All Forum Posts by: Nik Moushon

 W/D are provided. The main reason for being downstairs is actually to minimize water damage incase of a leak or failure. Easy install and replacement was secondary. Definitely important, and was considered, but not the main reason.

Another reason we are providing them is that we are seriously looking into renting by the room for one of the units. With the target tenant being traveling professionals, you have to have laundry.  

@Julie Marquez @Steve Vaughan

Here are some pictures of the plans. Can't believe I've forgotten to post these. Overall size is approximately 50x40.

Small update on the project progression...

• Plumbing rough in is finished
  Mechanical rough in is about 45% done
• House got wrapped and windows are being installed today
  
• Framing is 95% done. Just a few more finish things.
• The pre-painted Hardie siding, from WoodTone, was ordered and is 7-8 weeks out. 
• Finally got the roof trusses, that were made wrong, fixed. They cannot sit on the fire wall, they have to ledger/hang on it.

Up coming items...

• Electrical starts this week
• Roofing is scheduled to get installed this week but....we are also scheduled to have 3 days of snow...so this is doubtful
• Finalizing flooring and wall tile and those will get ordered this week...maybe next
• Waiting on two cabinet quotes to come in and then will decide on those

Here are a few pictures from this last week...

Originally posted by @Steve Vaughan:

Originally posted by @Nik Moushon:

Its been a crazy busy month with work, family, the build and the holidays. So, sorry I havent been keeping this updated. So here is what has happened in the last month:

• -The building is completely framed in now. 
  
• -Plumbing has started install.
• -Roofing paper is up. Though the night it got installed we had a massive wind storm and it blew/ripped like 1/4 of it off. That was fun picking up pieces of it all over my back yard. 
• -Mechanical starts on Monday. Electrical will start end of next week once plumbing as all their main lines in place. 
• -Windows and doors are scheduled to be delivered next week. Though with covid I'm not holding my breath that they stick to their estimated delivery dates. 
• -Siding is going to get ordered here soon. We are doing a pre-painted siding. This is much more durable than site painted siding and comes with a 30 yr warranty on the paint. Which is higher than even the paint warranty itself. It was only a couple thousand more expensive than site painting but thats a good trade off in my opinion. It does have an 8 week lead time though.
• -We bought appliances during Black Friday sales, so those got delivered...and now I have zero room in my garage for a car. Saved have four grand buying them early but the bank wont pay me for them until they are installed. So I had to eat that up front cost until they get installed in a couple months. Well worth the savings. 

I will try to keep a more regular posting. Especially since there will be a lot more things happening every week. 

 Whoa! You have been busy! Last time I saw your site, you were formed up for the foundation pour. 

Love the way you planed those old wood floor planks. I remember seeimg them 'in use'. Quite the woodsman.

And that wooden pipe (sewer?) . Cool old school!

Awesome to see your progress. Thank you for the updates and so much valuable information! 

 Ya things have gone pretty fast. If you your in town I'll show ya around...socially distance of course.

I've been told the wooden pipe is a water pipe. It doesnt smell like sewer and I would think a bit small to be sewer.

@Julie Marquez

The issue with the pre-painted Hardie is that its something new....and contractors HATE new. I got 3 bids for install and 2 up them put an up charge for the install and tried to claim there was extra waste...which there isnt. I know one mechanical guy that purposefully bids an extra 50% for the ductless mini-split systems just because he doesnt want to install them because he doesnt want to learn something new. He likes it the old way that he's been doing it for 30 years. Even though I havent meet a mechanical guy that hasnt complained about install ducts in tight spaces. We just put in the order last week...so we will see how it turns out. I have high hopes. You can get died caulk to match your paint color but its expensive. We just opted to get a gallon of the paint, from the same die lot, for touch up and to paint the caulk. 

I have kind of forgot to put up plans havent I....I'll put some up in the morning. 

The original plan was to only live in this house (the farm house) for a year-ish while the duplex was getting built. Then turn it around and sell it for a break even cost since the mortgage was pretty high. Well covid changes a lot. With the refi, and our now low interest rate, we have decided not to rush moving. We have moved 7 times in 8 years....the wife has had enough moving. So the next move will be our "last". We are going to look for a 10+ year house to allow our kids to grow up. We do not plan on doing any major fixes or remodels on the inside....thats a can of worms I'm to scared to open. Potential Asbestos and knob & tube wiring....not fun. We are going to focus our energy on the outside and clean it up. Let the next owner worry about a remodel. 

Townhouses are single family houses...just zero lot line. So they can fit on a SFH lot of 6000 sf. They dont need 9000 sf. Assuming zoning allows a TH that is. Some HOAs will prohibit townhouses but most dont even bother mentioning it because the lots are over sized. So just do your homework.

My bank went of duplex sales too. And also not many to go off of which gave me the trouble. If I had made this a townhouse from the get-go then I would've had better comps. Oh well. If I do make the switch over to a townhouse then I will instantly create about $70k in equity. Even more as time goes on. I just have to look into the numbers for the extra taxes (two lots instead of one) and interest rates. I'm not in a rush on it since it is planning to cash flow well enough as is. 

