All Forum Posts by: Franklin Marquette

Hey all does anyone know of any good books, articles, etc learn about tax strategy? I only have 1 property and a W2 so am just starting at not really at the stage where it makes sense to hire an expensive tax strategist (unless the forum disagrees).

Despite this, obviously want to make sure I am tax efficient. Just looking for any affordable resources, tools, etc.

Thanks!

Hello all,

I am doing some new construction and have been getting crazy quotes for lumber / hardware materials. Does anyone have suggested places to source materials affordably?

Thanks!

Franklin

By the way for anyone interested I ended up going with a PlastPro fiberglass door.

Thanks all!

Has anybody used Fiberglass doors mimicking real wood for Spanish Modern? 

Okay thanks helpful to know

If we went with steel or another material, is there a cost effective brand out there folks like that would allow us to get below that ~$2.6K mark?

Thanks all!

Hey all,

I am building a Spanish Modern ADU. Wondering if anybody knows of any good cost effective door brands? Because its Spanish Modern and is a luxury unit, it likely needs to be wood. Options that I have seen thus far are ~$2.6K per door at the most affordable level.

Given its a rental, even though it is a luxury rental, just trying to see if there are more affordable exterior door alternatives out there.

Thanks!

Franklin

Hello BP,

Quick question for the group here. For luxury units, have you found that renters care about having larger 42 inch vanities in their bathrooms vs 30 inch? I am in the process of building 2 2 bed 2 bath ADUs. Downstairs bathrooms will have 42 inch vanities, 9 ft ceilings. Upstairs, unless I add an extra foot onto the ADU and have the engineers redo all their work, will need to have 30 inch vanities given the space the staircase takes up.

These units in my area (Los Feliz, LA) are expected to rent for ~$4,000/mo each. I am trying to ascertain whether its with the heartburn to redesign and get the 42 inch vanities upstairs as well as downstairs for both ADUs.

Thanks!

Franklin

Makes sense. Perhaps I have an odd case but I paid $1.35M or $455 / sq ft for a 3,000 sq ft duplex on a 7,000 sq ft lot in Los Feliz.

Once I add the ADU complex, which will be around $350K, it will be a quadplex, 4,600 sq ft of living space.

If I got 1:1 value for the ADU, that would imply $1.70M for the property. I have never seen a quadplex in Los Feliz / Silverlake sell for less than $2.00M.

Now I did get a good deal on the house because it needed a lot of work, all in all will probably end up spending $500K between the ADU and the renovations (hopefully). Part of the investment thesis was getting it for a bargain, then building an ADU complex on it as affordably as possible, getting it to cash flow, and realizing value on both the rental income but also property appreciation given the work going into it.

If the property will really only be worth ~$1.70M once we are finished, I will likely just stop the project now and exit the house as soon as possible.

If you do not get dollar for dollar for projects such as this, how would house flipping ever work? Or the house construction industry in general where they build for $X and sell for $X+margin?

Thanks both.

Would you say just as a general conservative estimate that the ADU $ / sq ft might be 50% of the main house? So lets say if homes were selling for a median of $450, an estimate for the ADU may be $225? Or is that too aggressive?

Just trying to sort out an assumption so I can plug it into the model I build and calc post-construction LTV and sale assumptions. Idea is I may just sell the property the moment the project and renovation is finished.

For context, the ADUs will be 2 2bed 2 bath units, 800 sq ft each, 1,600 sq ft total. In this area, can expect around $4K/mo for units such as this. Cost to build is $350K (I am managing it all myself and calling in favors around the city to get low rates on materials and labor).

When building ADUs, do they generally create value uplift for the property in the same way that the main house is valued?

That is, if the median $/sq ft for an area is, say, $450. Would any new ADU sq ft add $450 / sq ft to the property value OR would it be at a discount because it is an ADU? I know there is of course no set rule out there but just curious on folk's experiences.

Also curious to know folk's thoughts on what the CONSERVATIVE median $/sq ft for the Los Feliz / Silverlake area on LA is.

Thanks all!