All Forum Posts by: Joey Johnson

Not 100%, but a fair amount.  84 Lumber - building material (framing, decking, interior and exterior trim), doors and windows.  Other subs supply their material, drywall, insulation, rough plumbing.  Build.com for flooring, lighting, door handles/locks, plumbing (sinks, faucets, toilet, shower), hardware.  We have a great appliance company and they get special rates direct from the MFG, so can't touch the pricing anywhere.  Looking to find a great, reliable, high quality yet cost effective cabinet source.  Most upper end cabinet brands use dealers and most want to charge retail rates.  I'm in a rural area, so they do not have great buying power themselves.

Would love to hear from those who rehab or build spec homes on where you like to source your main materials...  Mostly on the finish side.  Cabinets, Windows, doors, flooring, lighting, plumbing etc..  

I'm always looking for places that are willing to sell at a wholesale rate.  I'm really curious on cabinets right now.  Trying to find a good way to buy high end, but not pay high end premiums from an interior designer or cabinet store.  Anyone use Cabinets.com or Cabinetsdirect.com?  

Right now, I buy a lot of my flooring (tile and hardwood), lighting and plumbing fixtures from build.com.  They are owned by Ferguson and give project pricing.  84 Lumber for everything else.  

I may be partial due to my interests in the area, but Crested Butte, CO is a great option. It's way cheaper than many of the bigger ski towns in Summit County. We are just finishing our first 4 plex out of an 11 Townhome project. At the moment we are unsure if we plan to hold a couple for STR purposes. We also have a SFH project that is near ski in/ ski out, but that HOA does not allow STR's... The two inside units are yet to be listed, but already have a ton of action from the end units that are under contract. End unit listing below.

https://www.realtor.com/reales...

We are newer to the Real Estate Development world. We have a current project to build 11 town homes with a GC. All of the risk is on us for land purchase and construction loan.  GC is set up as a cost plus for the first 4 plex that is near completion.  Note - This is our first project and already see where we could have cut costs.  We are planning to go out for bids early spring for the final 4 plex and 3 plex.  What also plays into this is we purchased a development from another investor who wants to retire.  We will have 17 houses to build and will interview the current GC for the investor, who is not our GC.  Both projects are in a small mountain town, so not a ton of competition.  GC or subs.

Big question - as we evaluate both projects and look to leverage both, what are creative ways to partner with a GC where they are looking for cost reduction and overall efficiencies.  My initial thought was setting the baseline project budget and then offer up a 50/50 savings split for savings from the build budget.  If we can find $100K in savings, then we would earn a $50K bonus after the project was completed.  BUT, not impacting quality.  One problem is this would only work on the first round so he does not come in high with initial estimates and then works the cost bonus.  Some savings that I have already uncovered is on the sourcing of material.  He is using the local lumber yard for a lot of big line items.  Probably due to relationship and convenience.  Keep in mind we are deep in the mountains and not close to any metro area.     

Love to year your ideas on creating the best long term relationship with the GC.  Since they are luxury homes ($2.2 - $2.4M) we will only spec 2 at a time.  So, a multi year project.  

Thank you in advance of your in put and suggestions.  

Thanks,

Joey