@Sean Coppom

Suites in the construction industry are mostly about time delays that lead to liquidated damages. Think like 70-80%. Its crazy how much time adds up to massive amounts of money. So this isnt something new. So architects deal with this kind of situations on pretty much EVERY project. The contractor always has a delay for something....always. Legitimate or not. 

If weather and material delays are concerning you that much then I would suggest reading over your specific AIA contract regarding time delays and liquidated damages. There are sections of the AIA contracts that talk about this. I will say its not uncommon for them to get removed as a lot of projects just to get to the size that they warrant them. A 4-plex usually is small enough that its not included, but this is different for everyone, so just ask your architect to include a section on this. Or go to your lawyer and have them write you up one that can be added. Clauses that set the number of weather delay days and liquidated damages per day are extremely common so this isnt something crazy to ask for. For an example, add a clause that gives the GC 10 weather related days and then LD cost of $100/day. The GC will record what days he has weather days on, if he uses them, and you can go back and check the weather days....well they should keep record. 

For material delays.....youre kind of SOL on this. Most contractors are not going to sign a materials delay clause in this kind of pandemic environment. Delays right now are all over the place. There was an almost 3 month lead time on appliances, 8 weeks for siding, 4-6 weeks on windows, etc. for one of my projects. They are just astronomical delays on materials right now. You might be able to get away with a clause that spells out that covid is causing abnormally long lead times and material delays so the contractor needs agrees they are aware of this and will order materials to account for extra lead times. But even with that you are getting into the Force Majeure gray area.....so its tricky for sure. I understand your hesitations. My duplex I'm building got delayed the entire length of the project. The month we poured foundations is the month we should've been finished...all thanks to covid. 

I really think that what will ease your mind the most is adding an additional clause or two to your contract. Start with asking your architect about it. They might have had something similar in another project that they can include in yours. If you are not satisfied with the wording you can always take it to your lawyer to look over and review. Architect are familiar with project delays though. What most people dont understand about the profession is that architecture is just not designing and putting CDs together. They also handle all the construction administration phase of the project. Very well versed in contracts and being the neutral third party to handle the first round disputes about the entire project. 

There is a reason the IDM is the architect in those contracts. These AIA contracts are lobbied by almost every profession in construction. So they are not written in a way to give the architect extra leverage and control. It really is written very fairly and openly and that is why they are considered the industry standard. 

One of the biggest reasons the architect is written down as the IDM is because that is one of their main roles in the process...to be the middle person between the Owner and Contractor. They know what the design intent was. If you bring in some third party person to be only involved if a situation escalates then they will only know what is going on from what they have heard. They have very little background knowledge of the decisions that were made and why. What you are basically doing is creating a IDM position that skips the intent of the IDM position and goes straight to arbitration...yet having the option to go to a arbitrator or mediator afterwards...  You are creating a redundant loop. 

I highly suggest that you leave your architect as the IDM, there's a reason its the industry standard.

@Andrew Rushing

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Here is a LONG post of how I managed to a build to rent duplex. 

Whether it is constitutional or not is not really the biggest issue here. The biggest issue is whats going to happen when they are lifted?! All the current moratoriums have said that rent is still due and landlords are suppose to provide payment plans to the tenants who have stopped paying. 

So how are tenants going to pay back a year or more worth of rent? LL cant double the rent; no one could afford that. LL are not lenders, so we cant afford to get it back over 10+ years, especially since we cant charge fees or interest on the missed rent. How many tenants are going to stick where they are if their rent is going to spike bc the LL has to make up for lost rent? Not many. Are they going to get evicted then? Are they going to try and bail on what they owe and try and find a new rental? Can LL sue and go after rents that bail on back rent? Are wages going to be garnished? Is the government going to step in and pay the LL for the lost rent? There are way too many unanswered questions as to what happens when this is over vs now. If you thinks its a sh**storm now....just wait.

Its been a crazy busy month with work, family, the build and the holidays. So, sorry I havent been keeping this updated. So here is what has happened in the last month:

• -The building is completely framed in now. 
  
• -Plumbing has started install.
• -Roofing paper is up. Though the night it got installed we had a massive wind storm and it blew/ripped like 1/4 of it off. That was fun picking up pieces of it all over my back yard. 
• -Mechanical starts on Monday. Electrical will start end of next week once plumbing as all their main lines in place. 
• -Windows and doors are scheduled to be delivered next week. Though with covid I'm not holding my breath that they stick to their estimated delivery dates. 
• -Siding is going to get ordered here soon. We are doing a pre-painted siding. This is much more durable than site painted siding and comes with a 30 yr warranty on the paint. Which is higher than even the paint warranty itself. It was only a couple thousand more expensive than site painting but thats a good trade off in my opinion. It does have an 8 week lead time though.
• -We bought appliances during Black Friday sales, so those got delivered...and now I have zero room in my garage for a car. Saved have four grand buying them early but the bank wont pay me for them until they are installed. So I had to eat that up front cost until they get installed in a couple months. Well worth the savings. 

I will try to keep a more regular posting. Especially since there will be a lot more things happening every week.