All Forum Posts by: Julia Hwang

 Hi Jay, Thank you for your thoughtful response. I definitely have so much to learn. 

When you say that the cost to build in LA for, let's say, a condo is $185/SF, when computing the TOTAL construction cost, do you mean $185 x TOTAL SF of the building OR $185 x SF of the living area only (meaning only the SF you can sell to buyers...because from what I know, when selling houses/condos/townhouses, you don't include areas like garages in the sale price/sf)?

Apologies first for such amateur question: in new developments, when construction companies quote construction cost for "$ X/sf", is this number usually "the total construction cost divided by living square foot ONLY" or "the totally construction cost divided by total square footage of the structure, for example, including garage (sf that are not counted when selling to buyer)"? 

Or can someone describe how the construction cost discussion usually goes in a new development? 

I was chatting with an agent who is familiar in Pomona, CA area and he told me from what he knows, the construction cost per sf is about $100-150/sf. But I couldn't figure out what this mean so would like to get some help. Thanks. 

@Jason Hsiao & @Bob Razler Thank you for sharing your insights! I wish there were a handbook somewhere that states everything you need to do to make it as a developer. It's been quite a learning curve figuring out the pieces. This community has been nothing but helpful.

Extremely new to Re devlepment here...upon my own studying I noticed that HOA is a huge component in determining the for-sale price in development projects. I'm wondering if anyone can share their experience in determining the HOA for a residential condo project? Do you get a quote from a management company? Do you look at how much neighboring communities are quoting for HOA? Thank you.

Extremely new to Re devlepment here...upon my own studying I noticed that HOA is a huge component in determining the for-sale price in development projects. I'm wondering if anyone can share their experience in determining the HOA of a residential condo project? Do you get a quote from a management company? Do you look at how much neighboring communities are quoting for HOA?

@Theresa Harris, thank you! Just so I am completely clear, so I can rent my condo to 3+ different occupants who may not know each other (therefore they won't be on the same lease) and that's ok? Are the numbers of tenants restricted by room then? Like if two people decided to share a bigger room can they still be under separate lease agreements? I'm asking because I was inspired by how this apartment building was doing near my college years back. Instead of renting per room to students, they were renting bed spaces. So one room could have two students - and it's very possible they don't know each other so they are on individual leases. 

@Theresa Harris I was thinking about renting rooms in the condo (3 rooms). So would I be able to rent it to 3 different people on individual lease?  

Hi! New to this platform! Really excited to learn from you all!

I have a condo that I plan to rent out. I'm wondering if there is California law limiting how many people I can rent it to? I heard long ago from others that there is restriction on how many different households can be under a roof (for school district purposes). I could be wrong about what I heard. Basically, how many people I can rent my condo to with individual leases without violating any potential law? Or this is not even a concern? This might be a simple question but I just don't know where to start with my research. Thank you.