All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Harris

I'm looking forward to it!

I should clarify that, my projects are all $50K or higher.

Here in Denver I usually do a few flips a year for investors. Think I did 6 last year. I usually set up to pay in thirds. 1/3 upfront. 1/3 at drywall and the balance after final inspection. 

There are several factors for demolition. I am about to demolish one here in Denver and the actual demolition is only bid at $6,500. What can can expensive with demolition is the potential abatement. I've had a house that cost up to 30K to get rid of the asbestos in it. That where costs can sky rocket. There will also be city regulations about lot protection, sewer and water cutoffs and electric and gas cutoffs from your utility. In rough numbers the house I am about to demolish has the following numbers

Asbestos testing $600

Abatement  $3000 (just Transite siding)

Utility cut off and temp power setup $3200

Demolition $6500

For your basic fix and flip generally no Architect is required occasionally investors will need an engineer for a larger structural fix. That being said I do a lot of work with Investors here in Denver who see value in additions, poptops, and total scrapes all of which need an Architect to design. So I think a lot of it depends on what market you are in and what type of investments are profitable. 

- Jon

It was great meeting so many new people last night. Will definitely be back for the next one. Thanks Anson for setting this up. 

I have not built a Kit house before, but the numbers that the others have quoted above are what I have been seeing around Denver in the last year. 

Looking forward to this, it'll be my first meet up!

1. The costs are more comparable through square foot pricing. a 3000sf house has been costing on average from $130-140/sf for Demo to completion. Going down in footage makes the cost per foot raise a little since you loose some of the efficiency of scale. Costs have gone up over the last few years due to material and labor increases after the recession. 

2. From excavation to completion schedules for a full new build are running 6 to 7 months in my experience. Certainly can go longer as well depending on materials and labor supply and complexity of the homes. But the days of 90 to 120 day builds are gone for the time being in my experience. 

3. As rental I would probably want to use sturdy materials that will be durable and require less maintenance. Quartz instead of granite, little to no carpet, things like that so your turn over costs in between tenants will hopefully be less. 

4. In my opinion the best thing to do is to know what you want before you start, especially as a spec or built to rent try not to let emotions bog down decisions. I see too many spec clients who get caught up in detail decisions and they lose time and money rather than being decisive and getting to market. The more you know what you want before the hole is dug the easier the whole process will be. 

Feel free to shoot me a message if you'd like to chat more. 

- Jon