All Forum Posts by: Kurt F.

Where are you located?  Most municipalities areas have adopted some combination of the IRC, IBC, and IECC (energy code).  The requirements for insulation are not in inches, but rather in R-values or the reciprocal  U-values.   Again, your local buidling code will rule the day, but Missouri falls into Zones 4 and 5, which would require R-49 via the IRC.  Which, you would come nowhere near achieving with 6 inches of fiberglass batts.  The Owens Corning single batt fiberglass product is 14" thick.

I think the look you're hoping for is impractical.

It can be done, and some are very cool.  But it's one of those ideas you really have to want to do for very specific and usually personal reasons.  I like them as well -- I love anything unique -- but that's an inherent part of the problem with them -- a shipping container house doesn't address very many of the wants and needs of most folks in the mainstream housing market.  It's a microscopically tiny niche market. 

One thing, they are a bit like tiny houses, in that building codes and zoning will likely be a challenge.  Not impossible everywhere, of course, but picture a steel shipping container house in 99 percent of neighborhoods.     

Something else to consider would be to establish exactly what material and function a shipping container would be expected to subsitute for, when compared against conventional construction. 

Compare the probable cost to conventionally frame out a similarly sized structure.   The shipping container begins to look less attractive when compared directly in this way.   A shipping container -- when used as a building -- does almost nothing better than a ground up framed building -- and it does most things far less efficiently.  

Also, a big steel box conducts heat very well.  Picture sitting in an unmodified steel box in either a hot or cold climate.  Not too comfy.....so, of course, in essentially  all climates, you will need to combat the 100% thermal bridge nature of a steel shipping container with additional framing, insulation, and finished surfaces.  By the time you add all that additional framing at a thickness necessary for adequate insulation, you may as well have simply framed the building and skipped the container.  

The container essentially becomes an expensive nuisance in the process.   

Hi Heidi -- thanks for the reply. Sorry for getting way off topic. I'm always trying to learn on the whole SFR idea of investment. It always seems pretty tough to get cash flow. I hear what you're saying about the benefit of getting your house for zero down. At the same time, the idea of infinite cash on cash return can offset pretty quickly by negative returns, even with some expectation of appreciation.

I think it might be worth rethinking the numbers, and leaving open the possibility of a different strategy...?  I'm hoping someone smarter than me will give some input on this -- as in, say this is hypothetically another BP contributors house -- what would they do at the point you're at...  Sounds like step one is to lower the rent, but then what?  What's the next step with a house like this from a smart investor's viewpoint?   

So the rent appears to be +/-  the 1% rule at 1300/month.   But thread consensus says sub 1000/month -- so, 0.7% +/-.  

I'm not sure what all is being covered by the property owner in terms of utilities, garbage, etc. -- plus a property manager --  plus taxes -- plus all the other stuff and maintenance and cap ex., etc. --  given the apparent value, cash flow seems like it's going to be pretty negative.  Am I wrong on this?

So, is cash flow possible in a neighborhood like this?    

https://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/regulations/Chap...

Look at page 15.

I think Jared is likely correct -- this is probably more about getting something to base scope upon, not a licensed architect legal necessity.   

Also -- often contractors and others call anyone who draws plans an "architect".   

Regarding architect costs, there are some very interesting and accurate comments at the bottom of this link.

https://www.homeadvisor.com/cost/architects-and-en...

Jon, that strikes me as sort of awesome -- a record of a large chunk of someone's everyday life...  shave in the mirror, take out blade, put in slot.  Repeat 8000 times. 

@ David Smit:

“Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough.” 

Frederic Bastiat

In other words, you will be far better off first making certain the implementation of your own value system within your own life endeavors actually matches your supposedly higher standards -- before broadly generalizing about the alleged lesser character traits of others.  I will make a high wager that you are right now living far above the means of hundreds of thousands of other "less fortunate" individuals in this country.  So, David, why are you so "greedy"?

I was reading this older thread as I'm thinking of setting up a direct deposit option for my tenants.

Any further thoughts by anyone as to the last comment above?  That is, several have noted that in some states, the tenant could deposit a partial payment, and since it's automatically "accepted" you could potentially be out of luck on eviction processes, etc.....?

In the lease I use I have a Partial Rent Payment clause:  "It is agreed that the acceptance by the landlord of less than the full amount of rent due and owing shall not serve to prevent the Landlord from filing a summary ejection for any balance still due and owing." 

Seems like I'm covered.  Yes / no?

Thank you in advance,

Randall -- what did you think of the Segal videos?