All Forum Posts by: John G.

At what price would you choose wool over a synthetic carpet in bedrooms?

I sometimes find wool carpet on clearance for $2/sqft (not including pad or installation). Does it last longer or increase the value to buyers/renters?

Generally, I use hardwood or LVP in bedrooms except when tenants are on top of each other

Safe'n'Sound is not much better than r19 fiberglass, but costs much more.

I am using this for soundproofing between floors on one of my new builds:

• r19 fiberglass between joists
• sound isolation clips
• hat channel
• 5/8 Type X drywall everywhere (you want mass, don't use lightweight).
  
• 3/8 rubber underlayment on second floor
  
• acoustical sealant around edges of first floor ceiling.

These upgrades should cost about $2/sqft of ceiling area. I am also using 5/8 soundbreak xp on my plumbing walls.

I am planning a new over-and-under duplex build and want to use the best methods to reduce sound transmission between floors.

I read suspending drywall on resilient channel attached to Sound Isolation Clips from the floor joists are a good way to reduce vibrations to the lower floor. I would need at least 4 clips per drywall sheet.

In an internet search, the cheapest US suppliers that post prices appear to be charging almost $5 per clip, even in 1000+ quantities. From China, they appear to be around $0.50 each. I figure air shipping would bring the cost closer to $1/clip.

Are there better sources for buying Sound Isolation Clips?

My business partner has a hypothesis that spending extra money to build an abundance of storage space into a rental unit will keep tenants "sticky". The idea is tenants will get more stuff and the stress/expense of moving will make them less likely to leave resulting in lower turnover and higher occupancy rates.

However I have seen many investors appearing to spend minimally on storage space and cabinetry to save money.

Opinions?

My 2 neighbors in Southern California are considering building a larger apartment complex across our adjacent 7,000sqft lots. We purchased our properties decades ago and Prop 13 has kept our property taxes to less than 1/4 of what a new owner would have to pay if they bought our properties now.

The properties have duplexes and a 4-plex. The land is 90% of the current property value. The land is zoned for multifamily and based on my research, we can build a 5 story apartment complex. Rents and demand are extremely high in this area. The construction costs of the building would likely be paid off in 4-5 years.

I believe our lower property taxes possibly give us a competitive advantage redeveloping ourselves versus selling to an outside developer.

Here's my question/idea.

To keep the land portion of our property taxes at the artificially low rates could we retain ownership of our respective parcels while forming a separate LLC or partnership that would construct and own the building? We would each have part ownership in this LLC, which would pay us "rent" for the use of our parcels.

My hypothesis is this should allow us to keep our low property taxes on the land value - only incurring additional taxes on the value of the new improvements.

Is this legally feasible? Has anyone here done something like this before in California?

Yes, city utilities are available at the road.

According to the city/town, over half of the population drives outside of the county to work. The median household income is about $50,000. The town is too small to have public transport, but the property is 2 minutes from the highway.

The land is zoned agricultural/open space but is in the city's 20-year plan to be low density residential. The 20-year plan is behind schedule because of slower population growth than anticipated.

The 20-year plan also calls for the road to be extended to the highway which would add about 3,000ft of road frontage.

If the road were to be extended there would be direct access without driving past 1 block of SFR and mobile home park.

Zoning change applications cost about $200 + 20/acre.

From what I've gathered my impression is the city is open to most new development with the possible exception of mobile home parks (which have their own zoning district). A potential problem with rezoning to low density residential is I might be required to subdivide to build more than one house/apartment.

Currently holding costs me under $400/year because of agricultural tax valuation.

I am hesitant to attempt selling off undeveloped 1-5 acre parcels unless the returns are really high. It's not a strategy I have any first hand experience with, but I anticipate having to do a lot of preliminary site work. A mile of asphalt road alone I'm guessing would cost in the $80,000 range.

In this particular case, I think forcing appreciation through some form of residential development would probably be more prudent. After leasing those units for a few years I can decide whether to sell them or hold indefinitely.

I think subdivision platting and fees for a small area would cost me $2000-3000 in total. I would prefer to develop the property organically rather than commit to subdivisions, and then subdivide later when I'm ready to sell. I can see a single subdivision possibly being worth it for the purposes of loan collateral. Thank you all for mentioning this point.

Would a good strategy be getting rezoned to high density residential so I can build as many rental units/houses as I want on an undivided parcel?

I own about 50 acres that could be developed in central Texas. It is in city limits and a couple thousand feet from a large mobile home park. Some run-down double-wides there rent for $1400/month.

The immediate neighbors are mostly historic, but poorly maintained 1-story single family homes under 1000sqft on 1/4 acre lots.

There is a notable amount of new residential construction going on in different parts of the town, mostly new subdivisions.

Town has a population under 20,000 and is near a growing major metropolitan area. I could find fewer than a half dozen rentals posted online. Asking in the $0.70-1/sqft range per month for dated/run down and up to $1.40/sqft for moderately updated.

The property has no utilities, but they are available at the road. I currently have about 400ft of road frontage. It is 5 minutes drive from the center of town and 30-40 minutes to the major metro area.

My plan is to build and hold. I am considering building a 2 story apartment building, multiple SFRs or even a mobile home and RV park if the city will let me do it (which they may not want more of). The second story of any building would have pastoral views for several miles.

Based on preliminary discussions with a building company, the cost difference of 1 vs 2-story per sqft appears negligible. I am strongly considering prefabricated steel framing to reduce the construction time (and hopefully cost).

What I am leaning towards now is building a replicable 2 story 4-8 unit apartment building of ~1200sqft 2 bedroom units near the road (because of lower utility installation, road building and perceived maintenance costs). I am also considering single story duplex or SFR buildings.

For the apartment building, under $60,000/unit with moderate price, but high end look finishes seems doable. I am going to use some low cost value adds like higher ceilings and possibly stained concrete. I am planning to be my own GC.

I have about $150k of cash and want to take out a loan for the construction and hoping to use the land as collateral. I can get a cosigner if necessary. The land is probably worth about $500k. This will be my first construction project.

Will being further away from town center make living in an apartment complex less desirable? Would tenants be willing to pay enough more rent for an SFR to justify the additional development costs?

At this point it's a blank canvas. Which route would you go?