All Forum Posts by: Ronald Starusnak

I think that BPO is really high. Who did the BPO? 

By the time you notice the roof leaking, good chance is there has been slow water penetration already. This means rotted plywood on the roof and potential mold growth in the attic. Don't wait until it's too late. Be proactive, not reactive. 

I was contacted by a company called "AFFMORTGAGELENDING.COM". They offered a bunch of lending options all of which seem typical, typical interest rates, typical term lengths, etc but they were insistent on using a specific 3rd party appraisal company called "LORENZAPPRAISAL.COM". I am a little suspicious because how insistent they were on using this company.

So I looked up the website registration information for their website "Affmortgagelending.com" and found they were registered only this passed December and they're using Snipnet for their host. After he had sent over the appraisal website to place an appraisal order to "Lorenzappraisal.com" I looked up their website registration information as well; they too were registered only in December and are using the exact same host, the exact same domain registrar, and the exact same name servers. 

I asked him about this and he said the owner of LorenzAppraisal is the primary investor in AFFMORTGAGELending. The individual I spoke to was very knowledgeable, was not pushy, did not work on the weekend. It all seems legit but I don't want to get scammed on ordering an appraisal. What do you guys think? Am I being too cautious? 

The terms we were offered was 100% project funding up to 80% LTV. One for a 6 month term and one for a 12 month term.

Yeah subs cost more, if I got to the point where we had more than three at a time I would sub it all as well. Hourly saves me a ton of money right now 

To be at $105 cost, are you subbing a lot of the work or are your guys slow? We are 3 to 3 1/2 months on a build and that’s about $60k in labor and $100-$120k left for materials and sub work on a 2200 sqft home on a basement with quartz counters, asphalt driveway, and landscaping. 

Those are my costs, not what we are charging. The lowest we charge to build is $120. We also aren’t considering land costs or site development ie driveway, well / septic, and electric. The NY where I am from is primarily rural. We do not sub much of our work out unless it can be done cheaper. The only thing we are subbing here right now are specialty trades: plumbing, HVAC, electric. We sometimes sub out the foundations and excavating depending on the site especially if building in basement. My average basement when subbed with excavation runs me about $20k. Oregon does not require even a slab on grade from what I understand. 

Hi Brandi, I am completely focused on new construction. The costs to develop there I am sure are going to be different but since we actually build everything ourselves with our in-house crews I think our costs will still remain lower than the sale price. We can build for $70-$80 per sq/ft not counting a profit and based on the research I've done and people I've spoken too, it seems like houses are selling $200-$250/sqft and that anything under $500k sell very quickly. My choice of Bend is not entirely driven by the potential monetary gains however, I really like what I've seen about the area. When I say Bend, I mean within an hr of Bend as well since I do not know the areas very well yet, just looking to operate within the Bend area but even Portland. 

You may have success with even a plug in baseboard heater. 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Fahrenheat-58-in-1-500-Watt-Electric-Hydronic-Portable-Baseboard-Heater-FHP1500T/205164444

NIk is spot on but a good GC can operate as smoothly as a builder that has an architect in house. Just make sure if you're looking to operate this way, or you're looking to hire someone that claims they are both; look into their systems. Specifically, I am an incredibly systems oriented guy, I have systems for every tiny aspect on a build and we track our costs down to the nail, with scheduling and sub-contractor management; we operate the same way. 

To add to my above post. You could probably fix the water issues and just leave the wall. It doesn't look incredibly dangerous at this point.