the property, in which case he's going to give you some rough, verbal, estimate.  This usually works to make a decision to put in an offer on the property . Or (2) a full bid, which would need to have drawings & specifications to back it up.  Contractors will NOT give you a "bid" or a firm price without any documentation.

And, my apologies to all realtors/brokers out there, but a realtor is not going to have the pulse on current labor and materials costs like a general contractor, who is constantly in the market buying.

Once you get a couple projects done, and pay people well and on-time, you'll be amazed at the level of customer service and loyalty you'll receive!!  I'm sure I could squeeze a few dollars out of my projects if I hired hacks and then beat them down on price.  In the long run, this doesn't work.  Hire good people, treat them with respect, bring them cookies to the jobsite, offer praise when praise is due (contractors are not numbers people as much as they are "aesthetics"...they enjoy being able to do nice work), pay them on time, and you'll have a devoted team in no time.  (GCs...am I right??)

In my project experience, it takes about $50/s.f. (materials+labor) to do a nice rehab/refresh of all the interior finishes on a property.  $75/s.f. if you are upgrading HVAC, electrical.  Granted, that's inflated Fairfield County numbers, and I can't help myself, I pick only materials that I would want in my house,  but I end up at that number pretty much every time.

Hi Friends!

Here's Before & Afters of a condo foreclosure I renovated in Ridgefield, Connecticut.  Project budget all-in came to about $50/sf.

Inbox me if you'd like more details.

Great @Jonathan Makovsky thanks for that info.  I just met with another investor here in Ridgefield @Mark Avery this morning and we were saying we need something in FF County.

I would definitely attend early December.

Will you be posting your MeetUp on the Networking Page?

Liz